TY - JOUR
T1 - Antarctic ecosystem responses following ice-shelf collapse and iceberg calving: Science review and future research
T2 - Science review and future research
AU - Ingels, Jeroen
AU - Mahon, Andrew R
AU - Aronson, Richard B.
AU - Smith, Craig R.
AU - Baco, Amy
AU - Bik, Holly M.
AU - Blake, James A.
AU - Brandt, Angelika
AU - Cape, Mattias
AU - Demaster, David
AU - Dolan, Emily
AU - Domack, Eugene
AU - Fire, Spencer
AU - Geisz, Heidi
AU - Gigliotti, Michael
AU - Griffiths, Huw
AU - Halanych, Kenneth M.
AU - Havermans, Charlotte
AU - Huettmann, Falk
AU - Ishman, Scott
AU - Kranz, Sven A.
AU - Leventer, Amy
AU - McClintock, James
AU - McCormick, Michael L.
AU - Mitchell, B. Greg
AU - Murray, Alison E.
AU - Peck, Lloyd
AU - Rogers, Alex
AU - Shoplock, Barbara
AU - Smith, Kathryn E.
AU - Steffel, Brittan
AU - Stukel, Michael R.
AU - Sweetman, Andrew K.
AU - Taylor, Michelle
AU - Thurber, Andrew R.
AU - Truffer, Martin
AU - van de Putte, Anton
AU - Vanreusel, Ann
AU - Zamora-Duran, Maria Angelica
N1 - Funding Information:
The Earth is in the throes of the Anthropocene, and the Antarctic is no exception. The calving of A68, a 5,800 km iceberg that shed in July 2017 from the Larsen C Ice Shelf, is one of over 10 significant ice‐shelf‐loss events in the past few decades driven by anthropogenically accelerated warming. The Antarctic Peninsula (AP) ice shelves are thinning rapidly (Pritchard et al., 2012 ; Shepherd, Wingham, Payne, & Skvarca, 2003 ; Shepherd, Wingham, & Rignot, 2004 ), retreating (Vaughan & Doake, 1996 ), losing volume, and suffering collapse (Doake & Vaughan, 1991 ; Rott, Skvarca, & Nagler, 1996 ; Scambos et al., 2009 ). Despite the significant impacts such events have on glaciology, biogeochemistry, physical oceanography, and the structure and function of surrounding ecosystems, significant gaps still limit our understanding of ice‐shelf systems, including poor knowledge of the process leading up to ice‐shelf demise. During and after collapse, scientific studies typically are delayed by years owing to variable sea‐ice conditions, logistical and infrastructural issues, and funding delays. Such studies are becoming increasingly multidisciplinary and more responsive, as demonstrated by rapid mobilization of researchers from the international community to the AP within months of the A68 calving. International consortia mounting rapid deployments included the British Antarctic Survey, the Korea Polar Research Institute with science support from the U.S. National Science Foundation, and the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI, Germany), as well as the International Consortium of the Weddell Sea Expedition a year later. Scientists and the media followed the activities closely and supported the efforts, but there is still an urgent need for data and observations from collapsing ice‐shelf systems so that the changing nature of these environments can be understood. 2
Funding Information:
We gratefully acknowledge funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation through grants ANT‐1750903, ANT‐1750888, and ANT‐1750630 to Jeroen Ingels, Craig R. Smith, and Richard B. Aronson, which supported the workshop and associated activities, including the writing of this article. Heidi Geisz acknowledges support from the British Antarctic Survey. This is contribution no. 231 from the Institute for Global Ecology at the Florida Institute of Technology. Charlotte Havermans was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Science Foundation) with the projects HA7627/1‐1 and HA7627/1‐2 within the Priority Programme 1158 on Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice and currently as head of the Helmholtz Young Investigator Group Arctic Jellies. James McClintock wishes to acknowledge funding from ANT‐OPP‐1744550 and an endowed professorship from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Kenneth M. Halanych and Andrew R. Mahon acknowledge NSF support (ANT‐1043670, ANT‐1043745). Holly Bik acknowledges NSF support through RCN EukHiTS (DBI‐1262480) which provided workshop travel support for Michelle Taylor, Charlotte Havermans, and Holly M. Bik. Alex Rogers acknowledges Pew Charitable Trust funding for attendance to the workshop.
