In Arctic winter, marine creatures migrate by the light of the moon January 7, 2016 Arctic moon rise. Credit: Geir Johnson (Norges Naturvitenskapelige Universitet, NTNU, and University Centre in Svalbard, UNIS). A few months ago, researchers reported the surprising discovery that marine creatures living in one Arctic fjord keep busy through the permanently dark and frigid winter months.
Now, a report in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on Jan.
7, 2016, extends this activity to the whole of the Arctic. They also find that, in the absence of any sunlight, it's the moon that drives the vertical migrations of tiny marine animals. The behavior is most likely an attempt by zooplankton to avoid predators hunting by moonlight, the researchers say. "During the permanently dark and extremely cold Artic winter 1 , these tiny marine creatures 2 , like mythical werewolves, respond to moonlight by undergoing mass migrations 3 ," says Kim Last of the Scottish Association for Marine Science in Scotland.
No matter where the researchers looked during the Arctic winter in fjord, shelf, slope, or open sea they observed the same behavior. Further investigation showed that the marine creatures had shifted their activities from following the 24-hour solar day to following the 24.8-hour lunar day. In winter, zooplankton's vertical migrations take place when the moon rises above the horizon, the researchers report.
In addition to this daily cycle, they also discovered a mass sinking of zooplankton from the surface waters to a depth of about 50 meters every 29.5 days in the winter, coinciding with the full moon. "The most surprising finding is that these migrations are not rare or isolated to just a few places," Last says. "The acoustic database used for our analysis cumulatively spans 50 years of data from moorings that cover much of the Arctic Ocean. The occurrences of lunar migrations happen every winter at all sites, even under sea ice with snow cover on top." Themisto libellula , an amphipod crustacean and a predatory hunter of copepods such as Calanus -- a probable werewolf of the Arctic. Credit: Daniel Vogedes (The Arctic University of Norway, UiT).
The findings have implications for the carbon cycle, which is particularly important in light of climate change. "The daily vertical migration 4 of zooplankton contributes significantly to the carbon pump by moving fixed carbon from the surface into the deep ocean," Last explains. "Since there is no photosynthesis during the polar night, carbon is only moved into the deep by predators feeding on prey." This influence of zooplanktons' winter movements will need to be quantified and incorporated into biogeochemical models. As the climate changes and the ice melts, Last says, lunar-driven zooplankton migrations might "become more prevalent, though as yet, we do not know the consequences of this." The video will load shortly In this video, Last et al . provide evidence for lunar influence on Arctic zooplankton communities during the dark polar night.
During full moon periods, zooplankton migrations are driven by moonlight in synchrony with the altitude and phase of the moon. Such lunar vertical migrations occur throughout the Arctic, in fjord, shelf, slope, and open sea. Credit: SAMS Communications Explore further: Researchers crack the ice to study the Arctic marine food web 5 More information: Current Biology , Last et al.: 'Moonlight Drives Ocean-Scale Mass Vertical Migration of Zooplankton during the Arctic Winter' dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.11.038 6 Journal reference: Current Biology 7 Provided by: Cell Press 8 More from Biology and Medical 9 Related Stories Researchers crack the ice to study the Arctic marine food web 10 November 20, 2014 Scientists traveled to a town near the top of the world to study a creature at the bottom of the marine food chain microscopic sea ice algae.
Welcome to Barrow, Alaska, where a team of marine ecologists gears up to hit ... Consequences of loss of ice in Arctic investigated 11 September 3, 2015 Researchers from the University of Aberdeen are set to investigate what consequences the rapidly shrinking sea ice cover in the Arctic is having on the marine ecosystem. Copepod migrations are important for the ocean's uptake of CO2 12 September 9, 2015 In a scientific article recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers from DTU Aqua, the University of Copenhagen and the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, have shown that the ...
As polar ice melts, seabed life is working against climate change 13 September 21, 2015 When it comes to climate change, it's rare to get any good news. But a researcher who's reported evidence in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on September 21, after more than two decades of study, has some: the loss ... In the dark polar winter, the animals aren't sleeping 14 September 24, 2015 You might expect that little happens in the Arctic Ocean during the cold and dark winter.
But that just isn't so, according to researchers who have sampled the activities of many different species during three consecutive ... Tiny plankton can play a major role in CO2 storage in the oceans 15 September 24, 2015 Tiny zooplankton animals, each no bigger than a grain of rice, may be playing a huge part in regulating climate change, research involving the University of Strathclyde has found. Recommended for you Bug eyes: Tiny 3-D glasses confirm insect 3-D vision 16 January 7, 2016 Miniature glasses have proved that mantises use 3D vision - providing a new model to improve visual perception in robots.
