Oceanography The Official Magazine of
The Oceanography Society
Volume 28 Issue 03

View Issue TOC
Volume 28, No. 3
Pages 116 - 133

OpenAccess

Time-Series Benthic Community Composition and Biomass and Associated Environmental Characteristics in the Chukchi Sea During the RUSALCA 2004–2012 Program

By Jacqueline M. Grebmeier , Bodil A. Bluhm, Lee W. Cooper , Stanislav G. Denisenko, Katrin Iken, Monika Kędra, and Carlos Serratos 
Jump to
Article Abstract Citation References Copyright & Usage
Article Abstract

Benthic macrofaunal and epifaunal composition and biomass and associated environmental drivers were evaluated for time-series stations occupied during three cruises of the RUSALCA (Russian-American Long-term Census of the Arctic) program undertaken in August 2004, September 2009, and September 2012. We focus on the benthic communities collected at repeat stations in the southern Chukchi Sea and the key environmental characteristics that could influence benthic population structure and biomass. These characteristics included bottom water temperature, salinity, and chlorophyll a (chl a); integrated chl a; export production via sediment oxygen uptake rates as an indicator of food supply to the benthos; and surface sediment parameters that are known to influence benthic population community composition and biomass, such as grain size, carbon content, and chl a. Overall, both the macrofaunal and epibenthic community composition at the time-series sites in the southern Chukchi Sea have remained relatively constant over the time period of this study (2004–2012). However, some of the more sedentary macrofauna are showing significant declines in biomass since 2004, particularly in the center of a macrobenthic hotpot that has been persistent for decades in the southern Chukchi Sea. While biomass estimates were more variable for the more motile epibenthic fauna, there was also an indication of declining epifaunal biomass since 2009. We highlight here as a case study the benthic time-series efforts during RUSALCA that are also part of the Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO) international network, which is tracking the status and trends of Arctic ecosystem response to the changing physical drivers in the southern Chukchi Sea.

Citation

Grebmeier, J.M., B.A. Bluhm, L.W. Cooper, S.G. Denisenko, K. Iken, M. Kędra, and C. Serratos. 2015. Time-series benthic community composition and biomass and associated environmental characteristics in the Chukchi Sea during the RUSALCA 2004–2012 Program. Oceanography 28(3):116–133, https://doi.org/​10.5670/​oceanog.2015.61.

