Discrete water samples collected from the Conductivity-Temperature-Depth rosette at specific depths, CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Northern Bering Sea to Chukchi Sea, 2019

The Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean is experiencing major reductions in seasonal sea ice extent and increases in sea surface temperatures. One of the key uncertainties in this region is how the marine ecosystem will respond to seasonal shifts in the timing of spring sea ice retreat and/or delays in fall sea ice formation. Variations in upper ocean water hydrography, planktonic production, pelagic-benthic coupling and sediment carbon cycling are all influenced by sea ice and temperature change. To more systematically track the broad biological response to sea ice retreat and associated environmental change, an international consortium of scientists have developed a coordinated Distributed Biological Observatory(DBO) that includes selected biological measurements at multiple trophic levels, along with satellite and mooring measurements. The DBO currently focuses on five regional biological "hotspot" locations along a latitudinal gradient that allows for consistent sampling and monitoring at five biologically productive locations across a latitudinal gradient: DBO 1 (SLIP)-south of St. Lawrence Island (SLI), DBO2 (Chirikov)-north of SLI, DBO3 (southern Chukchi Sea), DBO4-NE Chukchi Sea,and DBO5-Barrow Canyon.

北冰洋太平洋扇区正经历季节性海冰范围的显著缩减与海表温度的持续上升。该区域存在的核心科学不确定性之一，是海洋生态系统将如何响应春季海冰消融时间的季节性偏移，以及秋季海冰形成的延迟现象。上层海洋水文状况、浮游生物生产力、水层-底栖耦合过程与沉积物碳循环的变化，均受海冰与温度变化的调控。为更系统地追踪海洋生物对海冰消融及相关环境变化的整体响应，一支国际性科学家合作团队开发了协同式分布式生物观测站（Distributed Biological Observatory, DBO），该观测平台包含多营养级的选定生物测量项目，同时配套卫星与锚系观测数据。目前该分布式生物观测站聚焦沿纬度梯度分布的5个区域性生物热点点位，可在跨纬度梯度的5个生物高生产力区域开展一致性采样与监测：DBO 1（SLIP）位于圣劳伦斯岛（St. Lawrence Island, SLI）南侧，DBO 2（奇里科夫）位于SLI北侧，DBO 3（楚科奇海南部），DBO 4（楚科奇海东北部），以及DBO 5（巴罗峡谷）。