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SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

The heat is on: resilience and tipping points in Arctic phytoplankton populations under climate change induced heatwaves

Tildelt: kr 79 999

Prosjektleder:

Prosjektnummer:

310723

Prosjektperiode:

2020 - 2021

Midlene er mottatt fra:

Samarbeidsland:

Effects of climate change and associated extreme events on primary productivity are of paramount interest for ecosystem functioning and biogeochemical cycling. In a future climate, marine heatwaves are forecasted to increase globally in frequency and intensity, especially in high-latitude regions. Yet, rigorous approaches to investigate underlying ecological mechanisms in the response to such events and their implications for primary producers are still very limited. This project aims at elucidating the adaptive capacity and limits of Arctic coastal phytoplankton towards short warming events through on-site experiments and field observations. Adjustments to changed environmental conditions can take place through physiological and evolutionary responses on several fundamental ecological levels (genotype, population and species community), which are especially in protists extremely difficult to disentangle. One of the largest challenges is the analysis of intraspecific diversity and dynamics, which will be the special focus of this project. During April and May 2020 I intend to support and extend regular monitoring programs of the phytoplankton spring bloom in Kongsfjorden (by NPI and AWI) to observe in-situ responses of the phytoplankton community and population structure. In parallel, I will run an on-site incubation experiment of natural phytoplankton communities under simulated heatwave conditions. Using a novel approach to efficiently examine the composition of protist populations (Microsatellite PoolSeq Barcoding), along with targeted experiments and in context of a unique environmental time-series of the Kongsfjord across six consecutive years, we will work towards closing these substantial knowledge gaps on rapid physiological and evolutionary adjustments to heatwaves.

Budsjettformål:

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum