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Science 10 March 2006:
Vol. 311. no. 5766, pp. 1461 - 1464
DOI: 10.1126/science.1121365
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Reports

A Major Ecosystem Shift in the Northern Bering Sea

Jacqueline M. Grebmeier,1* James E. Overland,2 Sue E. Moore,3 Ed V. Farley,4 Eddy C. Carmack,5 Lee W. Cooper,1 Karen E. Frey,6 John H. Helle,4 Fiona A. McLaughlin,5 S. Lyn McNutt7

Until recently, northern Bering Sea ecosystems were characterized by extensive seasonal sea ice cover, high water column and sediment carbon production, and tight pelagic-benthic coupling of organic production. Here, we show that these ecosystems are shifting away from these characteristics. Changes in biological communities are contemporaneous with shifts in regional atmospheric and hydrographic forcing. In the past decade, geographic displacement of marine mammal population distributions has coincided with a reduction of benthic prey populations, an increase in pelagic fish, a reduction in sea ice, and an increase in air and ocean temperatures. These changes now observed on the shallow shelf of the northern Bering Sea should be expected to affect a much broader portion of the Pacific-influenced sector of the Arctic Ocean.

1 Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecology Group, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 10515 Research Drive, Building A, Suite 100, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37932, USA.
2 Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Seattle, WA 98115, USA.
3 Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115, USA.
4 Auke Bay Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 11305 Glacier Highway, Juneau, AK 99801, USA.
5 Institute of Ocean Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 9860 West Saanich Road, Sidney, BC V8L 4B2, Canada.
6 Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
7 Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jgrebmei{at}utk.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
HIGH-RESOLUTION MG/CA RATIOS IN A CORALLINE RED ALGA AS A PROXY FOR BERING SEA TEMPERATURE VARIATIONS FROM 1902 TO 1967.
S. HETZINGER, J. HALFAR, A. KRONZ, R. S. STENECK, W. ADEY, P. A. LEBEDNIK, and B. R. SCHONE (2009)
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Environmental constraints upon locomotion and predator-prey interactions in aquatic organisms: an introduction.
P Domenici, G Claireaux, and D.J McKenzie (2007)
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DNA evidence for historic population size and past ecosystem impacts of gray whales.
S. E. Alter, E. Rynes, and S. R. Palumbi (2007)
PNAS 104, 15162-15167
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Sea ice expansion in the Bering Sea during the Neoglacial: evidence from archaeozoology.
S.J. Crockford and S.G. Frederick (2007)
The Holocene 17, 699-706
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Changes in Embryonic Development and Hatching in Chionoecetes opilio (Snow Crab) With Variation in Incubation Temperature.
J. B. Webb, G. L. Eckert, T. C. Shirley, and S. L. Tamone (2007)
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Migratory shearwaters integrate oceanic resources across the Pacific Ocean in an endless summer.
S. A. Shaffer, Y. Tremblay, H. Weimerskirch, D. Scott, D. R. Thompson, P. M. Sagar, H. Moller, G. A. Taylor, D. G. Foley, B. A. Block, et al. (2006)
PNAS 103, 12799-12802
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Climate regime shifts and community reorganization in the Gulf of Alaska: how do recent shifts compare with 1976/1977?.
M. A. Litzow (2006)
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