Alaskan Arctic Water Marine Biology
Seven different bay regions exist in Alaska. These regions have five different ecosystems classified within them; Gulf of Alaska, Eastern Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, Beaufort Sea, and Chukchi Sea. (NOAA) Bay areas and coastal regions provide ideal ecosystems and essential habitats for global marine food chains to stabilize, grow, and thrive.
Ocean biomes, characterized by their abundance of food source and diversity, create a space that is viable to many different species. Microscopic marine microbiology provide the protein rich food necessary to support healthy food chains, both locally and globally.
Stabilizing Ocean Food Systems
After significant destabilizing shifts in these marine environments in the past, the importance of surveying these microorganisms has become a focus. Marine microbiology provides a view of the relationships between bacteria, archaea, viruses and microbials. Phytoplankton and algae form the base of these food chains in Alaska’s arctic waters. Microbes are the main food source for all other forms of life that we observe in the ocean. And in turn, become food source for terrestrial life.
Elements of Arctic Waters
Arctic waters have specific attributes that contribute to the balance of these food systems; predator to prey balance, natural mineral deposits melting from glacial ice, and tidal currents. The rate of melting glacial ice affects the natural mineral deposits that feed basic life forms like phytoplankton.
That influences the food source supply for larger predator species. If a microorganism population becomes imbalanced predators will seek a new food source. Once that balance changes we can observe and note the introduction of new bacteria and viruses that arrive with tidal currents that are simultaneously changing as well. This creates a new dynamic relation between microbes and other species to balance the ecosystem.
Phytoplankton
Phytoplankton is a good example and marker of these shifts and changes for the ecosystem as a whole. This microorganism has a vegetative, resting, and bloom stages in their life cycle. They vegetate in the cooler and darker oceanic layers. As they rest and absorb essential food resources they start to photosynthesize and rise into the warmer surface layers of these arctic waters. This is where they bloom and offer food source.
As surface level water temperatures have become warmer, these essential microscopic organisms have become prolific in their growth. So much so that typical predators cannot consume the production of this food source at the rate in which it is produced. When this happens we can see the shift in bacteria and viruses that transport in by cold water currents.
Balancing Microorganisms
These viruses and bacteria try to become a new predator species to this food source. When this happens the ecosystem has to balance to these newly formed and introduced microorganisms. They act to combat or become new consumers in the ecosystem. Once this shift happens in micro habitats we see these reflections in macro organisms like whales and large fish. And, eventually the impacts on terrestrial life. Some of these bacteria and viruses can be helpful to the ecosystem, others evolve to have a harmful impact on other flora and fauna.
Sustainability and Discovery
Before Alaska became Alaska, thousands of people inhabited this region. They held relations with the land that held vibrant connections between ecosystems and food source. This area is known for it’s ability to attract migratory species that travel thousands of miles for food source through ancient migration routes. Once this area was recognized for it’s abundance of resources both on the land and sea, migrations of humans to this region increased.
Many different species, including humans, visit this region to stabilize from inhospitable conditions, food source to recover, and stabilized habitat to thrive and grow. However, during the 1700s, after the trade and purchase of Alaska, these indigenous lifeways were permanently altered. This happened through decades of land disputes, native massacres and exploitations, and the increase of natural resource extraction. (Native Food Sovereignty)
Environmental Acknowledgement
Since the acknowledgement of these events, private, public, and indigenous communities have worked together to observe and work towards supporting recovery in these biomes. There are many research centers, well established academia partners, and local organizations that practice stewardship in these arctic waters. With a more collective and collaborative perspective, we hope for better forward movements with these ongoing issues and discoveries.