References
    Blanchard, A.L., C.L. Parris, A.L. Knowlton, and N.R. Wade. 2013a. Benthic ecology of the northeastern Chukchi Sea: Part I. Environmental characteristics and macrofaunal community structure, 2008–2010. Continental Shelf Research 67:52–66, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2013.04.021.
  1. Blanchard, A.L., C.L. Parris, A.L. Knowlton, and N.R. Wade. 2013. Benthic ecology of the northeastern Chukchi Sea: Part II. Spatial variation of megafaunal community structure, 2009–2010. Continental Shelf Research 67:67–76, https://doi.org/​10.1016/j.csr.2013.04.031.
  2. Bluhm, B.A., K. Iken, S. Mincks Hardy, B.I. Sirenko, and B.A. Holladay. 2009. Community structure of epibenthic megafauna in the Chukchi Sea. Aquatic Biology 7:269–293, https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00198.
  3. CAFF (Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna). 2013. Arctic Biodiversity Assessment: Report for Policy Makers. CAFF, Akureyri, Iceland, 23 pp.
  4. Carmack, E., P. Winsor, and W. Williams. 2015. The contiguous panarctic Riverine Coastal Domain: A unifying concept. Progress in Oceanography, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2015.07.014.
  5. Clarke, K.R., and R.N. Gorely. 2006. PRIMER v. 6: User manual/tutorial, PRIMER-E, Plymouth, UK.
  6. Coachman, L.K. 1987. Advection and mixing on the Bering-Chukchi Shelves: Component A. Advection and mixing of coastal water on high latitude shelves. Pp. 1–42 in ISHTAR Progress Report, vol 1. Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
  7. Cooper, L.W., J.M. Grebmeier, I.L. Larsen, V.G. Egorov, C. Theodorakis, H.P. Kelly, and J.R. Lovvorn. 2002. Seasonal variation in water column processes and sedimentation of organic materials in the St. Lawrence Island polynya region, Bering Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series 226:13–26, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps226013.
  8. Cooper, L.W., M.A. Janout, K.E. Frey, R. Pirtle-Levy, M.L. Guarinello, J.M. Grebmeier, J.R. Lovvorn. 2012. The relationship between sea ice break-up, water mass variation, chlorophyll biomass, and sedimentation in the northern Bering Sea. Deep Sea Research Part II 65:141–162, https://doi.org/​10.1016/j.dsr2.2012.02.002.
  9. Cooper, L.W., A.S. Savvichev, and J.M. Grebmeier. 2015. Abundance and production rates of heterotrophic bacterioplankton in the context of sediment and water column processes in the Chukchi Sea. Oceanography 28(3):84–99, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2015.59.
  10. Coyle, K.O., B.A. Bluhm, B. Konar, A. Blanchard, and R.C. Highsmith. 2007. Amphipod prey of grey whales in the northern Bering Sea: Changes in biomass and distribution. Deep Sea Research Part II 54:2,906–2,918, https://doi.org/10.1016/​j.dsr2.2007.08.026.
  11. Denisenko, N.V., and J.M. Grebmeier. 2015. Spatial patterns of bryozoan fauna biodiversity and issues of biogeographic regionalization of the Chukchi Sea. Oceanography 28(3):134–145, https://doi.org/​​10.5670/oceanog.2015.62.
  12. Denisenko, S.G., J.M. Grebmeier, and L.W. Cooper. 2015. Assessing bioresources and standing stock of zoobenthos (key species, high taxa, trophic groups) in the Chukchi Sea. Oceanography 28(3):146–157, https://doi.org/​10.5670/oceanog.2015.63.
  13. Doney, S.C., M. Ruckelshaus, J.E. Duffy, J.P. Barry, F. Chan, C.A. English, H.M. Galindo, J.M. Grebmeier, A.B. Hollowed, N. Knowlton, and others. 2012. Climate change impacts on marine ecosystems. Annual Review of Marine Science 4:11–37, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-041911-111611
  14. Duarte, C.M., S. Agustí, P. Wassmann, J.M. Arrieta, M. Alcaraz, A. Coello, and D. Vaqué. 2012. Tipping elements in the Arctic marine ecosystem. Ambio 41(1):44–55, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-011-0224-7.
  15. Eleftheriou, A., and D. Moore. 2013. Macrofauna techniques. Chapter 5 in Methods for the Study of Marine Benthos, 4th ed. A. Eleftheriou, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Oxford, UK, https://doi.org/​10.1002/9781118542392.ch5.
