Benthic scavenger community composition and carrion removal in Arctic and Subarctic fjords
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Benthic scavenger community composition and carrion removal in Arctic and Subarctic fjords K. Dunlop1,8 · P. E. Renaud1,2 · J. Berge2,3,4 · D. O. B. Jones5 · R. P. Harbour6 · A. H. S. Tandberg7 · A. K. Sweetman6 Received: 6 December 2019 / Accepted: 17 November 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract In high latitude coastal regions, benthic scavenger communities are largely composed of invertebrates that play a key role in the cycling of organic matter. Factors including temperature and depth can structure Arctic and Subarctic fjord benthic communities, but the response of scavenging communities to these factors is poorly known. To address this, we compared scavenging fauna in eight fjords with different physical characteristics in Svalbard and northern Norway using time-lapse imagery of scavengers consuming Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) bait. Fjords influenced by relatively warm Atlantic waters, both in Norway and Svalbard, had high scavenger richness. However, Svalbard fjords with negative bottom temperatures had the lowest species richness and were dominated by lysianassoid amphipods and ophiuroids. In these cold Svalbard fjords, the mean carrion removal rates were almost 20 times higher than mean values noted elsewhere, except in the warm Norwegian fjord Kaldfjorden. Amphipods and ophiuroids quickly reduced the bait to bones (207.6–304.7 g removed per hour (g h−1); mean 290.6 ± 7.3 g h−1, n = 4) in cold Svalbard fjords. In the warmer Svalbard fjords, carrion removal rates were low (0–51.5 g h−1; mean 14.6 ± 9.0 g h−1, n = 5). Carrion removal rates in Kaldfjorden were higher than other Atlantic Water influenced fjords (132.1 and 372.5 g h−1, n = 2) owing to the scavenging activity of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). The results demonstrate potential ecosystem responses to warming in Arctic and Subarctic fjords, particularly effects related to range expansion of boreal species. Keywords Arctic fjords · Benthic scavengers · Climate change · Atlantic cod
Introduction Scavengers feed on carrion and thus play a major role in nutrient cycling and maintaining ecosystem function in marine habitats (Britton and Morton 1994; King et al. 2007). Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02773-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * K. Dunlop [email protected] 1
Akvaplan-niva, 9296 Fram Centre, Tromsø, Norway
2
University Centre in Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Norway
3
Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway
4
Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and Systems, Department of Biology, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
5
National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton Waterfront Campus, Southampton, UK
In coastal northern high latitude waters, studies have been conducted on the community composition (Legeżyńska et al. 2000; Legeżyńska 2001; Nygård et al. 2012), population dynamics (Nygård et al. 2009, 2010) and feeding ecology (Legeżyńska 2001, 2
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