Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: The Arctic Ocean (AO) is being rapidly transformed by global warming, but its biodiversity remains understudied for many planktonic organisms, in particular for unicellular eukaryotes that play pivotal roles in marine food webs and biogeochemical cycles. The aim of this study was to characterize the biogeographic ranges of species that comprise the contemporary pool of unicellular eukaryotes in the AO as a first step toward understanding mechanisms that structure these communities and identifying potential target species for monitoring. Leveraging the Tara Oceans DNA metabarcoding data, we mapped the global distributions of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) found on Arctic shelves into five biogeographic categories, identified biogeographic indicators, and inferred the degree to which AO communities of unicellular eukaryotes share members with assemblages from lower latitudes. Arctic/Polar indicator OTUs, as well as some globally ubiquitous OTUs, dominated the detection and abundance of DNA reads in the Arctic samples. OTUs detected only in Arctic samples (Arctic-exclusives) showed restricted distribution with relatively low abundances, accounting for 10–16% of the total Arctic OTU pool. OTUs with high abundances in tropical and/or temperate latitudes (non-Polar indicators) were also found in the AO but mainly at its periphery. We observed a large change in community taxonomic composition across the Atlantic-Arctic continuum, supporting the idea that advection and environmental filtering are important processes that shape plankton assemblages in the AO. Altogether, this study highlights the connectivity between the AO and other oceans, and provides a framework for monitoring and assessing future changes in this vulnerable ecosystem.
Authors: Federico M. Ibarbalz, Nicolas Henry, Frédéric Mahé, Mathieu Ardyna, Adriana Zingone, Eleonora Scalco, Connie Lovejoy, Fabien Lombard, Olivier Jaillon, Daniele Iudicone, Shruti Malviya, Tara Oceans Coordinators, Matthew B. Sullivan, Samuel Chaffron, Eric Karsenti, Marcel Babin, Emmanuel Boss, Patrick Wincker, Lucie Zinger, Colomban de Vargas, Chris Bowler, Lee Karp-Boss
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Inserm, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Institut de Biologie de l'École Normale Supérieure, Instituto Franco-Argentino sobre Estudios de Clima y sus Impactos, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Sorbonne Université, Adaptation et Diversité en Milieu Marin, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Plant Health Institute de Montpellier, Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche, Université Laval, Stanford University, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Québec-Océan, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Université Paris-Saclay, Génomique Métabolique du Genoscope, Genoscope, Institut de biologie François Jacob, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, The Ohio State University, Laboratoire des Sciences du Numérique de Nantes, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, University of Maine, Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life below water
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,450
OpenAlex ID: W4362681663