Editing Polynya (section)

=== Biological production ===
[[File:Arctic Marine Food Web.png|thumb|A depiction of an Arctic marine food web. The phytoplankton, the base of the food web, are able to grow due to the polynya in the sea ice above them.]]
In general, polynyas tend to be more biologically productive as a result of containing more phytoplankton than the surrounding water.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Arrigo |first=Kevin R. |date=2003 |title=Phytoplankton dynamics within 37 Antarctic coastal polynya systems |url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1029/2002JC001739 |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research |language=en |volume=108 |issue=C8 |pages=3271 |doi=10.1029/2002JC001739 |bibcode=2003JGRC..108.3271A |issn=0148-0227}}</ref> Therefore, due to the role of primary producers as the foundation of the [[marine food web]], polynyas are a critical food source for a variety of organisms such as fish, birds, and marine mammals.<ref name=":1" /> Listed below are several examples of the importance of polynyas to polar communities.

* Increased seal mortality rates were observed during years when the [[Ross Sea]] Polynya did not open.<ref name=":0" /> 
* In eastern Antarctica, 91% of [[Adélie penguin]] colonies are linked to a coastal polynya, where polynya size often correlates to colony size.<ref name=":1" /> 
* The presence of polynyas in [[McMurdo Sound]] provides an ice-free area where [[penguin]]s can feed, directly effecting the survival of the [[Cape Royds]] penguin colony.<ref>
{{cite web |date=12 June 2014 |title=Penguins in high latitudes |url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz//tm/scholarly/tei-Bio15Tuat03-t1-body-d5.html |publisher=NZETC}}</ref>
* The downward transport of carbon (in the form of [[marine snow]]) from the surface to the seafloor associated with polynya blooms provides the nutrients necessary to sustain rich [[Benthic zone|benthic]] communities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Labrousse |first1=Sara |last2=Williams |first2=Guy |last3=Tamura |first3=Takeshi |last4=Bestley |first4=Sophie |last5=Sallée |first5=Jean-Baptiste |last6=Fraser |first6=Alexander D. |last7=Sumner |first7=Michael |last8=Roquet |first8=Fabien |last9=Heerah |first9=Karine |last10=Picard |first10=Baptiste |last11=Guinet |first11=Christophe |last12=Harcourt |first12=Robert |last13=McMahon |first13=Clive |last14=Hindell |first14=Mark A. |last15=Charrassin |first15=Jean-Benoit |date=2018-02-16 |title=Coastal polynyas: Winter oases for subadult southern elephant seals in East Antarctica |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=3183 |doi=10.1038/s41598-018-21388-9 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=5816617 |pmid=29453356|bibcode=2018NatSR...8.3183L }}</ref>