  16. Ershova, E.A., R.R. Hopcroft, and K.N. Kosobokova. 2015. Inter-annual variability of summer mesozooplankton communities of the western Chukchi Sea: 2004–2012. Polar Biology 38:1,461–1,481, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1709-9.
  17. Feder, H.M., N.R. Foster, S.C. Jewett, T.J. Weingartner, and R. Baxter. 1994b. Mollusks in the northeastern Chukchi Sea. Arctic 47:145–161, https://doi.org/​10.14430/arctic1285.
  18. Feder, H.M, S.C. Jewett, and A.L. Blanchard. 2005. Southeastern Chukchi Sea (Alaska) epibenthos. Polar Biology 28:402–421, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-004-0683-4.
  19. Feder, H.M., S.C. Jewett, and A.L. Blanchard. 2007. Southeastern Chukchi Sea (Alaska) macrobenthos. Polar Biology 30:261–275, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-006-0180-z.
  20. Foyle, T., R. O’Dor, and R. Elner. 1989. Energetically defining the thermal limits of the snow crab. Journal of Experimental Biology 145:371–393.
  21. Frey, K.E., J.A. Maslanik, J. Clement Kinney, and W. Maslowski. 2014. Recent variability in sea ice cover, age, and thickness in the Pacific Arctic Region. Pp. 31–63 in The Pacific Arctic Region: Ecosystem Status and Trends in a Rapidly Changing Environment. J.M. Grebmeier and W. Maslowski, eds, Springer, Dordrecht.
  22. Frey, K.E., G.W.K. Moore, L.W. Cooper, and J.M. Grebmeier. 2015. Divergent patterns of recent sea ice cover across the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas of the Pacific Arctic Region. Progress in Oceanography 136:32–49, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2015.05.009.
  23. Golikov, A. 1989. Arctic Ocean gastropod prosobranchs. Pp. 325–340 in The Arctic Seas. Y. Hermann, ed., Springer, https://doi.org/​10.1007/978-1-4613-0677-1_13.
  24. Grebmeier, J.M. 1992. Benthic processes on the shallow continental shelf. Pp. 243–251 in Results of the Third Joint US–USSR Bering and Chukchi Seas Expedition (BERPAC): Summer 1988. J.F. Turner and P.A. Nagel, eds, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC.
  25. Grebmeier, J.M. 1993. Studies of pelagic–benthic coupling on the Soviet continental shelf in the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas. Continental Shelf Research 13:653–668, https://doi.org/​10.1016/0278-4343(93)90098-I.
  26. Grebmeier, J.M. 2012. Shifting patterns of life in the Pacific Arctic and sub-Arctic Seas. Annual Review of Marine Science 4:63–78, https://doi.org/​10.1146/annurev-marine-120710-100926.
  27. Grebmeier, J.M., B.A. Bluhm, L.W. Cooper, S. Danielson, K.R. Arrigo, A.L. Blanchard, J.T. Clark, R.H. Day, K.E. Frey, R.R. Gradinger, and others. 2015. Ecosystem characteristics and processes facilitating persistent macrobenthic biomass hotspots and associated benthivory in the Pacific Arctic. Progress in Oceanography 136:92–114, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2015.05.006
  28. Grebmeier, J.M., and L.W. Cooper. 1995. Influence of the St. Lawrence Island polynya on the Bering Sea benthos. Journal of Geophysical Research 100:4,439–4,460, https://doi.org/​10.1029/94JC02198.
  29. Grebmeier, J.M., L.W. Cooper, H.M. Feder, and B.I. Sirenko. 2006a. Ecosystem dynamics of the Pacific-influenced Northern Bering and Chukchi Seas in the Amerasian Arctic. Progress in Oceanography 71:331–361, https://doi.org/​10.1016/j.pocean.2006.10.001.
  30. Grebmeier, J.M., H.M. Feder, and C.P. McRoy. 1989. Pelagic-benthic coupling on the shelf of the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas: Part II. Benthic community structure. Marine Ecology Progress Series 51:253–268.
  31. Grebmeier, J.M., C.P. McRoy, and H.M. Feder. 1988. Pelagic-benthic coupling on the shelf of the northern Bering and Chukchi seas: Part I. Food supply source and benthic biomass. Marine Ecology Progress Series 48:57–67.
  32. Grebmeier, J.M., S.E. Moore, J.E. Overland, K.E. Frey, and R. Gradinger. 2010. Biological response to recent Pacific Arctic sea ice retreats. Eos, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 91(18):161–162, https://doi.org/​10.1029/​2010EO180001