Random mutation, protein changes, tied to start of multicellular life 17 January 7, 2016 All it took was one mutation more than 600 million years ago. With that random act, a new protein function was born that helped our single-celled ancestor transition into an organized multicellular organism. In Arctic winter, marine creatures migrate by the light of the moon 18 January 7, 2016 A few months ago, researchers reported the surprising discovery that marine creatures living in one Arctic fjord keep busy through the permanently dark and frigid winter months.
Now, a report in the Cell Press journal Current ... Tweak in gene expression may have helped humans walk upright, researchers say 19 January 7, 2016 Consider the engineering marvel that is your foot. Be it hairy or homely, without its solid support you'd be hard-pressed to walk or jump normally.
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0 comments Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute.
Read more 22 23 Click here 24 to reset your password. Sign in to get notified via email when new comments are made. In Arctic winter, marine creatures migrate by the light of the moon January 7, 2016 Arctic moon rise.
Credit: Geir Johnson (Norges Naturvitenskapelige Universitet, NTNU, and University Centre in Svalbard, UNIS). A few months ago, researchers reported the surprising discovery that marine creatures living in one Arctic fjord keep busy through the permanently dark and frigid winter months. Now, a report in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on Jan.
7, 2016, extends this activity to the whole of the Arctic. They also find that, in the absence of any sunlight, it's the moon that drives the vertical migrations of tiny marine animals. The behavior is most likely an attempt by zooplankton to avoid predators hunting by moonlight, the researchers say. "During the permanently dark and extremely cold Artic winter 25 , these tiny marine creatures 26 , like mythical werewolves, respond to moonlight by undergoing mass migrations 27 ," says Kim Last of the Scottish Association for Marine Science in Scotland.
No matter where the researchers looked during the Arctic winter in fjord, shelf, slope, or open sea they observed the same behavior. Further investigation showed that the marine creatures had shifted their activities from following the 24-hour solar day to following the 24.8-hour lunar day. In winter, zooplankton's vertical migrations take place when the moon rises above the horizon, the researchers report.
In addition to this daily cycle, they also discovered a mass sinking of zooplankton from the surface waters to a depth of about 50 meters every 29.5 days in the winter, coinciding with the full moon. "The most surprising finding is that these migrations are not rare or isolated to just a few places," Last says. "The acoustic database used for our analysis cumulatively spans 50 years of data from moorings that cover much of the Arctic Ocean. The occurrences of lunar migrations happen every winter at all sites, even under sea ice with snow cover on top." Themisto libellula , an amphipod crustacean and a predatory hunter of copepods such as Calanus -- a probable werewolf of the Arctic. Credit: Daniel Vogedes (The Arctic University of Norway, UiT).
The findings have implications for the carbon cycle, which is particularly important in light of climate change. "The daily vertical migration 28 of zooplankton contributes significantly to the carbon pump by moving fixed carbon from the surface into the deep ocean," Last explains. "Since there is no photosynthesis during the polar night, carbon is only moved into the deep by predators feeding on prey." This influence of zooplanktons' winter movements will need to be quantified and incorporated into biogeochemical models. As the climate changes and the ice melts, Last says, lunar-driven zooplankton migrations might "become more prevalent, though as yet, we do not know the consequences of this." The video will load shortly In this video, Last et al . provide evidence for lunar influence on Arctic zooplankton communities during the dark polar night.
During full moon periods, zooplankton migrations are driven by moonlight in synchrony with the altitude and phase of the moon. Such lunar vertical migrations occur throughout the Arctic, in fjord, shelf, slope, and open sea. Credit: SAMS Communications Explore further: Researchers crack the ice to study the Arctic marine food web 29 More information: Current Biology , Last et al.: 'Moonlight Drives Ocean-Scale Mass Vertical Migration of Zooplankton during the Arctic Winter' dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.11.038 30 Journal reference: Current Biology 31 Provided by: Cell Press 32 More from Biology and Medical 33 Related Stories Researchers crack the ice to study the Arctic marine food web 34 November 20, 2014 Scientists traveled to a town near the top of the world to study a creature at the bottom of the marine food chain microscopic sea ice algae.
Welcome to Barrow, Alaska, where a team of marine ecologists gears up to hit ... Consequences of loss of ice in Arctic investigated 35 September 3, 2015 Researchers from the University of Aberdeen are set to investigate what consequences the rapidly shrinking sea ice cover in the Arctic is having on the marine ecosystem. Copepod migrations are important for the ocean's uptake of CO2 36 September 9, 2015 In a scientific article recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers from DTU Aqua, the University of Copenhagen and the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, have shown that the ...
As polar ice melts, seabed life is working against climate change 37 September 21, 2015 When it comes to climate change, it's rare to get any good news. But a researcher who's reported evidence in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on September 21, after more than two decades of study, has some: the loss ... In the dark polar winter, the animals aren't sleeping 38 September 24, 2015 You might expect that little happens in the Arctic Ocean during the cold and dark winter.
