Table 1. Reports of changes in Arctic plankton in response to climate change showing the organism and region investigated, the period
of observation, and the response observed. The code number identifies the corresponding symbol in Fig. 3.
Subject
Primary production
Phytoplankton biomass
Primary production
Planktonic diatom
Primary production
Amphipods
Zooplankton community
Copepods
Jellyfish
Region
Arctic Ocean
Barents Sea
Arctic Ocean
Labrador Sea
Beaufort Sea
Kongsfjord,
Svalbard
West
Greenland
Kongsfjord,
Svalbard
Bering Sea
Climatic driver
Ice changes
Ice changes
Ice changes
Altered circulation
Ice changes
Altered circulation
Footprint
Increased annual primary production
Increased phytoplankton biomass
Increased primary production
Range shift of Neodenticula seminae
Increased primary production
Increasing proportion of Themisto abyssorum to T. libellula
Reference
Arrigo et al. (2008)
Qu et al. (2006)
Pabi et al. (2008)
Reid et al. (2007)
Mundy et al. (2009)
Hop et al. (2006)
Code
1
2
3
4
5
6
Warming
Changes in zooplankton abundance and composition
7
Altered circulation
Increasing contribution of smaller copepods
Pedersen & Rice
(2002)
Hop et al. (2006)
Warming
Increase in jellyfish biomass
Brodeur et al.
(1999)
9
8
Table 2. Reports of changes in Arctic benthos in response to climate change showing the organism and region investigated, the period of
observation, and the response observed. The code number identifies the corresponding symbol in Fig. 3. The code numbers with
asterisk are changes that have not been documented in the published literature as yet, and therefore offer a weaker basis for the
assessment.
Subject
Region
Climatic driver
Footprint
Reference
Benthic algae
Spitsbergen fjords
Altered circulation
Advance to upper littoral
10
Macroalgae
Svalbard Bays
Amphipods
Chirikov Basin,
Bering Sea
N Bering Sea
Increased river
discharge
Possibly climate change
Reduced UVR damage to Saccharina
latissima
Decline of Byblis spp.
Jan Marsin Weslawski,
pers. com.
Rodela et al. (2008)
Moore et al. (2003)
12
Warming
Decline in benthic biomass
Grebmeier et al. (2006)
13
Svalbard
Chukchi Sea
Greenland
Bering Sea
Altered circulation
Warming
Ice changes
Warming
Northward range shift of Mytilus edulis
Increase in Macoma calcarea biomass
Changes in Clinocardium ciliatum growth
Cod invasion reduces crab abundance
Berge et al. (2005)
Sirenko & Gagaev (2007)
Sejr et al. (2009)
Orensanz et al. (2004)
14
15
16
17
Svalbard
S Svalbard
Warming
Altered circulation
Change in composition
Increase in Gammarus oceanicus proportion
18
19
Shrimp
Snow crab
SW Greenland
Bering Sea
Snow crab
Greenland
Cockle
Chukchi Sea
NW Svalbard
Possibly climate change
Warming and ice
changes
Altered circulation
Climate change
Increased shrimp catch
Decrease in snow crab in their southern
range
Change in abundance
Changes in Serripes groenlandicus growth
Berge et al. (2009)
Jan Marsin Weslawski,
pers. com.
Overland et al. (2004)
Otto & Stevens (2003)
Bodil Bluhm, pers. com.
Ambrose et al. (2006)
22
23
Benthic
community
Blue mussel
Clam
Clam
Benthic
community
structure
Decapods
Crustaceans
Code
11
20
21
Table 3. Reports of changes in Arctic fish in response to climate change showing the organism and region investigated, the period of
observation, and the response observed. The code number identifies the corresponding symbol in Fig. 3.
