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Overwinter sea-ice characteristics important for Antarctic krill recruitment in the southwest Atlantic
Citation
Veytia, D and Bestley, S and Kawaguchi, S and Meiners, KM and Murphy, EJ and Fraser, AD and Kusahara, K and Kimura, N and Corney, S, Overwinter sea-ice characteristics important for Antarctic krill recruitment in the southwest Atlantic, Ecological Indicators, 129 Article 107934. ISSN 1470-160X (2021) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the Open Government License (OGL) https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
DOI: doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107934
Abstract
Climate change alters the extent and structure of sea-ice environments, which affects how they function as a habitat for polar species. Identifying sea-ice characteristics that serve as indicators of habitat quality will be crucial to the monitoring and management of climate change impacts. In the Southern Ocean, Antarctic krill is a key prey species and fishery target. Krill larvae depend upon sea-ice habitats to survive the winter and recruit to the population in spring. Existing observations of sea-ice characteristics lack sufficient spatiotemporal coverage to quantify which ones contribute to favourable overwintering habitat, leading to uncertainties in how current and future changes in sea ice affect krill populations. Here, we derive regional-scale indices of annual krill recruitment spanning 35 years across the southwest Atlantic. To develop meaningful indicators of sea-ice habitat, we selected variables from a high-resolution sea-ice model that are hypothesized as relevant for larval habitat use. The resulting correlations between recruitment and sea-ice indicators vary by region and show remote connections to sea ice that correspond with established theories of larval transport. Through an improved representation of sea-ice habitat quality, as compared with using more traditional satellite-derived variables such as sea-ice extent and duration, we highlight plausible regions of overwintering habitat. Our findings improve current understanding of how krill are likely responding to changing sea ice and support emerging views that larval habitat use is complex. Furthermore, regional variation in larval dependence on sea ice may provide pockets of resilience to change for the broader krill population.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | climate change, Antarctic krill, sea ice, recruitment, Euphausia superba, overwinter survival |
| Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
| Research Group: | Ecology |
| Research Field: | Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments |
| Objective Field: | Assessment and management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean ecosystems |
| UTAS Author: | Veytia, D (Ms Devi Veytia) |
| UTAS Author: | Bestley, S (Dr Sophie Bestley) |
| UTAS Author: | Kawaguchi, S (Dr So Kawaguchi) |
| UTAS Author: | Meiners, KM (Dr Klaus Meiners) |
| UTAS Author: | Fraser, AD (Dr Alex Fraser) |
| UTAS Author: | Corney, S (Dr Stuart Corney) |
| ID Code: | 145186 |
| Year Published: | 2021 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 5 |
| Deposited By: | Ecology and Biodiversity |
| Deposited On: | 2021-07-08 |
| Last Modified: | 2022-08-24 |
| Downloads: | 13 View Download Statistics |
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