Blanchard Ecological, North Pole, AK, USA.
National Scientific Center of Marine Biology FEB RAS, Russia.
Mar Environ Res. 2019 Mar;145:123-136. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2019.02.008. Epub 2019 Feb 26.
Changing climate patterns strongly influence marine ecosystems across the Pacific Arctic region creating significant ecosystem transitions and change. Macrobenthic species are essential prey for numerous marine mammals and seabirds but the influence of climatic drivers that control macrobenthic community population dynamics are poorly known in critical prey habitats. We investigated associations of environmental, temporal, and climatic covariates with the biomass concentrations of six prey groups (Actinopterygii, Amphipoda, Bivalvia, Cumacea, Isopoda, and Polychaeta) in essential habitats for Korean-Okhotsk (western) gray whales adjacent to northeastern Sakhalin Island in the Sea of Okhotsk. Prey community biomass concentrations were correlated with water depth, year, and climate indices reflecting oceanographic and climatic patterns associated with macro-scale climatological effects. The correlation of prey biomass with water depth and year accounted for ∼90% of total variation in canonical correlation analyses (CCor). Climate indices accounted for ∼10% of total variation in CCor. Water circulation in winter may be particularly important for maintaining populations through the advection of particulate organic carbon entrained in winter currents. Overall, temporal trends in the biomass concentrations of gray whale prey resources appear to reflect climatic and oceanographic factors that are driving ecosystem changes across the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Arctic region.
气候变化模式强烈影响着整个太平洋北极地区的海洋生态系统，导致了显著的生态系统转变和变化。底栖生物是众多海洋哺乳动物和海鸟的重要猎物，但控制底栖生物群落种群动态的气候驱动因素在关键的猎物栖息地中的影响却知之甚少。我们研究了环境、时间和气候协变量与六种猎物组（硬骨鱼、端足目、双壳类、等足目、等足目和多毛类）生物量浓度在鄂霍次克海东北部萨哈林岛附近的朝鲜-鄂霍次克（西部）灰鲸关键栖息地之间的关联。猎物群落生物量浓度与水深、年份和反映与宏观尺度气候相关的海洋学和气候模式的气候指数相关。典范相关分析（CCor）中，猎物生物量与水深和年份的相关性解释了总变异的约 90%。CCor 中约 10%的总变异由气候指数解释。冬季的水环流可能对通过冬季洋流夹带的颗粒有机碳的平流来维持种群特别重要。总的来说，灰鲸猎物资源生物量的时间趋势似乎反映了驱动鄂霍次克海和太平洋北极地区生态系统变化的气候和海洋因素。