  33. Grebmeier, J.M., J.E. Overland, S.E. Moore, E.V. Farley, E.C. Carmack, L.W. Cooper, K.E. Frey, J.H. Helle, F.A. McLaughlin, and S.L. McNutt. 2006b. A major ecosystem shift observed in the Northern Bering Sea. Science 311:1,461–1,464, https://doi.org/​10.1126/science.1121365.
  34. Iken, K., B.A. Bluhm, and K.H. Dunton. 2010. Benthic food-web structure under differing water mass properties in the southern Chukchi Sea. Deep Sea Research Part II 57:71–85, https://doi.org/10.1016/​j.dsr2.2009.08.007.
  35. Kędra, M., C. Moritz, E.S. Choy, C. David, R. Degen, S. Duerksen, I. Ellingsen, B. Górska, J.M. Grebmeier, D. Kirievskaya, and others. 2015. Status and trends in the structure of Arctic benthic food webs. Polar Research 34, 23775, https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v34.23775.
  36. Kolts, J.M., J.R. Lovvorn, C.A. North, J.M. Grebmeier, and L.W. Cooper. 2013. Effects of body size, gender, and prey availability on diets of snow crabs in the northern Bering Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series 483:209–220, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10292.
  37. Jay, C.V., A.S. Fischbach, and A.A. Kochnev. 2012. Walrus areas of use in the Chukchi Sea during sparse sea ice cover. Marine Ecology Progress Series 468:1–13, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10057.
  38. Khim, B.K., D.E. Krantz, L.W. Cooper, and J.M. Grebmeier. 2003. Seasonal discharge of estuarine freshwater to the western Chukchi Sea shelf identified in stable isotope profiles of mollusk shells. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 108, 3300, https://doi.org/​10.1029/2003JC001816.
  39. Lee, S.H., T.E. Whitledge, and S.H. Kang. 2007. Recent carbon and nitrogen uptake rates of phytoplankton in Bering Strait and the Chukchi Sea. Continental Shelf Research 27:2,231–2,249, https://doi.org/​10.1016/j.csr.2007.05.009.
  40. Lee, S.H., M.S. Yun, B.K. Kim, S. Saitoh, C.K. Kang, S.H. Kang, and T.E. Whitledge. 2013. Latitudinal carbon productivity in the Bering and Chukchi Seas during the summer in 2007. Continental Shelf Research 59:28–36, https://doi.org/10.1016/​j.csr.2013.04.004.
  41. Mathis, J.T., J.M. Grebmeier, D.A. Hansell, R.R. Hopcroft, D.J. Kirchman, S.H. Lee, S.B. Moran, N.R. Bates, S. Van Laningham, J.N. Cross, and W.-J. Cai. 2014. Carbon biogeochemistry of the western Arctic: Primary production, carbon export and the controls on ocean acidification. Pp. 223–268 in The Pacific Arctic Region: Ecosystem Status and Trends in a Rapidly Changing Environment. J.M. Grebmeier and W. Maslowski, eds, Springer, Dordrecht.
  42. Moore, S.E., E. Logerwell, L. Eisner, E. Farley, L. Harwood, K. Kuletz, J. Lovvorn, J. Murphy, and L. Quakenbush. 2014. Marine fishes, birds and mammals as sentinels of ecosystem variability and reorganization in the Pacific Arctic region. Pp. 337–392 in The Pacific Arctic Region: Ecosystem Status and Trends in a Rapidly Changing Environment. J.M. Grebmeier and W. Maslowski, eds, Springer, Dordrecht.
  43. Moore, S.E., and P.J. Stabeno. 2015. Synthesis of Arctic Research (SOAR) in marine ecosystems of the Pacific Arctic. Progress in Oceanography 136:1–11, https://doi.org/10.1016/​j.pocean.2015.05.017
  44. Mueter, F.J., and M.A. Litzow. 2008. Sea ice retreat alters the biogeography of the Bering Sea continental shelf. Ecological Applications 18:309–320, https://doi.org/10.1890/07-0564.1.
  45. Münchow, A., T.J. Weingartner, and L.W. Cooper. 1999. The summer hydrography and surface circulation of the East Siberian shelf sea. Journal of Physical Oceanography 29: 2,167–2,182, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1999)029​<2167:TSHASC>2.0.CO;2.
  46. Orensanz, J.M., B. Ernst, and D.A. Armstrong. 2007. Variation of female size and stage at maturity in snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) (Brachyura: Majidae) from the eastern Bering Sea. Journal of Crustacean Biology 27:576–591, https://doi.org/​10.1651/S-2790.1.
  47. Petryashov, V., S. Vassilenko, A.Y. Voronkov, B. Sirenko, A. Smirnov, and I. Smirnov. 2013. Biogeographical analysis of the Chukchi Sea and adjacent waters based on fauna of some macrobenthos taxa. Invertebrate Zoology 10:49–68, https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063074009020011.
