Contrasting Pelagic Ecosystem Functioning in Eastern and Western Baffin Bay Revealed by Trophic Network Modeling
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Saint-Béat, B, et al. 2020. Contrasting pelagic ecosystem functioning in eastern and western Baffin Bay revealed by trophic network modeling. Elem Sci Anth, 8: 1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.397 RESEARCH ARTICLE Contrasting pelagic ecosystem functioning in eastern and western Baffin Bay revealed by trophic network modeling Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/doi/10.1525/elementa.397/434413/397-6879-1-pb.pdf by Sorbonne University user on 04 January 2021 Blanche Saint-Béat*, Brian D. Fath†,‡, Cyril Aubry*, Jonathan Colombet§, Julie Dinasquet‖, Louis Fortier*, Virginie Galindo¶, Pierre-Luc Grondin*, Fabien Joux‖, Catherine Lalande*, Mathieu LeBlanc*, Patrick Raimbault**, Télesphore Sime-Ngando§, Jean-Eric Tremblay*, Daniel Vaulot††,‡‡, Frédéric Maps* and Marcel Babin* Baffin Bay, located at the Arctic Ocean’s ‘doorstep’, is a heterogeneous environment where a warm and salty eastern current flows northwards in the opposite direction of a cold and relatively fresh Arctic current flowing along the west coast of the bay. This circulation affects the physical and biogeochemical environment on both sides of the bay. The phytoplanktonic species composition is driven by its environment and, in turn, shapes carbon transfer through the planktonic food web. This study aims at determining the effects of such contrasting environments on ecosystem structure and functioning and the consequences for the carbon cycle. Ecological indices calculated from food web flow values provide ecosystem proper- ties that are not accessible by direct in situ measurement. From new biological data gathered during the Green Edge project, we built a planktonic food web model for each side of Baffin Bay, considering several biological processes involved in the carbon cycle, notably in the gravitational, lipid, and microbial carbon pumps. Missing flow values were estimated by linear inverse modeling. Calculated ecological network analysis indices revealed significant differences in the functioning of each ecosystem. The eastern Baffin Bay food web presents a more specialized food web that constrains carbon through specific and efficient pathways, leading to segregation of the microbial loop from the classical grazing chain. In contrast, the western food web showed redundant and shorter pathways that caused a higher carbon export, especially via lipid and microbial pumps, and thus promoted carbon sequestration. Moreover, indirect effects result- ing from bottom-up and top-down control impacted pairwise relations between species differently and led to the dominance of mutualism in the eastern food web. These differences in pairwise relations affect the dynamics and evolution of each food web and thus might lead to contrasting responses to ongoing climate change. Keywords: Food web modeling; Network analysis; Carbon cycle; Ecosystem functioning; Baffin bay; Arctic ocean Introduction organic carbon (POC), a portion of which sinks to the deep The planktonic marine ecosystem is involved in the carbon ocean by several processes grouped as the “biological cycle through several biological processes. An important pump”. Among them, the gravitational pump involves element of the carbon cycle is the fixation of CO2 by phy- the i) passively sinking POC and ii) fast sinking fecal toplankton in the surface ocean to produce particulate pellets from zooplankton grazing on primary producers. * Takuvik Joint International Laboratory, Université Laval Microbienne (LOMIC), Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls, FR (Canada) – CNRS (France), Département de biologie et ¶ Centre for Earth Observation Science, Faculty of Environment, Québec-Océan, Université Laval, Quebec, CA Earth and Resources, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, CA † Towson University, Department of Biological Sciences, Towson ** Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography, Aix-Marseille University, Towson, MD, US Université, CNRS/INSU, Université de Toulon, FR ‡ Advanced Systems Analysis Program, International Institute for †† Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, AT Roscoff, FR § LMGE, Laboratoire Microorganismes: Génome et Environnement, ‡‡ Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological Clermont Université, Université Clermont-Auvergne, Aubière University, SG Cedex, FR Corresponding author: Blanche Saint-Béat ‖ Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d’Océanographie ([email protected]) Art. 1, page 2 of 24 Saint-Béat et al: Contrasting pelagic ecosystem functioning in eastern and western Baffin Bay revealed by trophic network modeling An attenuation of the carbon exported during passive and