Subject
Cod
Cod and Shrimp
Greenland Turbot
Region
Barents Sea
West Greenland
Bering Sea
Pacific Cod
Bering Sea
Cod
North Atlantic
Climatic driver
Warming
Warming
Warming and ice
changes
Warming and
reduced sea ice
Warming
Cod
Barents Sea
NAO/temperature
Snake Pipefish
Walleye Pollock
W Svalbard
Chukchi and
Bering Seas
Bering Sea
Warming
Warming
Walleye Pollock
Warming and ice
changes
Footprint
Increased cod recruitment and length
Replacement of cod by shrimp
Increased spawning biomass
Reference
Overland et al. (2004)
Hamilton et al. (2003)
Overland & Stabeno (2004)
Code
24
25
26
Reduced spawning biomass
Overland & Stabeno (2004)
27
Northward spread and increased spawning stock
biomass and recruitment
Positive relation between cod recruitment and
temperature
Northward range shift
Northward range shift
Drinkwater (2009)
28
Ottersen & Stenseth (2001)
29
Fleischer et al. (2007)
Mecklenburg et al. (2007)
30
31
Increased biomass
Overland & Stabeno (2004)
32
Table 4. Reports of changes in Arctic sea birds in response to climate change showing the organism and region investigated, the period
of observation, and the response observed. The code number identifies the corresponding symbol in Fig. 3.
Subject
Sea ducks
Climatic driver
Warming and ice changes
Footprint
Increased duck mortality
Spectacle eider
Climate change
Thick-billed and
Common Murre
Thick-billed Murre
Thick-billed Murre
Warming
Change in abundance of preferred benthic
prey
Changes in population size
Thick-billed Murre
Ivory gull
Warming
Possibly climate change
Ice changes
Ice changes
Advanced egg-laying
Reproduction success increased at
Northern range
Changes in diet composition
Decline in colony size
Reference
Gilchrist & Robertson
(2000)
Richman & Lovvorn
(2003)
Irons et al. (2008)
Code
33
34
35
Gaston et al. (2005)
Gaston et al. (2005)
36
37
Gaston et al. (2003)
Gilchrist & Mallory
(2005)
38
39
Table 5. Reports of changes in Arctic marine mammals in response to climate change showing the organism and region investigated, the
period of observation, and the response observed. The code number identifies the corresponding symbol in Fig. 3.
Subject
Grey Whale
Region
Bering Sea
Polar Bear
W Hudson Bay
Climatic driver
Warming and ice
changes
Reduced sea ice
Polar Bear
Polar Bear
Polar Bear
Polar Bear
W Hudson Bay
W Hudson Bay
N Alaska
N Alaska
Reduced sea ice
Reduced sea ice
Reduced sea ice
Reduced sea ice
Polar Bear
Polar Bear
Polar Bear
Polar Bear
Harp Seals
Ringed Seals
S Beaufort Sea
Beaufort Sea
Svalbard
W Hudson Bay
White Sea
W Hudson Bay
Reduced sea ice
Reduced sea ice
Reduced sea ice
Reduced sea ice
Reduced sea ice
Warming and ice
changes
Footprint
Northward shift in Grey Whale feeding grounds
Reference
Moore et al. (2003)
Code
40
Decline in the Polar Bear population of western
Hudson Bay
Decline in conditions and altered behaviour
Decline in population size
Landward shift of Polar Bear denning
Increasing numbers of bears on the Alaska coast during
summer and autumn
Decline condition and survival of cubs
Drowned, emaciated and cannibalised bears
Decreased natality rate and litter production
Decline in female condition
Reduced birth rates
Reduced reproduction, pup survival, and recruitment
Stirling et al. (1999)
41
Stirling & Parkinson (2006)
Regehr et al. (2007)
Fischbach et al. (2007)
Schliebe et al. (2006)
42
43
44
45
Regehr et al. (2006)
Monnett & Gleason (2006)
Derocher (2005)
Derocher and Stirling (1995)
Chernook & Boltnev (2008)
Ferguson et al. (2005), Stirling
(2005)
46
47
48
49
50
51
Table 6. Summary of types of footprints of responses of Arctic marine organisms to climate change.
Responses
Nature of Changes
Range shift
Northward displacement of subarctic and temperate species, cross-Arctic
transport of organisms from the Pacific to the Atlantic sectors
Increased abundance and reproductive output of subarctic species, decline and
reduced reproductive success of some Arctic species associated to the ice and
species now used as prey by predators whose preferred prey have declined
Increased growth of some subarctic species and primary producers, and
reduced growth and condition of ice-bound, ice-associated, or ice-born
animals
Anomalous behaviour of of ice-bound, ice-associated, or ice-born animals
with earlier spring phenological events and delayed fall events
Changes in community structure due to range shifts of predators resulting in
changes in the predator-prey linkages in the trophic network
Abundance
Growth and condition
Behaviour and phenology
Community and regime shifts