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Primary production and climatic variability in the European sector of the Arctic Ocean prior to 2007: preliminary results

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Abstract

The primary production in the Greenland Sea, Fram Strait, Barents Sea, Kara Sea and adjacent Polar Ocean was investigated through the physically–biologically coupled, nested 3D SINMOD model with 4 km grid size for the years 1995–2007. The model had atmospheric forcing from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis data. Three basic gross primary production (GPP) domains were distinguished: (i) an extensive domain dominated by Atlantic Water, (ii) an elongated domain roughly corresponding to the seasonal ice zone (SIZ) and (iii) a compact perennial ice zone (>100, between 100 and 30 and <30 g C m−2 year−1, respectively). The interannual coefficient of variation for GPP in domain (i) was <0.1, and increased northwards towards >0.6 in the northwesternmost and northeasternmost fringe of the SIZ. The primary production in the northern sector of the European Arctic Corridor (EAC) region prior to 2007 was characterised by limited interannual variability, on average 75.2 ± 10% and 24.0 ± 16% g C m−2 year−1 for the EAC region at 74–80 and >80°N, respectively. The main primary production anomalies were found early in the productive season and in sections of the SIZ, generally in regions with low GPP. There was no significant trend of increasing GPP in the 1995–2007 time interval.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the project Carbon flux and ecosystem feedback in the northern Barents Sea in an era of climate change (CABANERA, Research Council of Norway, Norklima programme, grant # 155936/700). Additional support came from the European Union through the project Arctic Tipping Points (ATP, contract # 226248, www.eu-atp.org) in the framework FP7 and from the Norwegian Research Council through its International Polar Year programme and the project iAOOS-Norway—Closing the Loop (grant # 176096/S30; http://www.iaoos.no).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Arctic and Marine Biology, University of Tromsø, 9037, Tromsø, Norway

    Paul Wassmann

  2. SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture, 7465, Trondheim, Norway

    Dag Slagstad & Ingrid Ellingsen

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  1. Paul Wassmann
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  2. Dag Slagstad
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  3. Ingrid Ellingsen
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Correspondence to Paul Wassmann.

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Wassmann, P., Slagstad, D. & Ellingsen, I. Primary production and climatic variability in the European sector of the Arctic Ocean prior to 2007: preliminary results. Polar Biol 33, 1641–1650 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-010-0839-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-010-0839-3

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