fresher Baffin Island current flows outwards from the sinking can occur due to the remineralization of organic Canadian Archipelago, following Baffin Island shores. An detritus via bacterial degradation (e.g., Kellogg et al., 2011; east vs. west contrast in sea-ice freeze-up and melt tim- Le Moigne et al., 2013). Zooplankton are also involved in ing is usually observed, with an early melt in the eastern an active transport of carbon, with very limited attenua- region (Tang et al., 2004). As a result, the eastern and tion, below the sequestration depth (Visser et al., 2017; western sides of Baffin Bay have differing environments Jónasdóttir et al., 2019). The large copepods of the genus that extend northwards to the North Water, between Calanus, dominating the Arctic Ocean (e.g., Auel and Greenland and Ellesmere Island, where they shape dis- Hagen, 2002; Darnis et al., 2008), evolved their life-cycle tinct microbial and phytoplanktonic communities (Joli et strategy (Maps et al., 2014) in order to survive the winter. al., 2018). This complex environment was sampled during In spring–summer, Calanus converts assimilated food into the Green Edge project during the spring-to-summer tran- lipid stores (Hagen and Auel, 2001). Once stores are full, sition. The CCGS Amundsen icebreaker sampled several Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/doi/10.1525/elementa.397/434413/397-6879-1-pb.pdf by Sorbonne University user on 04 January 2021 Calanus migrates downwards to depths of 600–1400 m east–west transects by following the sea-ice retreat. where they begin diapause, by reducing their metabolism Simultaneously, a survey was performed at an ice camp and consuming their lipid stores during overwintering. site based on the west coast of Baffin Bay in order to catch By this trait, copepods contribute to the “lipid pump” the initial phases of the spring phytoplankton bloom. and allow the sequestration of a similar quantity of car- These efforts gathered large and diverse data sets that bon to the biological pump (Jónasdóttir et al., 2015). An were used in the present study to build food web models additional process, the “microbial carbon pump”, involves integrating the three carbon pumps and representing the Bacteria, Archaea, and viruses (Jiao et al., 2010) and western and the eastern Baffin Bay. refers to microbial processes that transform labile dis- This paper aims to elucidate how contrasting environ- solved organic carbon (DOC) into refractory DOC, which ments impact the internal flows of carbon, and how they is resistant to microbial use and can persist in the water influence, in turn, planktonic ecosystem functioning and column for thousands of years (Jiao et al., 2010). Three carbon sequestration. To build complete food web mod- main mechanisms for production of labile DOC have been els, we used linear inverse modelling (LIM) to estimate described: i) direct exudation during growth, ii) release of unmeasured flow values. The application of ecological cell macromolecules during viral lysis, and iii) degradation network analysis (ENA – see Fath and Patten, 1998) pro- of particulate organic matter. Thus, the multiple processes vided emergent properties, which cannot be revealed oth- occurring within the planktonic marine ecosystem repre- erwise from simple measurement (Fath et al., 2007). ENA sent key elements in the fate of carbon and its potential is a powerful tool to reveal and discriminate the function- sequestration. ing of various ecosystems. The combination of both tools Planktonic marine ecosystems are supported at their (LIM and ENA) revealed major differences in the function- base by phytoplankton that are strongly affected by ing of both food webs, especially in the fate of carbon their surrounding environment. Primary producers are fixed by primary producers. especially sensitive to the fluctuating light and nutrient conditions that directly control their growth. Because Material and methods each phytoplankton taxonomic group has developed spe- Study area cific strategies to thrive in the nutrient and light regime to Baffin Bay is a semi-enclosed sea located at the southern which they have adapted, the phytoplankton community edge of the Arctic Ocean system. It is oriented in the composition and the biogeography of species are largely north–south direction with a length of about 1400 km driven by the physical and biogeochemical oceanographic and a maximum width of 553 km, bounded by Greenland conditions (Falkowski et al., 2004; Boyd et al., 2010). The in the east and Baffin Island in the west. A central abyssal phytoplanktonic communities exhibit a set of traits, each basin deeper than 2300 m is surrounded by a wider con- having a specific and distinct role in the biogeochemical tinental shelf on its eastern side, compared to its west- cycle (Le Quéré et al., 2005). Phytoplankton at the