UCSB Professor Björn Birnir's work on capelin and climate change published by SIAM News

The SIAM News Blog has published research into climate change's effects on capelin by Björn Birnir (University of California, Santa Barbara), Alethea Barbaro (Case Western Reserve University), and Sam Subbey (Institute of Marine Research, Bergen).

Their research focused on on simulating and predicting the migratory patterns of capelin, an essential part of the arctic and sub-arctic marine food web. These patterns have become less consistent as the oceans have warmed and salinity levels have changed. Besides the potential consequences to commericial fisheries, the research shows how the capelin's migratory changes serve as something of a "canary in the coal mine" signaling trends in Arctic ocean conditions.

  • research
  • climate change
  • Biology
  • simulation
  • Björn Birnir