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Satellite evidence of ecosystem changes in the White Sea: A semi‐enclosed arctic marginal shelf sea
Author(s) -
Pozdnyakov Dmitry V.,
Johannessen Ola M.,
Korosov Anton A.,
Pettersson Lasse H.,
Grassl Hartmut,
Miles Martin W.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2006gl028947
Subject(s) - phytoplankton , oceanography , arctic , environmental science , bay , marine ecosystem , colored dissolved organic matter , ecosystem , ocean color , climate change , chlorophyll a , climatology , satellite , geology , ecology , nutrient , biology , botany , aerospace engineering , engineering
Recent observations suggest an arctic climate system in broad transformation, yet the regional marine‐ecosystem response is poorly known. Here, we develop and analyze a comprehensive biogeophysical dataset of key water constituents – chlorophyll ( chl ), suspended sediments ( sm ) and dissolved organic matter ( doc ) – using satellite ocean‐color data from the White Sea in the Russian Arctic, for the period 1998–2004. The revealed changes in chl , sm and doc are more pronounced in the bays (e.g., the southeastern bay trends are −20%, +18% and +11%, respectively) than in the central basin (−5%, +5% and +3%, respectively). The chlorophyll decreases reflect the impact of enhanced runoff on sm and doc , which make the water more turbid and less favourable for phytoplankton growth, in contrast to other arctic seas where increased phytoplankton is expected. This case study supports our hypothesis that the marine ecosystems of semi‐enclosed arctic shelf seas respond rapidly to climate change and are thus particularly vulnerable to future global warming.