Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
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Simulating Plankton - getting it right in the era of Digital Twins of The Ocean; simplicity vs complexity
Get PDFAn affordable and customizable wave buoy for the study of wave-ice interactions: design concept and results from field deployments
Get PDFThe interaction between waves and ice has a crucial impact on the seasonal change in the sea ice extent. However, our comprehension of this phenomenon is restricted by a lack of observations. In recent years, availability of the low-cost and accurate Inertial Motion Units has enabled the development of affordable wave research devices. Despite advancements in designing innovative open-source instruments optimized for deployment on ice floes, their customizability and survivability remain limited, especially in open waters. This study presents a novel design concept for an affordable and customizable wave buoy, aimed for wave measurements in marginal ice zones. The central focus of this wave buoy design is the application of 3D printing as rapid prototyping technology. By utilizing the high customizability offered by 3D printing, the previously developed solar-powered wave buoy was customized to install a battery pack. Preliminary results from field deployments in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans demonstrate that the performance of the instruments is promising. The accuracy of frequency wave spectra measurements is found to be comparable to that of considerably more expensive instruments. Finally, the study concludes with a general evaluation of using rapid prototyping technologies for buoy designs and proposes recommendations for future designs
Hidden impacts of ocean warming and acidification on biological responses of marine animals revealed through meta-analysis
Get PDFConflicting results remain on the impacts of climate change on marine organisms, hindering our capacity to predict the future state of marine ecosystems. To account for species-specific responses and for the ambiguous relation of most metrics to fitness, we develop a meta-analytical approach based on the deviation of responses from reference values (absolute change) to complement meta-analyses of directional (relative) changes in responses. Using this approach, we evaluate responses of fish and invertebrates to warming and acidification. We find that climate drivers induce directional changes in calcification, survival, and metabolism, and significant deviations in twice as many biological responses, including physiology, reproduction, behavior, and development. Widespread deviations of responses are detected even under moderate intensity levels of warming and acidification, while directional changes are mostly limited to more severe intensity levels. Because such deviations may result in ecological shifts impacting ecosystem structures and processes, our results suggest that climate change will likely have stronger impacts than those previously predicted based on directional changes alone
Discovery of deep-sea coral symbionts from a novel clade of marine bacteria with severely reduced genomes
Get PDFMicrobes perform critical functions in corals, yet most knowledge is derived from the photic zone. Here, we discover two mollicutes that dominate the microbiome of the deep-sea octocoral, Callogorgia delta, and likely reside in the mesoglea. These symbionts are abundant across the host’s range, absent in the water, and appear to be rare in sediments. Unlike other mollicutes, they lack all known fermentative capabilities, including glycolysis, and can only generate energy from arginine provided by the coral host. Their genomes feature several mechanisms to interact with foreign DNA, including extensive CRISPR arrays and restriction-modification systems, which may indicate their role in symbiosis. We propose the novel family Oceanoplasmataceae which includes these symbionts and others associated with five marine invertebrate phyla. Its exceptionally broad host range suggests that the diversity of this enigmatic family remains largely undiscovered. Oceanoplasmataceae genomes are the most highly reduced among mollicutes, providing new insight into their reductive evolution and the roles of coral symbionts
A somatic genetic clock for clonal species
Get PDFAge and longevity are key parameters for demography and life-history evolution of organisms. In clonal species, a widespread life history among animals, plants, macroalgae and fungi, the sexually produced offspring (genet) grows indeterminately by producing iterative modules, or ramets, and so obscure their age. Here we present a novel molecular clock based on the accumulation of fixed somatic genetic variation that segregates among ramets. Using a stochastic model, we demonstrate that the accumulation of fixed somatic genetic variation will approach linearity after a lag phase, and is determined by the mitotic mutation rate, without direct dependence on asexual generation time. The lag phase decreased with lower stem cell population size, number of founder cells for the formation of new modules, and the ratio of symmetric versus asymmetric cell divisions. We calibrated the somatic genetic clock on cultivated eelgrass Zostera marina genets (4 and 17 years respectively). In a global data set of 20 eelgrass populations, genet ages were up to 1,403 years. The somatic genetic clock is applicable to any multicellular clonal species where the number of founder cells is small, opening novel research avenues to study longevity and, hence, demography and population dynamics of clonal species
Evaluating the PolarRES regional models using tailor-made climate indices for Arctic reindeer herding communities
Get PDFFrom a combination of the operational system of reindeer herding and meteorological seasonality, we developed a range of climate indices reflecting critical events in the reindeer herding year that influence the success of this livelihood. These critical events can be described as combinations of specific meteorological conditions, and therefor rendered as equations we can compute from climate model output, creating a capability for analysing different projections of the future and delivering relevant information on climate change to reindeer herding communities.For this purpose, we can use a wealth of different global and regional climate projections, with distinct advantages and disadvantages (e.g. model resolution, different greenhouse gas futures, high number of models in the ensemble for uncertainty estimates, process representation, availability of variables). For example, the CMIP6 ensemble enables the analysis of a broad range of greenhouse gas futures from a wide variety of models, allowing us to assess scenario uncertainty, but it is limited by its coarse spatial resolution. On the other hand, the PolarRES ensemble has a higher spatial resolution but is only available for one RCP/greenhouse gas future. The PolarRES ensemble consists of regional climate simulations generated by multiple regional climate models that dynamically downscale CMIP6 global climate simulations selected using a novel storyline approach. Both ensembles provide hindcast simulations that allow us to evaluate the ensemble performance with regard to the climate indices we defined.This study uses these simulations to evaluate and compare model performance to understand the potential and limitations of future projections of specific climate indices relevant for reindeer herding. We use in-situ based observations from the data set Global Summary of the Day to evaluate onset and end of the continuous freezing period, hot summer days, thawing days in autumn and freeze-thaw cycles in both spring and autumn.</jats:p
