Functional Ecology | Ecosystem Functions | Southern Ocean
Elaboration of a proposal for the designation of a Marine Protected Area in the Weddell Sea
The project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Ref: 2813HS009), provides the scientific basis for identifying potential conservation areas in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica.
We systematically gather all available ecological data sets from zooplankton to zoobenthos, fish, birds and mammals, and relate them to a range of relevant, remotely sensed environmental variables, such as sea ice concentration data.
Spatial prediction maps are produced using diverse modelling approaches and geographic information systems to obtain a representation of each species’ habitats or feeding grounds. Finally, the identification and evaluation of potential CCAMLR-conservation areas in the Weddell Sea are accomplished by means of conservation planning software.
CoastCarb
Coastal ecosystem carbon balance in times of rapid glacier melt
CoastCarb is an international research network that uses interdisciplinary approaches to better understand climate and (eco)system changes in the Beagle Channel and nearshore West Antarctic Peninsula. The study area is known as a region recently affected by rapid atmospheric warming. The CoastCarb network is funded by the Marie Curie Action RISE (Research and Innovation Staff Exchange) of the European Union's Horizon 2020 framework program (H2020-MCSA-RISE 872690). The action brings together more than 100 European, South American, U.S. and Canadian scientists to advance the sub-(polar) research. ... more info.
DynAMo
Dynamics of the impact of ice mass loss in the Andes on Patagonian terrestrial, limnetic and marine ecosystems
In the DynAMo project (funded by the BMBF; ID: LAT16STRUC-039), scientists and marine engineers from Germany, Argentina, Chile and the United States are working on a concept for a marine-terrestrial observation network in the Beagle Channel and southern Patagonia. Due to enormous climatic changes in southern Patagonia and West Antarctica, glaciers in the Andes are retreating. In addition, marine ecosystems are changing under the influence of meltwater. At the same time, the population of Argentina and Chile, the two countries through which the Beagle Channel passes, is growing, and with it the inputs of domestic and industrial wastewater. In addition, fishing and aquaculture pressure is increasing. In an area once considered "pristine", massive and rapid environmental changes are now occurring.
To understand, document and predict these changes in the future, scientists from the AWI, the universities of Oldenburg and Erlangen-Nuremberg, and the Institute of Chemistry and Biology of the Sea (ICBM) in Wilhelmshaven are working in cooperation with colleagues from Argentina (CADIC, Ushuaia) and Chile (IDEAL Centre, Valdivia) to develop an observation network for the entire length of the Beagle Channel. ... more info.
Identification of biogeochemical provinces in the Southern Ocean: spatial modeling of geochemical, sedimentological and biological data
Biogeochemical provinces are regions with relatively consistent or characteristic biogeochemical conditions, e.g. oxygen conditions or carbon fluxes.
The project funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG SSP1158) identifies those provinces by means of geostatistical and multivariate modeling based on geo-referenced data. They allow us to better detect biological and geochemical processes and to quantify and analyse their future change in models.
The extensive data, which were acquired within both projects, serve as a profound basis for future work inter alia focusing on the variability of ecosystem function in space and time. The better understanding of Antarctic ecosystem resilience and stability under changing conditions is one of the issues that play a prominent role in the Helmholtz research program PACES II.