Scholarlink

<p>The western Arctic is experiencing rapid environmental change, and the Chukchi Borderland is characterised by a strongly stratified water-mass structure during the summer sea-ice retreat period. However, how this contemporary stratification is reflected in pelagic metazoan communities remains poorly understood. Here, we used metazoan-targeted, COI-based environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding to investigate community patterns across three major water masses in the Chukchi Borderland: the Polar Mixed Layer (PML, 0–50&#xa0;m), Arctic Halocline Water (AHW, 50–200&#xa0;m), and Atlantic Water (AW, 200–2000&#xa0;m). During the summer sea-ice retreat period in July-August 2023, we collected 24 seawater samples from eight stations, spanning depth layers corresponding to these water masses. Metazoan α-diversity differed significantly among water masses (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.05) and generally peaked in AHW, while the freshened PML showed the lowest diversity. Community composition also showed vertical structuring, with Weighted UniFrac analyses revealing significant differentiation among water masses and closer similarity between AHW and AW than between either deeper layer and PML. Co-occurrence network analyses suggested that AHW supported a relatively sparse but more modular metazoan network, whereas PML and AW exhibited more densely connected networks. Environmental variables showed strong vertical gradients, and salinity and temperature emerged as the main environmental correlates of community structure, with salinity showing the strongest independent explanatory contribution. These results demonstrate that COI-based eDNA metabarcoding can resolve water-mass-associated community patterns in stratified Arctic waters. Rather than inferring temporal sea-ice-driven change, this study provides a baseline snapshot of how contemporary water-mass structure is associated with metazoan community organisation in the Chukchi Borderland during the summer sea-ice retreat period.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Water-mass structuring of metazoan communities inferred from environmental DNA in the Chukchi Borderland during the summer sea-ice retreat period

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月21日

查看全文
  • Zhiyi Su,
  • Wei Luo,
  • Yong Yu,
  • Kun Liu,
  • Zihan Wang,
  • Zheying Lin,
  • Ling Cao,
  • Cong Zeng

摘要

The western Arctic is experiencing rapid environmental change, and the Chukchi Borderland is characterised by a strongly stratified water-mass structure during the summer sea-ice retreat period. However, how this contemporary stratification is reflected in pelagic metazoan communities remains poorly understood. Here, we used metazoan-targeted, COI-based environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding to investigate community patterns across three major water masses in the Chukchi Borderland: the Polar Mixed Layer (PML, 0–50 m), Arctic Halocline Water (AHW, 50–200 m), and Atlantic Water (AW, 200–2000 m). During the summer sea-ice retreat period in July-August 2023, we collected 24 seawater samples from eight stations, spanning depth layers corresponding to these water masses. Metazoan α-diversity differed significantly among water masses (p < 0.05) and generally peaked in AHW, while the freshened PML showed the lowest diversity. Community composition also showed vertical structuring, with Weighted UniFrac analyses revealing significant differentiation among water masses and closer similarity between AHW and AW than between either deeper layer and PML. Co-occurrence network analyses suggested that AHW supported a relatively sparse but more modular metazoan network, whereas PML and AW exhibited more densely connected networks. Environmental variables showed strong vertical gradients, and salinity and temperature emerged as the main environmental correlates of community structure, with salinity showing the strongest independent explanatory contribution. These results demonstrate that COI-based eDNA metabarcoding can resolve water-mass-associated community patterns in stratified Arctic waters. Rather than inferring temporal sea-ice-driven change, this study provides a baseline snapshot of how contemporary water-mass structure is associated with metazoan community organisation in the Chukchi Borderland during the summer sea-ice retreat period.