Dual-frequency radar observations of snowmelt processes on Antarctic perennial sea ice by CFOSCAT and ASCAT
Get PDFSince 2017, Antarctic sea ice coverage has shown significant reductions, and therefore observations of its surface melting behavior are of utmost importance. Here we study the capability of the Ku-band Chinese-French Oceanography Satellite Scatterometer (CFOSCAT) launched in 2018 to detect surface melting and compare it with more established observations of the C-band Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) in orbit since 2007. Both CFOSCAT and ASCAT observations show increases in radar backscatter of more than 2 dB over perennial ice once the ice surface warms and destructive snow metamorphism commences, defined as pre-melt onset (PMO). Backscatter increases by more than 3 dB once prominent thaw–freeze cycles commence, defined as snowmelt onset (SMO). Scatterometer data are compared with drifting buoy and ERA5 reanalysis air temperature data to support the interpretation of melt-related snow processes. Between 2019 and 2022, the average CFOSCAT pre-melt and snowmelt onset dates for 12 perennial ice study regions are 9 November (_23 d) and 1 December (_22 d), earlier than those of ASCAT on 21 November (_22 d) and 11 December (_25 d), respectively. Sensitivity tests show that results depend slightly on chosen backscatter thresholds but little on sea ice concentration. The derived SMOs are in good agreement with previous studies, but the SMO difference between dual-frequency radar observations is smaller than that reported by previous studies due to the sensor differences and different spatiotemporal resolutions. SMO differences between dual-frequency radar observations were also found to be potentially related to regional differences in snow metamorphism. With regard to the long-term changes in SMO, there are strong interannual and regional variabilities in SMO changes, and no consistent changes could be detected among different sub-regions with the beginning of Antarctic sea ice decline after 2015. Dual-frequency CFOSCAT and ASCAT observations hold strong promise for a better understanding of snowmelt processes on Antarctic sea ice, and it is necessary to extend the observation of Antarctic snowmelt based on dual-frequency scatterometers
Southern Ocean food-webs and climate change: A short review and future directions
Get PDFFood-webs are a critical feature of ecosystems and help us understand how communities will respond to climate change. The Southern Ocean is facing rapid and accelerating changes due to climate change. Though having evolved in an isolated and somewhat extreme environment, Southern Ocean biodiversity and food-webs are among the most vulnerable. Here, we review 1) current knowledge on Southern Ocean food-webs; 2) methods to study food-webs; 3) assessment of current and future impacts of climate change on Southern Ocean food-webs; 4) knowledge gaps; and 5) the role of Early Career Researchers (ECRs) in future studies. Most knowledge on Southern Ocean food-webs come from the pelagic environment, both at macro- and microbial levels. Modelling and diet studies of individual species are major contributors to the food-web knowledge. These studies revealed a short food-web, predominantly sustained by Antarctic Krill (Euphausia superba). Additionally, alternative pathways exist, involving other krill species, fish, and squid, which play equally important roles in connecting primary producers with top predators. Advantages and disadvantages of several techniques used to study Southern Ocean food-webs were identified, from the classical analyses of stomach contents, scats, or boluses to the most recent approaches such as metabarcoding and trophic-biomarkers. Observations show that climate change can impact the food-web in different ways. As an example, changes to smaller phytoplankton species can lengthen the food-web, increasing assimilation losses and/or changing nutrient cycles. Future studies need to focus on the benthic-dominated food-webs and the benthopelagic coupling. Furthermore, research during the winter season and below the ice-shelves is needed as these areas may play a crucial role in the functioning of this ecosystem. ECRs can play a significant role in advancing the study of Southern Ocean food-webs due to their willingness for interdisciplinary collaboration and proficiency in employing various methodologies, contributing to the construction of high-resolution food-webs.</jats:p
Simulated radiocarbon cycle revisited by considering the bipolar seesaw and benthic 14C data
Get PDFCarbon cycle models used to calculate the marine reservoir age of the non-polar surface ocean (called Marine20) out of IntCal20, the compilation of atmospheric C, have so far neglected a key aspect of the millennial-scale variability connected with the thermal bipolar seesaw: changes in the strength of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) related to Dansgaard/Oeschger and Heinrich events. Here we implement such AMOC changes in the carbon cycle box model BICYCLE-SE to investigate how model performance over the last 55 kyr is affected, in particular with respect to available 14C and CO2 data. Constraints from deep ocean 14C data suggest that the AMOC in the model during Heinrich stadial 1 needs to be highly reduced or even completely shutdown. Ocean circulation and sea ice coverage combined are the processes that almost completely explain the simulated changes in deep ocean 14C age, and these are also responsible for a glacial drawdown of ∼60 ppm of atmospheric CO2. We find that the implementation of abrupt reductions in AMOC during Greenland stadials in the model setup that was previously used for the calculation of Marine20 leads to differences of less than ±100 14C yrs. The representation of AMOC changes therefore appears to be of minor importance for deriving non-polar mean ocean radiocarbon calibration products such as Marine20, where atmospheric carbon cycle variables are forced by reconstructions. However, simulated atmospheric CO2 exhibits minima during AMOC reductions in Heinrich stadials, in disagreement with ice core data. This mismatch supports previous suggestions that millennial-scale changes in CO2 were probably not driven directly by the AMOC, but rather by biological and physical processes in the Southern Ocean and by contributions from variable land carbon storage