A Major Ecosystem Shift in the Northern Bering Sea
2006; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Volume: 311; Issue: 5766 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1126/science.1121365
ISSN1095-9203
AutoresJacqueline M. Grebmeier, James E. Overland, Sue E. Moore, Ed Farley, Eddy C. Carmack, Lee W. Cooper, Karen E. Frey, John H. Helle, F. A. McLaughlin, S. Lyn McNutt,
Tópico(s)Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena
ResumoUntil recently, northern Bering Sea ecosystems were characterized by extensive seasonal sea ice cover, high water column and sediment carbon production, and tight pelagic-benthic coupling of organic production. Here, we show that these ecosystems are shifting away from these characteristics. Changes in biological communities are contemporaneous with shifts in regional atmospheric and hydrographic forcing. In the past decade, geographic displacement of marine mammal population distributions has coincided with a reduction of benthic prey populations, an increase in pelagic fish, a reduction in sea ice, and an increase in air and ocean temperatures. These changes now observed on the shallow shelf of the northern Bering Sea should be expected to affect a much broader portion of the Pacific-influenced sector of the Arctic Ocean.
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