The core objective of Arctic PRIZE is to investigate the seasonally-varying interplay between physical forcings and nutrient fluxes, and their impact on primary productivity and related zooplankton dynamics and benthic communities.

This will support development of enhanced modelling capabilities to make projections of ecosystem response to reducing sea ice cover. We will investigate and model fundamental processes driving the Arctic Ocean ecosystem to predict its response to sea ice retreat.

Website: https://www.sams.ac.uk/science/projects/arctic-prize

PI: Prof. Finlo Cottier, Scottish Association for Marine Science
Email: finlo.cottier at sams.ac.uk

Dates
–
Funding

NERC - Strategic Research

Aim

Declining sea ice alters water column properties and the availability of light and nutrients that support productivity.

How will reduction in sea ice change ocean mixing and the amount of light that reaches the surface ocean?

How does this alter the timing and rates of phytoplankton growth and the supply of food to pelagic and seabed communities?

Arctic PRIZE aims to understand how seasonality, ice cover and ocean properties determine the large-scale ecosystem structure of the Arctic Ocean.

This will allow the development of predictive tools to assess how Arctic ecosystems will respond to a reducing sea ice cover.