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Fjord systems are transition zones between land and sea, resulting in complex and dynamic environments. They are of particular interest in theArctic as they harbour ecosystems inhabited by a rich range of species and provide many societal benefits. The key drivers of change in the European Arctic (i.e., Greenland, Svalbard, and Northern Norway) fjord socio-ecological systems are reviewed here, structured into five categories: cryosphere (sea ice, glacier mass balance, and glacial and riverine discharge), physics (seawater temperature, salinity, and light), chemistry (carbonate system, nutrients), biology (primary production, biomass, and species richness), and social (governance, tourism, and fisheries). The data available for the past and present state of these drivers, aswell as futuremodel projections, are analysed in a companion paper. Changes to the two drivers at the base of most interactions within fjords, seawater temperature and glacier mass balance, will have the most significant and profound consequences on the future of European Arctic fjords. This is because even though governance may be effective at mitigating/adapting to local disruptions caused by the changing climate, there is possibly nothing that can be done to halt the melting of glaciers, the warming of fjord waters, and all of the downstream consequences that these two changes will have. This review provides the first transdisciplinary synthesis of the interactions between the drivers of changewithinArctic fjord socio-ecological systems. Knowledge of what these drivers of change are, and how they interact with one another, should provide more expedient focus for future research on the needs of adapting to the changing Arctic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kelp forests are important habitats in the strongly environmentally and seasonally variable Arctic. There is a critical lack of knowledge about how seasonal conditions and climate change scenarios influence survival and reproduction of kelp early life stages. To better understand the regulation of kelp life cycle processes in this harsh environment we focused on the physiological performance and reproductive success of early life stages in Alaria esculenta and Laminaria digitata from Kongsfjorden, Spitsbergen. Gametophyte growth and survival during Arctic winter and subsequent sporophyte recruitment under spring conditions were investigated. Winter conditions (2°C, complete darkness) halted gametophyte growth and prevented the onset of gametogenesis in both species. The gametophytes of L. digitata but not A. esculenta became fertile after returning to spring conditions, suggesting that sporogenesis, sexual reproduction and recruitment in A. esculenta must occur successively during summer/autumn while in L. digitata a new generation of sporophytes could develop from over-wintering gametophytes. The effects of simulated canopy shading (offering protection against extreme irradiance stress, particularly as sea ice retreats), present-day and projected Arctic summer seawater temperatures, and nutrient levels on gametophyte survival, fertility and sporophyte recruitment success were also investigated in both species. A. esculenta gametophytes had greater survival and reproductive success than L. digitata, except under very low light (simulating dense canopy). In contrast, shading was required for reproductive success in L. digitata gametophytes. Predicted summer temperatures of 9°C reduced sexual reproduction in both species. Interactions observed between these environmental drivers probably reflect species-specific seasonal patterns of survival and reproduction. These differences between kelp species in response to abiotic factors and light levels (simulated canopy shading) suggest that climate change could alter community structure in the Arctic through effects on sexual reproduction and sporophyte recruitment success. HIGHLIGHTS• Gametophytes were able to endure long periods of darkness.• Parental kelp canopy is key for gametophyte survival and recruitment.• Climate change may alter kelp recruitment patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two morphologically similar digitate kelp species, Laminaria digitata and Hedophyllum nigripes, co-occur along a shallow sublittoral depth gradient in the Arctic but, in contrast to L. digitata, very few ecophysiological data exist for H. nigripes. We investigated growth, survival, photosynthetic characteristics and carbon:nitrogen ratios of juvenile sporophytes, and recruitment and survival of gametophytes in genetically verified Arctic isolates of both species along temperature gradients (0–25 °C) over 14 days. Laminaria digitata gametophytes survived 23–24 °C, while sporophytes survived 21–22 °C. Hedophyllum nigripes had lower temperature affinities. Gametophytes survived 19–21 °C, while sporophytes survived 18 °C. Male gametophytes were more heat-tolerant than female gametophytes in both species. The pronounced cold adaption of H. nigripes compared to L. digitata also became apparent in different sporophyte growth optima (L. digitata: 15 °C; H. nigripes: 10 °C) and gametogenesis optima (L. digitata: 5–15 °C; H. nigripes: 0–10 °C). Higher carbon:nitrogen ratios in H. nigripes suggest an adaptation to nutrient poor Arctic conditions. The overall temperature performance of H. nigripes possibly restricts the species to Arctic–Sub-Arctic regions, while Arctic L. digitata behaved similarly to cold-temperate populations. Our data suggest that a future increase in seawater temperatures may hamper the success of H. nigripes and favour L. digitata in Arctic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arctic Ocean is a unique ecosystem hosting a biodiversity that has not yet been elucidated in full detail. There is increasing evidence that there are more kelp species constricted to Arctic/sub‐Arctic habitats hitherto not well investigated, such as Hedophyllum nigripes, which is morphologically very similar to cold‐temperate Laminaria digitata. Hedophyllum nigripes was originally described as L. nigripes by Agardh from Spitsbergen but has often been misidentified as L. digitata in the European Arctic. We initiated a systematic algal survey along a depth gradient (0–7.5 m) in Kongsfjorden (Spitsbergen) in June and July 2015 and thereby confirmed a predominant presence of H. nigripes (73%). Hedophyllum nigripes is occurring between 0 and 7.5 m while L. digitata was most abundant at 2.5 m depth. Hedophyllum nigripes individuals were generally younger (2.3 vs. 3.6 years) and stipe and blade length shorter (31 vs. 54 cm and 76 vs. 96 cm, respectively) compared to L. digitata. A combination of molecular (COI‐5P) and morpho‐anatomical tools (presence of sori and mucilage ducts in the stipe) was used to differentiate specimens of H. nigripes and L. digitata. Both kelp species were indistinguishable in most cases by external blade and stipe morphology. The different blade shapes represented different ontogenetic stages rather than phenotypic plasticity. The presence of mucilage ducts in the stipe was correlated with H. nigripes and changed with depth from 17%, 36%, and 85% at 2.5, 5, and 7.5 m, respectively. In addition, all summer fertile specimens were L. digitata. