Arctic Prize: Absorption of light by Arctic marine phytoplankton, its ecological and biogeochemical significance

This project falls with the Marine environments research area and is relevant to the climate change research area.
The project is NERC funded, collaborating with the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, SAMS and Norwegian partners.
The Arctic ocean is undergoing pronounced change in response to climate forcing, with enhanced fresh water input (Morison et al., 2012), increased water temperature and decreased multi-year sea ice extent (e.g. Overland et al., 2014). There has been an observed shift in phytoplankton bloom phenology from a single-bloom polar-mode to a temperate-mode double bloom phenology and increased oligotrophy in peripheral arctic seas (e.g. Ardyna et al., 2014; Li et al., 2009).
It is therefore desirable to know about the implications this has for any change to overall primary production and carbon export. Increased Arctic carbon export could act as a negative feedback on climate change, while an impaired export could exacerbate atmospheric carbon dioxide accumulation.
In order to probe this question the physiological properties and absorption coefficients of different functional groups of Arctic marine phytoplankton must be investigated, so that their presence and contribution to primary production can be quantified inexpensively by satellite retrievals.
The research begins with 4 cruises to the Barents sea (2 in summer, 1 in polar night, 1 in spring) at the start of my PhD, with a view to characterise the vertical community structure of phytoplankton of the Barents sea and variations in physiology through the seasons. There will be a focus on the edge of the icepack to investigate novel reports of under-ice phytoplankton blooms (Arrigo et al., 2012).

The first cruise has already been completed (July 2017). Photophysiological experiments were conducted using radio-labelled phytoplankton incubations aboard the ship, by Dr. Heather Bouman.

Sea water samples were collected from various depths at a number of stations in the Barents sea and were filtered in order to collect the phytoplankton. The concentrated phytoplankton samples were subsequently flash-frozen and are awaiting subsequent analysis.
High-Performance Liquid Chromatography pigment analysis, phytoplankton light absorption, optical microscopy and cell-counting will be employed to determine the importance of the pigment complement, cell size and photoacclimation of different phytoplankton groups to their efficiency absorbing different frequencies of light. Incubations of collected samples and shipboard reflectance data will also be employed to investigate phytoplankton physiology and to assist in remote sensing calibration of satellite retrievals. The project will be undertaken under the joint supervision of Dr. Heather Bouman and Dr. David Mckee and subsequent research following the cruises will focus on refinement of remote sensing algorithms and communication with scientists modelling primary production.
Given that different groups of phytoplankton fix carbon with different rates and efficiencies per unit insolation, the study of the phenology of Arctic phytoplankton communities has applications of great scientific and economic importance, for example to determine how rates of carbon fixation in the Arctic will proceed under climate change scenarios and to determine the significance of community composition and primary production changes on fishing in the subarctic and peripheral arctic seas.

Science-led: Arctic PRIZE is focused on improving the modelling capabilities of pan-Arctic ecosystem models. The modelling community will benefit from this research through integration of Arctic PRIZE with NEMO/MEDUSA (and subsequently with the UK Met Office and Hadley Centre) and other IPCC pan-Arctic model frameworks. We have partnerships with UK, US and Norwegian modelling groups and through these there will be improved projections for Arctic ecosystems in place for the next IPCC assessment.

Broader engagement with the science community will be through one of the largest annual meetings between science and stakeholders in the Arctic - Arctic Frontiers, hosted in Tromso, Norway. Arctic PRIZE will establish a special session at the Arctic Frontiers conference to disseminate the findings of the project and establish academic ties with other Arctic research programs. We will be exceptionally well placed, through our international collaborators, to contribute to regional assessments of the Barents Sea and wider pan-Arctic integration. PDRAs and PhD staff working on Arctic PRIZE will benefit through becoming members of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists and the Norwegian marine ecology network ARCTOS. This will ensure appropriate career development through training, peer engagement and networking.

Policy-led: The UK government made a clear statement of interest in the Arctic with the publication of the House of Lords report "Responding to a Changing Arctic" in 2015. To support UK interests we will develop a strong relationship with the UK Arctic Office to feed new science towards policy development in the areas of ecosystem services, fisheries and economic development - of particular relevance to emerging trade routes and mineral resources. Internationally, Arctic PRIZE will engage as a collaborator on a coordinated NSF program linked to Alaska fisheries and into Norwegian policy structures through our Project Partners in the Institute of Marine Research.

Outreach-led: The Arctic is a source of great public interest. The research team will interact with the public through personal, group and institutional websites, social media and links to exhibition centres such as SAMS' Ocean Explorer Centre (OEC) and the Glasgow Science Centre (GSC). This activity will be supported by training for PDRAs and PIs in the form of participation in the GSC 'Inspire and Challenge' professional science communication course. PDRAs and PIs will build on this by taking part in 'Meet the Expert' events at GSC before and after cruises and will maintain an interactive 'Arctic Expedition Blog' while at sea. The research team will work with GSC staff to develop an interactive exhibit that illustrates the role of greenhouse gases on warming of the Arctic and impact on ecosystem function. This exhibit will form part of GSCs upcoming EnviroScience Gallery and will showcase our research to an annual audience of over 300,000 visitors, including ~75,000 structured education visits. Arctic PRIZE will also allow us to expand formal science education locally in Argyll, from nursery to primary/secondary schools and undergraduate degree level building on previously highly successful talks/lectures, teaching material and visitor centre facilities (OEC) used to showcase science in the Arctic. Finally Arctic PRIZE will develop focused outreach videos by engaging a scientific film maker. These will help to illustrate and explain the key science messages in Arctic PRIZE to a wider audience.