Skip to main content
Log in

Unusual abundance of macrobenthos and biological invasions in the Chukchi Sea

  • Hydrobiology
  • Published:
Russian Journal of Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The data from the expedition of the program RUSALCA conducted in 2004 showed unexpectedly high quantitative indices of macrobenthos in the southeastern Chukchi Sea. Extensive areas of the bottom northwest of the Bering Strait were dominated by the bivalve Macoma calcarea. The greatest biomass of benthos in Macoma-dominated areas was 4232 g/m2 with an average of 1382 g/m2 for the investigated region. Such a high biomass of soft-bottom communities, which is extremely uncommon even in the temperature regions of the oceans, is reported for the Arctic for the first time. The long-term existence (more than 70 years) of highly productive benthic communities dominated by Macoma calcarea in one and the same area of the Chukchi Sea can most likely be attributed to gyres, which constantly arise in the region northwest of the Bering Strait. These cyclonic gyres carry nutrient-rich bottom water to the surface and hinder larval transport away from mother populations. They also keep and concentrate major food sources of benthos (live and dead phyto-and zooplankton and fecal pellets) over the benthic community locations. Most likely, a significant proportion of the primary production in the southeastern Chukchi Sea is used by benthos within the investigated Macoma community. Findings of three relatively large warm-water Pacific species near Point Hope in the Chukchi Sea are probably indicative of the progressive climate warming during the last century.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Aristov, A.A. and Baryshnikov, G.F., Carnivores and Pinnipeds, Mlekopitayushchie fauny Rossii i sopredel’nykh territorii (Mammals of Russia and Adjacent Territories), St.-Petersburg: Zoological Institute RAS, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Vinogradov, L.G., Identification Keys for Shrimps, Crawfish, and Crabs of the Far East, Izv. TINRO, 1950, vol. 33.

  3. Vorob’ev, V.P., Benthos of the Azov Sea, Trydy Azovo-Chernomor. NII Mor. Ryb. Khoz-va i Okeanogr., 1949, vol. 13.

  4. Gagaev, S.Yu., Comparative Characteristics of Polychaete Taxocenoses of Pevek Strait, Chaunskaya Guba Bay, and Long Strait, Okeanologiya, 1994, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 398–403.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Gakkel’, Ya.Ya. and Khmyznikov, P.K., Rezhim Chukotskogo morya po nablyudeniyam vo vremya dreifa Chelyuskina i lagerya Shmidta. Nauchnye rezul’taty rabot ekspeditsii na Chelyuskine i v lagere Shmidta (Regime of the Chukchi Sea After Observations Made During the Drift of RV Chelyuskin and in Smidt’s Camp. Scientific Results of Investigations during the Expedition aboard RV Chelyuskin and in Shmidt’s Camp), Leningrad: Izd. Glavsevmorputi, 1938, vol. 2, pp. 3–18.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Golikov, A.N., Babkov, A.I., and Golikov, A.A., Bottom Population of Herald Bank in the Chukchi Sea, Okeanologiya, 1991, vol. 31, issue 4, pp. 628–630.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Golikov, A.N., Gagaev, S.Yu., Golikov, A.A., and Potin, V.V., Bottom Biocenoses of Kolyuchinskaya Guba Bay of the Chukchi Sea, Okeanologiya, 1998, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 102–104.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Golikov, A.N., Lyuleev, V.N., Novikov, O.K., et al., Some Regularities in the Distribution of Life in Upper Horizons of Shelf Zone of Vrangel Island and Shmidt Cape, Morfologiya, sistematika i evolyutsiya zhivotnykh (Morphology, Systematics and Evolution of Animals), Collection of Papers, Leningrad: Zoological Institute, USSR Academy of Sciences, 1978, pp. 11–12.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Golikov, A.N., Lyuleev, V.N., Novikov, O.K., et al., On the Knowledge on Ecosystems of De-Longa Strait, Biologicheskie resursy Arktiki i Antarktiki (Biological Resources of the Arctic and Antarctic), Moscow: Nauka, 1987, pp. 122–133.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Deryugin, K. and Ivanov, A., Preliminary Report on Studies of Benthos of the Bering and Chukchi Seas, Issledovaniya morei SSSR (Investigations of Seas of the USSR), Moscow: Gidrometeorol. izd-vo, 1937, pp. 246–259.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Krylov, V.I., On the Feeding of Pacific Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens Ill.), Trydy AtlantNIRO, 1971, issue 39, pp. 110–116.

  12. Kuznetsov, A.P., Fauna donnykh bespozvonochnykh prikamchatskikh vod Tikhogo okeana i severnykh Kuril’skikh ostrovov (Fauna of Bottom Invertebrates of Pacific Waters around Kamchatka and the Northern Kuril Islands), Moscow: Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1963.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Makarov, V.V., Materialy po kolichestvennomu uchetu donnoi fauny severnoi chasti Beringova morya i Chukotskogo morya (Materials on Qualitative Distribution of Bottom Fauna in the Northern Parts of Bering and Chukchi Seas), Issledovaniya morei SSSR (Investigations of Seas of the USSR), Moscow: Gidrometeorol. Izd-vo, 1937, pp. 260–291.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Nikulin, P.G., Walrus of the Chukchi Sea, Far-Eastern Marine Mammals, Izv. TikhNIRO, 1941, vol. 20, pp. 21–53.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Ratmanov, G.E., On Hydrology of the Bering and Chukchi Seas, Issled. Morei SSSR, 1937, issue 25, pp. 10–118.

