Cascading effects of seasonal changes in sea ice are expected to influence primary production and propagate through marine ecosystems in the Arctic. We are tracking the seasonal, proportional contributions of specific (fatty acid) biomarkers derived from the two main primary producers sea ice algae and open ocean phytoplankton into higher trophic levels (sympagic, pelagic and benthic invertebrates, ice seals and walrus) in the Bering Sea.
TRACKING THE SEASONAL CONTRIBUTION OF ALGAL FATTY ACIDS TO THE ARCTIC MARINE SYSTEM
Photo credit: Jared Weems