  48. Pisareva, M.N., R.S. Pickart, K. Iken, E.A. Ershova, J.M. Grebmeier, L.W. Cooper, B.A. Bluhm, C. Nobre, R.R. Hopcroft, H. Hu, and others. 2015. The relationship between patterns of benthic fauna and zooplankton in the Chukchi Sea and physical forcing. Oceanography 28(3):68–83, https://doi.org/​10.5670/oceanog.2015.58.
  49. Rand, K., and E.A. Logerwell. 2011. The first demersal trawl survey of benthic fish and invertebrates in the Beaufort Sea since the late 1970s. Polar Biology 34(4):475-488, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-010-0900-2.
  50. Ravelo, A.M., B. Konar, J.H. Trefry, and J.M. Grebmeier. 2014. Epibenthic community variability in the northeastern Chukchi Sea. Deep Sea Research Part II 102:119–131, https://doi.org/10.1016/​j.dsr2.2013.07.017.
  51. Schonberg, S.V., J.T. Clarke, and K.H. Dunton. 2014. Distribution, abundance, biomass and diversity of benthic infauna in the northeast Chukchi Sea, Alaska: Relation to environmental variables and marine mammals. Deep Sea Research Part II 102:144–163, https://doi.org/10.1016/​j.dsr2.2013.11.004.
  52. Serrato, C. 2015. Spatial and temporal patterns of epibenthic community and food web structures in the Chukchi Sea between 2004–2012. MS thesis, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 44 pp.
  53. Sirenko, B., and S.Y. Gagaev. 2007. Unusual abundance of macrobenthos and biological invasions in the Chukchi Sea. Russian Journal of Marine Biology 33:355–364, https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063074007060016.
  54. Sirenko, B.I., and V.M. Koltun. 1992. Characteristics of benthic biocenoses of the Chukchi and Bering seas. Pp. 251–261 in Results of the Third Joint US–USSR Bering and Chukchi Seas Expedition (BERPAC): Summer 1988. J.F. Turner and P.A. Nagel, eds, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC.
  55. Stoker, S.W. 1978. Benthic invertebrate macrofauna of the eastern continental shelf of the Bering/Chukchi Seas. PhD thesis, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 253 pp.
  56. Walsh, J.J., C.P. McRoy, L.K. Coachman, J.J. Goering, J.J. Nihoul, T.E. Whitledge, T.H. Blackburn, P.L. Parker, C.D. Wirick, P.G. Shuert, and others. 1989. Carbon and nitrogen cycling within the Bering/Chukchi Seas: Source regions for organic matter affecting AOU demands of the Arctic Ocean. Progress in Oceanography 22:279–361, https://doi.org/10.1016/0079-6611(89)90006-2.
  57. Wassmann, P., K.N. Kosobokova, D. Slagstad, K.F. Drinkwater, R.R. Hopcroft, S.E. Moore, I. Ellingsen, R.J. Nelson, E. Carmack, E. Popova, and J. Berge. 2015. The contiguous domains of Arctic Ocean advection: Trails of life and death. Progress in Oceanography, https://doi.org/10.1016/​j.pocean.​2015.08.004.
  58. Wassmann, P., C.M. Duarte, S. Agusti, and M.K. Sejr. 2011. Footprints of climate change in the Arctic marine ecosystem. Global Change Biology 17:1,235–1,249, https://doi.org/​10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02311.x.
  59. Weingartner, T., K. Aagaard, R. Woodgate, S. Danielson, Y. Sasaki, and D. Cavalieri. 2005. Circulation on the north central Chukchi Sea shelf. Deep Sea Research Part II 52:3,150–3,174, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2005.10.015.
  60. Woodgate, R.A., K.M. Stafford, and F.G. Prahl. 2015. A synthesis of year-round interdisciplinary mooring measurements in the Bering Strait (1990–2014) and the RUSALCA years (2004–2011). Oceanography 28(3):46–67, https://doi.org/​10.5670/oceanog.2015.57.
Copyright & Usage

This is an open access article made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format as long as users cite the materials appropriately, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate the changes that were made to the original content. Images, animations, videos, or other third-party material used in articles are included in the Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If the material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission directly from the license holder to reproduce the material.