University Centre in Svalbard, Pb 156, 9171 Longyearbyen, Norway.
Biol Lett. 2012 Dec 23;8(6):1012-5. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0517. Epub 2012 Sep 12.
Recent studies predict that the Arctic Ocean will have ice-free summers within the next 30 years. This poses a significant challenge for the marine organisms associated with the Arctic sea ice, such as marine mammals and, not least, the ice-associated crustaceans generally considered to spend their entire life on the underside of the Arctic sea ice. Based upon unique samples collected within the Arctic Ocean during the polar night, we provide a new conceptual understanding of an intimate connection between these under-ice crustaceans and the deep Arctic Ocean currents. We suggest that downwards vertical migrations, followed by polewards transport in deep ocean currents, are an adaptive trait of ice fauna that both increases survival during ice-free periods of the year and enables re-colonization of sea ice when they ascend within the Arctic Ocean. From an evolutionary perspective, this may have been an adaptation allowing success in a seasonally ice-covered Arctic. Our findings may ultimately change the perception of ice fauna as a biota imminently threatened by the predicted disappearance of perennial sea ice.
最近的研究预测，在未来 30 年内，北极海洋将在夏季无冰。这对与北极海冰相关的海洋生物构成了重大挑战，如海洋哺乳动物，尤其是那些通常被认为一生都在北极海冰下度过的与冰相关的甲壳类动物。基于在极夜期间在北极海洋采集的独特样本，我们对这些冰下甲壳类动物与深海洋流之间的密切联系有了新的认识。我们认为，向下的垂直迁移，随后在深海洋流中向极地的输送，是冰区动物的一种适应性特征，这既增加了它们在一年中无冰期的生存机会，也使它们在上升到北极海洋时能够重新殖民海冰。从进化的角度来看，这可能是一种适应，使它们在季节性覆盖着冰的北极中取得成功。我们的发现最终可能会改变人们对冰区动物的看法，它们不再被认为是受到常年海冰消失威胁的生物群。
