Kanters, T.J. (2010) The effects of Global warming on the Arctic organisms of the Kongsfjorden ecosystem. Bachelor's Thesis, Biology.
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Abstract
The Kongsfjorden is a fjord ecosystem on the west coast of Spitsbergen. Because of its unique location the fjord is seen as a model system for the effects of global warming in the Arctic. For this reason a lot of scientific research takes place in the Kongsfjorden. The influence of warm Atlantic water masses entering the Kongsfjorden from the West Spitsbergen Current may cause the warming of the Arctic to occur faster in the Kongsfjorden than in the rest of the Arctic region. These unique oceanographical circumstances have an effect on the community composition making it a mix between boreal and Arctic species. Because of the increasing warming of the climate and the increasing inflow of Atlantic Water the Arctic community members are threatened. Organisms constituting the base of the food web like the phyto- and zooplankton are strongly linked to their original water masses. Other primary producers like benthic macroalgae experience additional negative effects of the warming climate by changing hydrographical condition in the fjord caused by an increasing runoff of melt water from the adjacent glaciers. These effects cascade through the entire ecosystem threatening to change the community composition in the Kongsfjorden from a mixed to a more Atlantic composition.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor's Thesis) |
|---|---|
| Degree programme: | Biology |
| Thesis type: | Bachelor's Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Date Deposited: | 15 Feb 2018 07:44 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Feb 2018 07:44 |
| URI: | https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/9339 |
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