Contrasting Pelagic Ecosystem Functioning in Eastern and Western Baffin Bay Revealed by Trophic Network Modeling
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.
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