Newfoundland's water ecosystem struggles to unravel its mysteries
The development of shrimp larvae is influenced by climate change near Newfoundland.
Despite all the scientific advances of recent years, there is always difficult to unveil the mysteries of the ecosystem in the waters near Newfoundland and to discover the impacts of climate change on aquatic fauna.
Indicators that gave us good predictions before have become less relevant in recent years in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. This changes a lot of things in our approach, admits Nicolas Le Corre, biologist at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
He adds that scientists know little about the composition of the ecosystem of these territories.
Shrimp fishing is an important activity off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.
His colleague Frédéric Cyr , a researcher in physical oceanography for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, sees the effects of climate change on the waters of the sector as a very interesting problem.
The finding in our research is that the important theme is climate change near the Arctic Ocean and sea currents coming from the north. The melting of the ice is happening more quickly, we see hotter summers with stronger fluctuations, he noted.
According to his words, such conditions have consequences important on certain species, including shrimp, which is at the heart of the marine food chain.
He observes that a fluctuation in climate change depending on the sector of Newfoundland has a direct impact on the development of shrimp. In northern Newfoundland and near the coasts of Labrador, water warming is slower than to the south, on the continental shelf.
Shrimp is the staple food of the marine ecosystem near Newfoundland.
When waters warm, shrimp larvae grows faster and travels less far. It is the food base of the ecosystem and it forces a change in the habitat of its predators, he points out.
The two researchers agree that marine biology research is more difficult due to current climate change.
It changes a lot of things in our approach, agrees Nicolas Le Corre.
According to information from La matinale N.-É. and NL
