TY - JOUR
T1 - A numerical model of seasonal primary production within the Chukchi/Beaufort Seas
AU - Walsh, John J.
AU - Dieterle, Dwight A.
AU - Maslowski, Wieslaw
AU - Grebmeier, Jacqueline M.
AU - Whitledge, Terry E.
AU - Flint, Mikhail
AU - Sukhanova, Irina N.
AU - Bates, Nicholas
AU - Cota, Glenn F.
AU - Stockwell, Dean
AU - Moran, S. B.
AU - Hansell, Dennis A.
AU - McRoy, C. Peter
N1 - Funding Information:
This analysis was funded by Grants OPP-0124864 to JJW, OPP-0124943 to WM, OPP-0124917 to SBM, and OPP-0125049 to GC, from the National Science Foundation as part of the joint SBI project “Collaborative research: carbon cycling in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas—field and modeling studies”. Additional support was made to TEW and DS from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as part of the “Southeast Bering Sea carrying capacity (SEBSCC)” project, with award # NA67RJ0147 from the North Pacific Research Board. Support for analysis of the satellite imagery was supplied to GC from NASA NAG5-10528. Other services and funds were made available to us from the United States Coast Guard and the Office of Naval Research. We also thank our present colleagues of the SBI program, whose many hours at sea provided some of the data analyzed in this study and served as the basis for other contributions to this special issue. Similarly, past colleagues: Vera Alexander, Lawrence Coachman, John Goering, Donald Hood, Rita Horner, and Donald Schell generated both field data and hypotheses over 40 years of historical perspective, providing an important background for our present observations and interpretations. In particular, we dedicate this paper to the late Glenn Cota. Finally, JJW thanks the University of South Florida for a sabbatical leave to undertake such a synthesis.
PY - 2005/12
Y1 - 2005/12
N2 - A coupled three-dimensional circulation and ecological model provided numerical analysis of daily carbon/nitrogen cycling by the planktonic and benthic components of western Arctic shelf/basin ecosystems during 2002, when extensive field data were obtained by American and Canadian ice-breakers. Seasonal model budgets of April-May, July-August, and September-October 2002 allowed both interpolation and extrapolation of these validation data, suggesting that the most productive shelf regime of the Chukchi/Beaufort Seas was that of summer. Yet, during this period of July-August, a combination of light-limitation and nutrient-limitation limited shelf-wide mean simulated net photosynthesis to only ∼709 mg C m-2 day-1 for shelf waters of <220 m depth. This modeled seasonal carbon fixation then accounted for ∼45% of the annual shelf primary production of 97.4 g C m-2 yr-1 Identification of the relative importance of natural control factors of light and nutrients by the coupled model provided insight into possible consequences of future global climatic changes at these high latitudes. The model's seasonal penetration of relatively saline, nutrient-rich Anadyr Water of Pacific origin into the eastern Chukchi Sea replicated the time series of observed salinity fields. A similar fidelity of the simulated nitrate, silicate and dissolved inorganic carbon fields with the observed ones yielded an assessment of nutrient uptake and photosynthesis during a natural fertilization experiment. The simulated chlorophyll, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and NH4 stocks also mimicked these shipboard observations. We found that the spring 2002 stocks of new nutrients were stripped by the end of summer, with little fall nutrient resupply by physical and biotic factors, when incident light waned. However, because of extensive ice cover and nutrient-poor upper waters within the Canadian Basin, the slope regions remained oligotrophic throughout the year, yielding a simulated annual net photosynthesis of ∼50 g C m-2 yr-1. We conclude that future ice cover retreat, without eutrophication, may have little impact on increased carbon sequestration within these high-latitude ecosystems.
AB - A coupled three-dimensional circulation and ecological model provided numerical analysis of daily carbon/nitrogen cycling by the planktonic and benthic components of western Arctic shelf/basin ecosystems during 2002, when extensive field data were obtained by American and Canadian ice-breakers. Seasonal model budgets of April-May, July-August, and September-October 2002 allowed both interpolation and extrapolation of these validation data, suggesting that the most productive shelf regime of the Chukchi/Beaufort Seas was that of summer. Yet, during this period of July-August, a combination of light-limitation and nutrient-limitation limited shelf-wide mean simulated net photosynthesis to only ∼709 mg C m-2 day-1 for shelf waters of <220 m depth. This modeled seasonal carbon fixation then accounted for ∼45% of the annual shelf primary production of 97.4 g C m-2 yr-1 Identification of the relative importance of natural control factors of light and nutrients by the coupled model provided insight into possible consequences of future global climatic changes at these high latitudes. The model's seasonal penetration of relatively saline, nutrient-rich Anadyr Water of Pacific origin into the eastern Chukchi Sea replicated the time series of observed salinity fields. A similar fidelity of the simulated nitrate, silicate and dissolved inorganic carbon fields with the observed ones yielded an assessment of nutrient uptake and photosynthesis during a natural fertilization experiment. The simulated chlorophyll, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and NH4 stocks also mimicked these shipboard observations. We found that the spring 2002 stocks of new nutrients were stripped by the end of summer, with little fall nutrient resupply by physical and biotic factors, when incident light waned. However, because of extensive ice cover and nutrient-poor upper waters within the Canadian Basin, the slope regions remained oligotrophic throughout the year, yielding a simulated annual net photosynthesis of ∼50 g C m-2 yr-1. We conclude that future ice cover retreat, without eutrophication, may have little impact on increased carbon sequestration within these high-latitude ecosystems.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.dsr2.2005.09.009
DO - 10.1016/j.dsr2.2005.09.009
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:28844474556
VL - 52
SP - 3541
EP - 3576
JO - Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography
JF - Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography
SN - 0967-0645
IS - 24-26
ER -