By Jonathan L. Goodall, M.S.E., David R. Maidment, and Kenneth H. Dunton
The spatial and temporal distribution of the benthic community of the Western Arctic Ocean was analyzed for trends in biomass through geostatistical interpolation of a retrospective (1970 – 1995) database of 1,093 point samples. A Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to manage, analyze, and display the spatially referenced point samples, as well as the interpolated continuous surface of benthic biomass. The geostatistical interpolation produced both mean predictions and prediction standard errors on a continuous scale within the study region. Natural variability of benthic biomass was evident in the standard errors, which were of the same magnitude as the prediction mean values. The final result of the spatial analysis revealed very high benthic biomass in the Bering and Chukchi Seas and lowest organism abundance on the Alaskan Beaufort Sea shelf. Areas of relatively low localized biomass were also noted at the outlets of the two major river basins within the study region: The Yukon and Mackenzie River systems. The temporal analysis of samples spanning three decades measured within a 40,000 km2 area south of St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea showed an increase in benthic biomass from 1970 to 1995, but the ability to detect decadal temporal trends throughout the study area was hindered by an insufficient spatial overlap of data sampled through time.
Spatial and Temporal Trends of the Western Arctic Ocean Benthic Community
By Jonathan L. Goodall, M.S.E., David R. Maidment, and Kenneth H. Dunton
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