Antarctic Food Web
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Transcript of Antarctic Food Web
Antarctic Food Web
Krill in Antarctic Food Webs
Phytoplankton
Krill Swarms
Phytoplankton
Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC)
The WAP is the location where the ACC is closest to the continent
Using the WAP as zone to study how rapid warming can alter food webs
Fastest winter warming location on Earth
Increase in ocean heat content
Martinson et al. 2008
Qs
lop
e (
x109
J m
-2)
°CIncrease of 6°C in the past 50 years
50-year changes in winter air temperature
Hea
t con
tent
(x10
9 J m
-2) Seawater heat content
Questions?
100 μm
Recent rapid warming at WAP reverberates through the food web
• Declines in phytoplankton and shift to small cell size that krill can not feed on (but salps can)
• Declines in nutritious Antarctic krill; increase in much less nutritious gelatinous salps
• Declines in krill and ice-dependent Adélie penguins, but increases in subpolar (warmer adapted) species, Gentoo and Chinstraps, that can dive deep and eat deep-water fish
10 μm
100 μm
Recent rapid warming at WAP reverberates through the food web
• Declines in phytoplankton and shift to small cell size that krill can not feed on (but salps can)
• Declines in nutritious Antarctic krill; increase in much less nutritious gelatinous salps
• Declines in krill and ice-dependent Adélie penguins, but increases in subpolar (warmer adapted) species, Gentoo and Chinstraps, that can dive deep and eat deep-water fish
10 μm
100 μm
Recent rapid warming at WAP reverberates through the food web
• Declines in phytoplankton and shift to small cell size that krill can not feed on (but salps can)
• Declines in nutritious Antarctic krill; increase in much less nutritious gelatinous salps
• Declines in krill- and ice-dependent Adélie penguins, but increases in subpolar (warmer adapted) species, Gentoo and Chinstraps, that can dive deep and eat deep-water fish
10 μm
Recent changes in Adélie PenguinsRecent changes in Adélie Penguins
• Decrease in Adélie penguins, increases in subpolar species Adélie penguins, increases in subpolar species (Gentoos, Chinstraps)(Gentoos, Chinstraps)
Line 600 (north)
Questions?