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Oceanographic influence on the early life-history stages of benthic invertebrates during the polar night

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Abstract

Recent research has illuminated biological processes taking place during the polar night in the high Arctic, while simultaneously, the polar regions are undergoing rapid climate-driven change. There is a pressing need for research to establish baseline conditions and understand the influence of oceanographic factors on polar communities. We collected plankton samples in Kongsfjorden (Svalbard, Arctic) in January 2020, in order to study the early life-history stages of benthic invertebrates during the polar night. Specimens were identified using morphology and DNA barcoding. During our field campaign, a strong wind event occurred, which caused upwelling of Arctic water in the fjord. Therefore, we also investigated the influence of oceanographic factors on benthic invertebrate larvae, including temperature, salinity, and depth. Our samples included 19 different species or morphotypes belonging to ten invertebrate phyla, including three embryo morphotypes. The collection of embryos indicates that at least some taxa are reproducing in the polar night. Larval community structure at shallow stations was significantly different before and after the upwelling event. Our samples also reflected patchiness in the larval community and a significant influence of depth. The most common nutrition mode among the larval taxa we collected was lecithotrophy (energy derived from maternal yolk), but we also collected a few taxa that may be planktotrophic (feeding). Development via lecithotrophy could increase larval survival and settlement success in the low-food environment of the Arctic winter. This study provides essential data on the early life-history stages of benthic invertebrates in an understudied season.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the staff of the Sverdrup research station and Kings Bay AS, especially Helge Tore Markussen, Vera Sklet, Marine Ilg, and Erlend Havenstrøm, for their excellent support in the field. This project was funded by a cooperative agreement between Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Ocean University of China (WHOI project #18548200). X.S. Liu also received funding from the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 201964024). We especially appreciate the detailed comments provided by Jørgen Berge, William Froneman, and two anonymous reviewers that greatly strengthened this manuscript.

Funding

This project was funded by a cooperative agreement between Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Ocean University of China (WHOI project #18548200). XSL also received funding from the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 201964024).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Road, Falmouth, MA, 02543, USA

    Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser & Samuel R. Laney

  2. Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, 238 Songling Road, Qingdao, 266100, China

    Hongju Chen

  3. College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, 5 Yushan Road, Qingdao, 266003, China

    Xiaoshou Liu

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  1. Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser
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  2. Hongju Chen
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  3. Xiaoshou Liu
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  4. Samuel R. Laney
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All authors designed the study and collected data; KMK analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; all authors edited the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser.

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Meyer-Kaiser, K., Chen, H., Liu, X. et al. Oceanographic influence on the early life-history stages of benthic invertebrates during the polar night. Polar Biol 44, 1781–1793 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-021-02918-0

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