Terrestrial freshwater inputs threaten coastal resource quality

Arctic systems are changing at an alarming rate and have affected terrestrial, freshwater and marine biogeochemistry and ecology.

Global changes have altered coastal stratification, and increased freshwater influxes rich in dissolved organic matter (tDOM) complexed with nutrients, iron and silicon.

These inputs have potential to shift the basal (algal and bacterial) production regime from algal- to bacterial-dominated (from low to high CO2:O2) systems, which can reduce coastal oxygen availability and resource quantity and quality for crustaceans and fish, and thus marine resources for human consumption.

Hence, basal production is a crucial component for understanding impacts of global changes (warming, altered stratification and tDOM) on coastal ecosystems.

The aim here is to (1) characterize tDOM and associated physico-chemistry (2) evaluate basal production and associated CO2:O2 regimes and (3) evaluate the response of coastal basal producers and resource quality to ongoing global changes.

This is approached with experiments and intensive field samplings across boreal-Arctic European coastal systems representing a steep climate- and tDOM gradient.

This serves the long-term sustainable development goals formulated by the UN “life below water”, “climate change” and to ensure global food security, “no hunger”.

The results of this project will provide the direction of change of quality of marine resources in boreal-Arctic systems that are under threat of global changes.