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
ABSTRACT
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.
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