Functional diversity of epibenthic communities on the Chukchi and Beaufort Sea shelves were compared using biological trait analysis (BTA). BTA functionally characterizes epibenthic organisms based on morphology, life history, and behavior, and it leads to an understanding of ecosystem functioning that is independent of the taxonomic affiliation of the taxa. Understanding the functional diversity of communities is important because it could be disrupted by ecosystem stressors from human resource extraction and climate changes. The objective was to compare the functional diversity of the Chukchi and Beaufort Sea shelf communities using BTA. BTA incorporated natural variability via the plethora of biological traits expressed within communities and large spatial scale this study encompassed. Based on the distinct hydrographic settings of the two seas, the epibenthic communities of the Chukchi and Beaufort Sea shelves were hypothesized to differ in biological trait composition, and thus, ecosystem functional diversity. This study showed epibenthic functional diversity was higher on the Chukchi Sea shelf compared with Beaufort Sea shelf communities. Additionally, this study characterized the Chukchi and Beaufort Sea shelf communities by their dominant biological traits and related these traits to environmental conditions present in each shelf system. Many biological traits were found in both areas in similar proportions; however, the Chukchi Sea communities differed from the Beaufort Sea communities in the biological traits of reproductive strategy, larval development, body form, depth range, and substrate affinity. The Chukchi Sea shelf communities had more planktotrophic larval development, dorso-ventrally compressed organisms, and organisms that prefer soft substrate. The Beaufort Sea shelf communities had more lecithotrophic larval development, organisms with a globulose body form, and organisms that prefer hard substrate. No statistically significant relationships existed between these traits and depth, bottom temperature, or bottom salinity in either Beaufort or Chukchi Sea shelf epibenthic communities. This work builds on existing epibenthic community information for the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas outer continental shelf to add a new functional perspective to our understanding of epibenthic diversity, which has been based primarily on taxonomic classifications. Improved understanding of ecosystem functioning, defined as the maintenance and regulation of ecosystem processes, may assist in predicting how communities will respond to change or disturbance. Additionally, this project contributed to a pan-Arctic effort to create an online database for biological traits of Arctic benthic organisms.

USD: $24,000

2017-10-01 → 2018-09-30