Funding Information:
British Antarctic Survey; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Grant/Award Numbers: HA7627/1‐1, HA7627/1‐2; National Science Foundation, Grant/Award Numbers: ANT‐1043670, ANT‐1043745, ANT‐1744550, ANT‐1750630, ANT‐1750888, ANT‐1750903, DBI‐1262480; Pew Charitable Trusts; University of Alabama at Birmingham Funding information
Funding Information:
We gratefully acknowledge funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation through grants ANT-1750903, ANT-1750888, and ANT-1750630 to Jeroen Ingels, Craig R. Smith, and Richard B. Aronson, which supported the workshop and associated activities, including the writing of this article. Heidi Geisz acknowledges support from the British Antarctic Survey. This is contribution no. 231 from the Institute for Global Ecology at the Florida Institute of Technology. Charlotte Havermans was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Science Foundation) with the projects HA7627/1-1 and HA7627/1-2 within the Priority Programme 1158 on Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice and currently as head of the Helmholtz Young Investigator Group Arctic Jellies. James McClintock wishes to acknowledge funding from ANT-OPP-1744550 and an endowed professorship from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Kenneth M. Halanych and Andrew R. Mahon acknowledge NSF support (ANT-1043670, ANT-1043745). Holly Bik acknowledges NSF support through RCN EukHiTS (DBI-1262480) which provided workshop travel support for Michelle Taylor, Charlotte Havermans, and Holly M. Bik. Alex Rogers acknowledges Pew Charitable Trust funding for attendance to the workshop.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC.
PY - 2021/1/1
Y1 - 2021/1/1
N2 - The calving of A-68, the 5,800-km2, 1-trillion-ton iceberg shed from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in July 2017, is one of over 10 significant ice-shelf loss events in the past few decades resulting from rapid warming around the Antarctic Peninsula. The rapid thinning, retreat, and collapse of ice shelves along the Antarctic Peninsula are harbingers of warming effects around the entire continent. Ice shelves cover more than 1.5 million km2 and fringe 75% of Antarctica's coastline, delineating the primary connections between the Antarctic continent, the continental ice, and the Southern Ocean. Changes in Antarctic ice shelves bring dramatic and large-scale modifications to Southern Ocean ecosystems and continental ice movements, with global-scale implications. The thinning and rate of future ice-shelf demise is notoriously unpredictable, but models suggest increased shelf-melt and calving will become more common. To date, little is known about sub-ice-shelf ecosystems, and our understanding of ecosystem change following collapse and calving is predominantly based on responsive science once collapses have occurred. In this review, we outline what is known about (a) ice-shelf melt, volume loss, retreat, and calving, (b) ice-shelf-associated ecosystems through sub-ice, sediment-core, and pre-collapse and post-collapse studies, and (c) ecological responses in pelagic, sympagic, and benthic ecosystems. We then discuss major knowledge gaps and how science might address these gaps. This article is categorized under: Climate, Ecology, and Conservation > Modeling Species and Community Interactions.
AB - The calving of A-68, the 5,800-km2, 1-trillion-ton iceberg shed from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in July 2017, is one of over 10 significant ice-shelf loss events in the past few decades resulting from rapid warming around the Antarctic Peninsula. The rapid thinning, retreat, and collapse of ice shelves along the Antarctic Peninsula are harbingers of warming effects around the entire continent. Ice shelves cover more than 1.5 million km2 and fringe 75% of Antarctica's coastline, delineating the primary connections between the Antarctic continent, the continental ice, and the Southern Ocean. Changes in Antarctic ice shelves bring dramatic and large-scale modifications to Southern Ocean ecosystems and continental ice movements, with global-scale implications. The thinning and rate of future ice-shelf demise is notoriously unpredictable, but models suggest increased shelf-melt and calving will become more common. To date, little is known about sub-ice-shelf ecosystems, and our understanding of ecosystem change following collapse and calving is predominantly based on responsive science once collapses have occurred. In this review, we outline what is known about (a) ice-shelf melt, volume loss, retreat, and calving, (b) ice-shelf-associated ecosystems through sub-ice, sediment-core, and pre-collapse and post-collapse studies, and (c) ecological responses in pelagic, sympagic, and benthic ecosystems. We then discuss major knowledge gaps and how science might address these gaps. This article is categorized under: Climate, Ecology, and Conservation > Modeling Species and Community Interactions.
KW - Antarctic
KW - climate change
KW - ecosystems
KW - ice shelf
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85092053684&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/wcc.682
DO - 10.1002/wcc.682
M3 - Article
SN - 1757-7780
VL - 12
SP - e682
JO - Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change
JF - Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change
IS - 1
M1 - e682
ER -