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The plasticity of different kelp populations to heat stress has seldom been investigated excluding environmental effects due to thermal histories, by raising a generation under common garden conditions. Comparisons of populations in the absence of environmental effects allow unbiased quantification of the meta-population adaptive potential and resolution of population-specific differentiation. Following this approach, we tested the hypothesis that genetically distinct arctic and temperate kelp exhibit different thermal phenotypes, by comparing the capacity of their microscopic life stages to recover from elevated temperatures. Gametophytes of Laminaria digitata (Arctic and North Sea) grown at 15°C for 3 years were subjected to common garden conditions with static or dynamic (i.e., gradual) thermal treatments ranging between 15 and 25°C and also to darkness. Gametophyte growth and survival during thermal stress conditions, and subsequent sporophyte recruitment at two recovery temperatures (5 and 15°C), were investigated. Population-specific responses were apparent; North Sea gametophytes exhibited higher growth rates and greater sporophyte recruitment than those from the Arctic when recovering from high temperatures, revealing differential thermal adaptation. All gametophytes performed poorly after recovery from a static 8-day exposure at 22.5°C compared to the response under a dynamic thermal treatment with a peak temperature of 25°C, demonstrating the importance of gradual warming and/or acclimation time in modifying thermal limits. Recovery temperature markedly affected the capacity of gametophytes to reproduce following high temperatures, regardless of the population. Recovery at 5°C resulted in higher sporophyte production following a 15°C and 20°C static exposure, whereas recovery at 15°C was better for gametophyte exposures to static 22.5°C or dynamic heat stress to 25°C. The subtle performance differences between populations originating from sites with contrasting local in situ temperatures support our hypothesis that their thermal plasticity has diverged over evolutionary time scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The general aim of setting up a central database on benthos and plankton was to integrate long-, medium- and short-term datasets on marine biodiversity. Such a database makes it possible to analyse species assemblages and their changes on spatial and temporal scales across Europe. Data collation lasted from early 2007 until August 2008, during which 67 datasets were collected covering three divergent habitats (rocky shores, soft bottoms and the pelagic environment). The database contains a total of 4,525 distinct taxa, 17,117 unique sampling locations and over 45,500 collected samples, representing almost 542,000 distribution records. The database geographically covers the North Sea (221,452 distribution records), the North-East Atlantic (98,796 distribution records) and furthermore the Baltic Sea, the Arctic and the Mediterranean. Data from 1858 to 2008 are presented in the database, with the longest time-series from the Baltic Sea soft bottom benthos. Each delivered dataset was subjected to certain quality control procedures, especially on the level of taxonomy. The standardisation procedure enables pan-European analyses without the hazard of taxonomic artefacts resulting from different determination skills. A case study on rocky shore and pelagic data in different geographical regions shows a general overestimation of biodiversity when making use of data before quality control compared to the same estimations after quality control. These results prove that the contribution of a misspelled name or the use of an obsolete synonym is comparable to the introduction of a rare species, having adverse effects on further diversity calculations. The quality checked data source is now ready to test geographical and temporal hypotheses on a large scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arctic region is currently facing substantial environmental changes due to global warming. Melting glaciers cause reduced salinity environments in coastal Arctic habitats, which may be stressful for kelp beds. To investigate the responses of the kelp Saccharina latissima to the warming Arctic, we studied the transcriptomic changes of S. latissima from Kongsfjorden (Svalbard, Norway) over a 24-hour exposure to two salinities (Absolute Salinity [S A ] 20 and 30) after a 7-day pre-acclimation at three temperatures (0, 8 and 15°C). In addition, corresponding physiological data were assessed during an 11-days salinity/temperature experiment. Growth and maximal quantum yield for photosystem II fluorescence were positively affected by increased temperature during acclimation, whereas hyposalinity caused negative effects at the last day of treatment. In contrast, hyposalinity induced marked changes on the transcriptomic level. Compared to the control (8°C - S A 30), the 8°C - S A 20 exhibited the highest number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), followed by the 0°C - S A 20. Comparisons indicate that S. latissima tends to convert its energy from primary metabolism (e.g. photosynthesis) to antioxidant activity under hyposaline stress. The increase in physiological performance at 15°C shows that S. latissima in the Arctic region can adjust and might even benefit from increased temperatures. However, in Arctic fjord environments its performance might become impaired by decreased salinity as a result of ice melting., (© 2019 Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society.)