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Even with fewer people, wildlife has less space and fewer niches to inhabit. Peter Matanle, Senior Lecturer in Japanese Studies, University of Sheffield Kei Uchida, Associate Professor, Conservation and Biodiversity Management, Tokyo City University Masayoshi K. Hiraiwa, Postdoctoral Researcher, Ecology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kindai University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Offshore wind farms threaten local biodiversity, but also protect it by reducing emissions. Paul Wawrzynkowski, PhD candidate, Universitat de Barcelona Josep Lloret, Investigador científico (senior researcher)., Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM-CSIC) Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Caribou, migrating birds and many other types of wildlife rely on this expanse of wetlands and tundra. Humanity and the climate depend on a healthy Arctic, too. Mariah Meek, Associate Professor of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Rethinking Antarctic Polynya Productivity: The Impact of Ice-Adjacency Effects on NPP Estimates along Icy Coasts

Ocean color-based estimates of Antarctic net primary productivity (NPP) have indicated low nearshore productivity in ice-adjacent waters, contrasting with coupled physical-biogeochemical models. To understand this discrepancy, we assessed satellite records of polynya NPP by comparing field data with two satellite imagery datasets derived using different processing schemes. Our results indicate historical underestimation of chlorophyll a (Chl) for imagery obtained using default atmospheric correction processing within approximately 100 km of ice-covered coastlines due to adjacency effects. Using radiative transfer modeling, we find that biases in ocean color polynya observations due to adjacency effects correspond to the high albedo of ice and snow. When applying an atmospheric correction processing scheme more robust to adjacency contamination, estimates of NPP more than doubled in 65 % of polynyas, especially smaller eastern Antarctic polynyas. Adjacency effects should therefore be managed when analyzing spatial and temporal trends in Antarctic coastal primary productivity.

• Speaker: Hilde Oliver, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• Wednesday 02 July 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: BAS Seminar Room 1.
• Series: British Antarctic Survey - Polar Oceans seminar series; organiser: Dr Yohei Takano.

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Rethinking Antarctic Polynya Productivity: The Impact of Ice-Adjacency Effects on NPP Estimates along Icy Coasts

Ocean color-based estimates of Antarctic net primary productivity (NPP) have indicated low nearshore productivity in ice-adjacent waters, contrasting with coupled physical-biogeochemical models. To understand this discrepancy, we assessed satellite records of polynya NPP by comparing field data with two satellite imagery datasets derived using different processing schemes. Our results indicate historical underestimation of chlorophyll a (Chl) for imagery obtained using default atmospheric correction processing within approximately 100 km of ice-covered coastlines due to adjacency effects. Using radiative transfer modeling, we find that biases in ocean color polynya observations due to adjacency effects correspond to the high albedo of ice and snow. When applying an atmospheric correction processing scheme more robust to adjacency contamination, estimates of NPP more than doubled in 65 % of polynyas, especially smaller eastern Antarctic polynyas. Adjacency effects should therefore be managed when analyzing spatial and temporal trends in Antarctic coastal primary productivity.

• Speaker: Hilde Oliver, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• Wednesday 02 July 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: BAS Seminar Room 1.
• Series: British Antarctic Survey - Polar Oceans seminar series; organiser: Dr Yohei Takano.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Rethinking Antarctic Polynya Productivity: The Impact of Ice-Adjacency Effects on NPP Estimates along Icy Coasts

Ocean color-based estimates of Antarctic net primary productivity (NPP) have indicated low nearshore productivity in ice-adjacent waters, contrasting with coupled physical-biogeochemical models. To understand this discrepancy, we assessed satellite records of polynya NPP by comparing field data with two satellite imagery datasets derived using different processing schemes. Our results indicate historical underestimation of chlorophyll a (Chl) for imagery obtained using default atmospheric correction processing within approximately 100 km of ice-covered coastlines due to adjacency effects. Using radiative transfer modeling, we find that biases in ocean color polynya observations due to adjacency effects correspond to the high albedo of ice and snow. When applying an atmospheric correction processing scheme more robust to adjacency contamination, estimates of NPP more than doubled in 65 % of polynyas, especially smaller eastern Antarctic polynyas. Adjacency effects should therefore be managed when analyzing spatial and temporal trends in Antarctic coastal primary productivity.

• Speaker: Hilde Oliver, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• Wednesday 02 July 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: BAS Seminar Room 1.
• Series: British Antarctic Survey - Polar Oceans seminar series; organiser: Dr Yohei Takano.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

A researcher left 1,000 artificial bee nests in a forest devastated by bushfire … and then began an anxious wait. Kit Prendergast, Postdoctoral Researcher, Pollination Ecology, University of Southern Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.