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Variability in the Condition of Juvenile Antarctic Krill, Euphausia Superba, at the Western

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Variability in the Condition of Juvenile Antarctic Krill, Euphausia Superba, at the Western Variability in the condition of juvenile Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, at the Western Antarctic Peninsula by Radhika Shah A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University Honors College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Honors Baccalaureate of Science in Environmental Science (Honors Scholar) March 8, 2019 Commencement June 2019 AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Radhika Shah for the degree of Honors Baccalaureate of Science in Environmental Science presented on March 8, 2019. Title: Variability in the condition of juvenile Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, at the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Abstract approved:_____________________________________________________ Kim Bernard Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, are a highly abundant zooplankton species found in the Southern Ocean. They are a key food choice for higher trophic levels and are important consumers near the base of the food web. Changes to the environment of the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), as a result of warming, are altering the marine pelagic ecosystem there. The size of the krill population in the region has decreased significantly over the past 90 years. Krill preferentially select diatoms over other phytoplankton species; however, diatoms are becoming less abundant and are being replaced by cryptophytes and primnesiophytes. Diatoms are an important source of polyunsaturated fatty acids that krill use for growth and development. I investigated whether changes in the abundance of diatoms (using the algal pigment, fucoxanthin, as a proxy) or in sea ice conditions (timing of advance and retreat) were related to the size (dry weight) and condition (caloric content standardized by weight) of juvenile krill. I found that there was a significant positive relationship between caloric content of juvenile krill and their dry weight. Further, my results indicated that juvenile krill caloric content and dry weight were positively correlated with a later sea ice advance and a higher abundance of diatoms. My results suggest that with continued increasing temperatures at the WAP and the predicted concurrent decline in diatom abundance, juvenile krill will be smaller and development may be delayed. This will negative implications for the krill population as a whole. This, coupled with increased harvesting of krill by humans, could negatively impact the entire Southern Ocean marine pelagic ecosystem. Key Words: Antarctic Krill, Western Antarctic Peninsula, sea ice duration, diatoms, Palmer LTER, caloric content. Corresponding e-mail address: [email protected] ©Copyright by Radhika Shah March 8, 2019 Variability in the condition of juvenile Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, at the Western Antarctic Peninsula by Radhika Shah A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University Honors College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Honors Baccalaureate of Science in Environmental Science (Honors Scholar) Presented March 8, 2019 Commencement June 2019 Honors Baccalaureate of Science in Environmental Science project of Radhika Shah presented on March 8, 2019. APPROVED: _____________________________________________________________________ Kim Bernard, Mentor, representing College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences _____________________________________________________________________ Maria Kavanaugh, Committee Member, representing College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences _____________________________________________________________________ Jennifer Fehrenbacher, Committee Member, representing College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences _____________________________________________________________________ Toni Doolen, Dean, Oregon State University Honors College I understand that my project will become part of the permanent collection of Oregon State University, Honors College. My signature below authorizes release of my project to any reader upon request. _____________________________________________________________________ Radhika Shah, Author Table of Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 8 1.1. Why the condition of juvenile krill is an important factor .......................................... 8 1.2. The changing WAP ..................................................................................................... 9 1.1.1 Sea ice 9 1.1.2 Changes at the base of the food web .................................................................................................. 10 1.3. Objectives and hypotheses ........................................................................................ 11 2. Methods .................................................................................................................... 12 2.1. Krill collection and selection ..................................................................................... 12 2.2. Environmental variables ............................................................................................ 13 2.3. Caloric content and dry weight measurements .......................................................... 14 2.4. Data analysis .............................................................................................................. 14 3. Results ....................................................................................................................... 15 4. Discussion ................................................................................................................. 16 4.1. Relationship between body size and condition ......................................................... 17 4.2. The effect of timing of sea ice advance on the condition and size of juvenile krill .. 17 4.3. The effect of relative abundance of diatoms on the condition and size of juvenile krill 18 4.4 Management Implications ...................................................................................... 19 5. Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 19 6. References ................................................................................................................ 21 7. List of Figures .......................................................................................................... 26 List of Tables: ..................................................................................................................... 35 1. Introduction Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba (hereafter referred to as “krill”), is a highly abundant and extremely successful zooplankton species in the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Its high abundance makes krill a key food choice for higher trophic levels such as penguins, whales, seabirds, seals, squid, and fish (Lawson et al., 2007; Schmidt et al., 2014; Nicol, 2006). Krill are also important consumers at the base of the marine food web, feeding on a mix of diatoms, copepods and protozoans (Kohlbach et al., 2017; Haberman et al., 2003; Stubing and Hagen, 2003). The krill population density is almost ten times higher at the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) and the Scotia Sea as compared to the rest of Antarctica (Nicol, 2006). However, environmental changes occurring at the WAP as a result of atmospheric and ocean warming are profoundly altering the marine pelagic ecosystem. In the last 90 years, the size of the krill population in this region has decreased significantly (Figure 1, from Atkinson et al., 2019). One of the leading causes is reduced sea ice which decreases egg production and larval and juvenile krill survival (Atkinson et al., 2019). 1.1. Why the condition of juvenile krill is an important factor Krill condition (e.g. size and lipid content) at the juvenile stage is an important indicator of population health. Juvenile krill that are in poor condition will have low growth rates and smaller body sizes as adults (Quetin and Ross, 1991). Since the age at first spawning in krill varies by region (Ross and Quetin, 1991) and can be affected by body size (Meyer et al., 2009), a reduction in the condition of juvenile krill may also delay their reproductive development and lifelong fecundity. In this thesis, I have used caloric content per unit dry weight [Joules (mg DW)- 1] as an indicator of juvenile krill condition, where a greater caloric content per unit dry weight indicates better condition. 1.2. The changing WAP 1.1.1 Sea ice The WAP is one of the most rapidly warming regions on the planet (Mulvaney et al., 2012; Lima and Estay, 2013; Schofield et al., 2017). As a result of this warming, both sea ice extent and the duration of the sea ice season (determined by the timing of annual sea ice advance and retreat) are decreasing (Stammerjohn et al., 2009). Krill, with a life span of 5-7 years, rely heavily on winter sea ice, particularly at the larval and early-juvenile stages. Krill spawn during the summer months, from December to March, and the larvae mature by fall (Fraser 1936). Larval krill must then survive the winter before they are able to recruit as juveniles into the population the following spring (Quetin and Ross, 2003). Winters with poor sea ice are commonly followed with low recruitment rates the following spring (Ryabov et al., 2017). Juvenile krill are also better able to survive the winter with good sea ice conditions (i.e. longer duration) (Quetin et al., 1996). Juvenile krill are dependent on under-ice habitats during the winter months for food sources and protection against predators
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