But that just isn't so, according to researchers who have sampled the activities of many different species during three consecutive ... Tiny plankton can play a major role in CO2 storage in the oceans 39 September 24, 2015 Tiny zooplankton animals, each no bigger than a grain of rice, may be playing a huge part in regulating climate change, research involving the University of Strathclyde has found. Recommended for you Bug eyes: Tiny 3-D glasses confirm insect 3-D vision 40 January 7, 2016 Miniature glasses have proved that mantises use 3D vision - providing a new model to improve visual perception in robots.
Random mutation, protein changes, tied to start of multicellular life 41 January 7, 2016 All it took was one mutation more than 600 million years ago. With that random act, a new protein function was born that helped our single-celled ancestor transition into an organized multicellular organism. In Arctic winter, marine creatures migrate by the light of the moon 42 January 7, 2016 A few months ago, researchers reported the surprising discovery that marine creatures living in one Arctic fjord keep busy through the permanently dark and frigid winter months.
Now, a report in the Cell Press journal Current ... Tweak in gene expression may have helped humans walk upright, researchers say 43 January 7, 2016 Consider the engineering marvel that is your foot. Be it hairy or homely, without its solid support you'd be hard-pressed to walk or jump normally.
Your symptoms? Evolution's way of telling you to stay home 44 January 7, 2016 When you have a fever, your nose is stuffed and your headache is spreading to your toes, your body is telling you to stay home in bed. Feeling sick is an evolutionary adaptation according to a hypothesis put forward by Prof. ...
Genetic traffic signal orchestrates early embryonic development 45 January 7, 2016 You are the product of metamorphosis. During the third week of your embryonic existence, fateful genetic choices were made that began to transform a tiny ball of identical stem cells into a complex organism of flesh and blood, ...
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Read more 46 47 Click here to reset your password. Sign in to get notified via email when new comments are made. 48 References ^ winter (m.phys.org) ^ marine creatures (m.phys.org) ^ mass migrations (m.phys.org) ^ migration (m.phys.org) ^ Researchers crack the ice to study the Arctic marine food web (phys.org) ^ dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.11.038 (dx.doi.org) ^ Current Biology (phys.org) ^ Cell Press (phys.org) ^ Biology and Medical (www.physicsforums.com) ^ Researchers crack the ice to study the Arctic marine food web (phys.org) ^ Consequences of loss of ice in Arctic investigated (phys.org) ^ Copepod migrations are important for the ocean's uptake of CO2 (phys.org) ^ As polar ice melts, seabed life is working against climate change (phys.org) ^ In the dark polar winter, the animals aren't sleeping (phys.org) ^ Tiny plankton can play a major role in CO2 storage in the oceans (phys.org) ^ Bug eyes: Tiny 3-D glasses confirm insect 3-D vision (phys.org) ^ Random mutation, protein changes, tied to start of multicellular life (phys.org) ^ In Arctic winter, marine creatures migrate by the light of the moon (phys.org) ^ Tweak in gene expression may have helped humans walk upright, researchers say (phys.org) ^ Your symptoms? Evolution's way of telling you to stay home (phys.org) ^ Genetic traffic signal orchestrates early embryonic development (phys.org) ^ sign in (sciencex.com) ^ Read more (sciencex.com) ^ Click here (sciencex.com) ^ winter (m.phys.org) ^ marine creatures (m.phys.org) ^ mass migrations (m.phys.org) ^ migration (m.phys.org) ^ Researchers crack the ice to study the Arctic marine food web (phys.org) ^ dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.11.038 (dx.doi.org) ^ Current Biology (phys.org) ^ Cell Press (phys.org) ^ Biology and Medical (www.physicsforums.com) ^ Researchers crack the ice to study the Arctic marine food web (phys.org) ^ Consequences of loss of ice in Arctic investigated (phys.org) ^ Copepod migrations are important for the ocean's uptake of CO2 (phys.org) ^ As polar ice melts, seabed life is working against climate change (phys.org) ^ In the dark polar winter, the animals aren't sleeping (phys.org) ^ Tiny plankton can play a major role in CO2 storage in the oceans (phys.org) ^ Bug eyes: Tiny 3-D glasses confirm insect 3-D vision (phys.org) ^ Random mutation, protein changes, tied to start of multicellular life (phys.org) ^ In Arctic winter, marine creatures migrate by the light of the moon (phys.org) ^ Tweak in gene expression may have helped humans walk upright, researchers say (phys.org) ^ Your symptoms?
Evolution's way of telling you to stay home (phys.org) ^ Genetic traffic signal orchestrates early embryonic development (phys.org) ^ sign in (sciencex.com) ^ Read more (sciencex.com) ^ Click here (sciencex.com)
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