Beyond blooms: the winter ecosystem reset determines microeukaryotic community dynamics in the Fram Strait

Abstract

The Arctic Ocean is undergoing a major transition as a result of global warming, with uncertain consequences for its ecosystems. Our study introduces an integrated analytical approach using co-occurrence networks, convergent cross-mapping, and energy landscape analysis. Applied to four years of amplicon data from Fram Strait, located at the boundary between Arctic and Atlantic waters, our method identifies keystone species in seasonal microbial communities, elucidates causal interactions, and predicts stable configurations across changing environments. We find strong evidence for a “winter reset”, implying that organisms representing the spring bloom are largely determined by prevailing environmental conditions during winter. In addition, our analysis suggests that winter communities may adapt more readily to expected Atlantification than summer communities. These results highlight the utility of innovative time-series analyses in disentangling ecosystem dynamics. This approach provides critical insights into Arctic ecological interactions, dynamics, and resilience and aids in understanding ecosystem responses to environmental change.