Study of the impact of climate change on marine organisms in Antarctic coastal environments.

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Main recearcher: Verónica Fuentes

Institution: Institut de Ciències del Mar – CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas)

Description:
Climate warming is a global phenomenon that is magnified in the polar regions. In the Antarctic peninsula area, the rise in temperature observed in the last 50 years is 2.5º C. Recent studies have correlated the change in air temperature with the notable retreat of glaciers on the Antarctic peninsula and the significant fall in the formation of sea ice during the winter period.

The coastal ecosystems of these latitudes are directly experiencing the consequences of both processes, primarily through the change of two environmental factors: 1) the decrease in the surface salinity of the water due to sweet water from the glaciers and the decrease in formation of sea ice as a consequence of the rise in temperature, and 2) the increase of sediments in suspension in the water column caused by the melting of the front of the glaciers, which releases material of terrestrial origin into the water.

These environmental variations directly affect the dynamics of the water column, both the primary production values and the dynamics of the primary producers, including phytoplankton and macroalgae. The changes in the communities of primary producers directly affect the primary consumers and, therefore, the higher levels of the trophic networks.

The aim of this project is to study the impact that the retreating glaciers, caused by global warming, has on the marine organisms of Potter Cove, located on the Antarctic peninsula. Surrounded by a glacier in retreat, the normal conditions of this little cove are being affected by the sweet water filled with sediments that has been flowing into it in recent years. These changing conditions of coastal waters are affecting the communities of benthonic organisms, decreasing their diversity, as some more sensitive species are being replaced by others that are more tolerant of the high levels of sedimentation.

The project will study these changes thanks to the positioning of a Lander type system, which will enable us to monitor the entry of water from the thaw into the cove, and so know the dynamics of the changes caused in order to assess correctly its effects on the organisms.

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