Recent changes in phytoplankton communities associated with rapid regional climate change along the western Antarctic Peninsula

Science. 2009 Mar 13;323(5920):1470-3. doi: 10.1126/science.1164533.

Abstract

The climate of the western shelf of the Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is undergoing a transition from a cold-dry polar-type climate to a warm-humid sub-Antarctic-type climate. Using three decades of satellite and field data, we document that ocean biological productivity, inferred from chlorophyll a concentration (Chl a), has significantly changed along the WAP shelf. Summertime surface Chl a (summer integrated Chl a approximately 63% of annually integrated Chl a) declined by 12% along the WAP over the past 30 years, with the largest decreases equatorward of 63 degrees S and with substantial increases in Chl a occurring farther south. The latitudinal variation in Chl a trends reflects shifting patterns of ice cover, cloud formation, and windiness affecting water-column mixing. Regional changes in phytoplankton coincide with observed changes in krill (Euphausia superba) and penguin populations.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antarctic Regions
  • Biomass
  • Chlorophyll / analysis*
  • Chlorophyll A
  • Cold Climate*
  • Ecosystem*
  • Euphausiacea
  • Geography
  • Ice Cover
  • Oceans and Seas
  • Phytoplankton / cytology
  • Phytoplankton / growth & development*
  • Population Dynamics
  • Seasons
  • Seawater* / chemistry
  • Spheniscidae
  • Temperature
  • Wind

Substances

  • Chlorophyll
  • Chlorophyll A