  16. Skarlato, O.A., Dvustvorchatye mollyuski umerennykh shirot zapadnoi chasti Tikhogo okeana (Bivalve Mollusks of Temperate Waters of the Western Pacific Ocean), Leningrad: Nauka, 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Starokadomskii, L.M., Zoological Stations of Taimyr Carrier in 1912 in the Northern Ocean and Coastal Sampling Performed During the Cruise, Ezhegodnik Zool. Muzeya Akademii Nauk, 1914, vol. 19, pp. 3–5.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Starokadomskii, L.M., Zoological Stations of Taimyr Carrier in 1913, Ezhegodnik Zool. Muzeya Akademii Nauk, 1916, vol. 21, pp. 27–50.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Ushakov, P.V., Chukchi Sea and Its Bottom Fauna, Krainii severo-vostok Soyuza SSR. Fauna i flora Chukotskogo morya (Extreme Southeast of the USSR. Fauna and Flora of the Chukchi Sea), 1952, vol. 2, pp. 5–83.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Coachman, L.K., Advection and Mixing on the Bering, Chukchi Shelves, ISHTAR 1986 Progr. Rept., vol. 1: Component A. Advection and Mixing of Coastal Waters on High Latitude Shelves, Fairbanks: Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Alaska, 1987, pp. 1–42.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Coachman, L.K., Aagaard, K., and Trip, R.B., Bering Strait: The Regional Oceanography, Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1975.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Coan, E.V., Scott, P.V., and Bernard, F.R., Bivalve Seashells of Western North America. Marine Bivalve Mollusks from Arctic Alaska to Baja California, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Monographs, no. 2: Studies in Biodiversity, 2000.

  23. Feder, H.M., Foster, N.R., Jewett, S.C., et al., Mollusks in the Northeastern Chukchi Sea, Arctic, 1994, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 145–163.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Feder, H.M. and Jewett, S.C., Survey of the Epifaunal Invertebrates of Norton Sound, Southeastern Chukchi Sea, and Kotzebue Sound, IMS Report R78-1, Fairbanks: Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska, 1978, p. 124.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Feder, H.M. and Jewett, S.C., Epifaunal Invertebrates of the Continental Shelf of the Eastern Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea, The Eastern Bering Sea Shelf: Oceanography and Resourses, Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1981, vol. 2, pp. 1131–1154.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Feder, H.M., Jewett, S.C., and Blanchard, A., Southeastern Chukchi Sea (Alaska) Epibenthos, Polar Biol., 2005, vol. 28, pp. 402–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Feder, H.M., Naidu, A.S., Jewett, S.C., et al., The Northeastern Chukchi Sea: Benthos-Environmental Interactions, Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser., 1994, vol. 111, pp. 171–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Foster, N.R., Intertidal Bivalves. A Guide to the Common Marine Bivalves of Alaska, Fairbanks: University of Alaska, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Grebmeier, J.M., Benthic Processes on the Shallow Continental Shelf, Results of the Third Joint US-USSR Bering and Chukchi Seas Expedition (BERPAC), 1992, pp. 243–251.

  30. Grebmeier, J.M., Studies of Pelagic-Benthic Coupling on the Soviet Continental Shelf in the Northern Bering and Chukchi Seas, Cont. Shelf Res., 1993, vol. 13, nos. 5–6, pp. 653–668.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Grebmeier, J.M., McRoy, C.P., and Feder, H.M., Pelagic-Benthic Coupling on the Shelf of the Northern Bering and Chukchi Seas. I: Food Supply Source and Benthic Biomass, Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser., 1988, vol. 48, pp. 57–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Ockelmann, K.W., The Zoology of East Greenland. Marine Lamellibranchia, Medd. Grønland., 1958, vol. 122, no. 4, pp. 1–256.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Sirenko, B.I., Introduction, List of Species of Free-Living Invertebrates of Eurasian Arctic Seas and Adjacent Deep Waters: Exploration of the Fauna of the Seas, 2001, vol. 51(59), pp. 5–10.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Sirenko, B.I. and Koltun, V.M., Characteristics of Benthic Biocenoses of the Chukchi and Bering Seas, Results of the Third Joint US-USSR Bering and Chukchi Seas Expedition (BERPAC) (summer 1988), 1992, pp. 251–261.

  35. Stoker, S.W., Benthic Invertebrate Macrofauna of the Eastern Bering/Chukchi Continental Shelf, The Eastern Bering Sea Shelf: Oceanography and Resources, Rockville, Maryland, USA: U. S. Department of Commerce; NOAA, 1981, vol. 2, pp. 1069–1091.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Stuxberg, A.Y., Evertebratafaunan: Sibiriens ishap. Forelopande meddelanden af Anton Stuxberg, Vega-Exped. Vetensk. Iakttag. (Stockholm), 1882, vol. 1, pp. 677–812.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Svedrup, H.U., The Waters on the North-Siberian Shelf, Sci. Results. Norw. North Polar Exped. Mand 1918–1925, 1929, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 26–84.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Walsh, J.J., McRoy, C.P., Coachman, L.K., et al., Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling Within the Bering/Chukchi Seas: Source Regions of Organic Matter Effecting AOU Demands of the Arctic Ocean, Progr. Oceanogr., 1989, vol. 22, pp. 279–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Weingartner, T., Aagaard, K., Woodgate, R., et al., Circulation on the North Central Chukchi Sea Shelf, Dee-Sea Res. II, 2005, vol. 52, pp. 3150–3174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to B. I. Sirenko.

Additional information

Original Russian Text © B.I. Sirenko, S.Yu. Gagaev, 2007, published in Biologiya Morya.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sirenko, B.I., Gagaev, S.Y. Unusual abundance of macrobenthos and biological invasions in the Chukchi Sea. Russ J Mar Biol 33, 355–364 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063074007060016

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063074007060016

Key words

Navigation