The past, present and future of unique cold-water benthic (sea floor) ecosystems in the Southern Ocean

南大洋独特的冷水底栖（海底）生态系统的过去、现在和未来

• 批准号: MR/W01002X/1
• 负责人: Rowan Jane Whittle
• 金额: $ 131.56万
• 依托单位: British Antarctic Survey
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FW01002X%2F1
• 关键词: past; present; future; unique; cold

Biodiversity loss and extinction are key issues today, around 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, many within decades. We rely on these natural resources for survival (e.g. food, drug uses) and leisure (e.g. tourism). Approximately 66% of marine environments have been significantly altered by human actions. The Southern Ocean, surrounding Antarctica is extremely vulnerable to environmental change; it is one of the fastest warming areas on the planet. As such, it is a natural laboratory for understanding environmental change. This fellowship aims to understand the biological response of ecosystems to environmental change, using the Southern Ocean as an example. This project is novel as it will include data on Antarctic sea floor communities from a long-time frame to the present day. To understand how Antarctica has changed over the last 50 million years, I will study the excellent fossil sites found in Antarctica, with well-preserved exposures from warm greenhouse and cool icehouse periods. I will use these past analogues to identify potential effects of climate warming. In addition, I will develop methodologies to understand the structure, function and stability of modern Southern Ocean ecosystems. Combined, this work will provide a step-wise increase in our ability to predict ecosystem disturbance in a changing environment.Southern Ocean sea floor communities here are vulnerable, deemed to be at a high risk from modern environmental change. We need to understand the stability of these communities, and how they formed, to be able to protect them from increasing human influence such as tourism, fishing, and climate change. Most marine biodiversity in Antarctica is found on the sea floor, where animals such as lamp shells, sponges, and sea lilies are common. I am interested in the interactions between these sea floor animals, and between the animals and their environment. Studying the fossil record will also indicate the environmental conditions under which these Southern Ocean communities evolved.I will compare the structure of sea floor animal communities from warm and cold-water periods in Antarctica's history. I will be looking for links between changes in environment, and changes in the composition and interactions of the organisms. This will help inform us of what predator and prey interactions, and environmental conditions caused this unique community to evolve in the first place. Studying the past gives us insights into how disturbances such as rapid climate change can alter biodiversity. For example: at what temperature in the past do we see the ecosystem structure change to what we find on modern Southern Ocean sea floors? If climate change causes temperatures to rise higher than this, it is likely to restructure the community. The fellowship will also look at the modern Southern Ocean sea floor community. A machine learning tool will be developed to identify the composition and structure of modern communities rapidly from photograph and video data. Statistical methods will be used to identify animals that underpin the community structure, and what effects changing their abundance will have on the rest of the community. With my new understanding of the structure, function, and evolution of these unique sea floor communities, I will pinpoint how human induced environmental change, such as warming, and the introduction of invasive species, could affect biodiversity and restructure communities. This work will provide information about how to manage marine areas, guiding the sustainability of activities such as fishing and tourism, in addition to identifying the risks to biodiversity and marine communities from climate change.

生物多样性的丧失和灭绝是当今的关键问题，大约100万种动植物物种现在面临灭绝的威胁，许多物种将在几十年内灭绝。我们依靠这些自然资源生存（例如食物，药物使用）和休闲（例如旅游）。约66%的海洋环境已被人类活动显著改变。环绕南极洲的南大洋极易受到环境变化的影响;它是地球上变暖最快的地区之一。因此，它是了解环境变化的天然实验室。该研究金旨在以南大洋为例，了解生态系统对环境变化的生物反应。这个项目是新颖的，因为它将包括从长期到今天的南极海底群落的数据。为了了解南极洲在过去的5000万年里是如何变化的，我将研究在南极洲发现的优秀化石遗址，这些遗址保存完好，来自温暖的温室和凉爽的冰库时期。我将用这些过去的类比来确定气候变暖的潜在影响。此外，我将制定方法来了解现代南大洋生态系统的结构，功能和稳定性。结合起来，这项工作将逐步提高我们在不断变化的环境中预测生态系统扰动的能力。这里的南大洋海底群落很脆弱，被认为面临现代环境变化的高风险。我们需要了解这些社区的稳定性，以及它们是如何形成的，以便能够保护它们免受旅游业、渔业和气候变化等日益增加的人类影响。南极洲的大多数海洋生物多样性都在海底，那里的动物如贝壳，海绵和海百合很常见。我感兴趣的是这些海底动物之间的相互作用，以及动物与环境之间的相互作用。研究化石记录也将表明这些南大洋群落进化的环境条件。我将比较南极洲历史上暖水期和冷水期海底动物群落的结构。我将寻找环境变化与有机体组成和相互作用变化之间的联系。这将帮助我们了解是什么样的捕食者和猎物的相互作用，以及环境条件导致了这个独特的社区首先进化。研究过去让我们深入了解快速气候变化等干扰如何改变生物多样性。例如：在过去的什么温度下，我们看到的生态系统结构变化到我们在现代南大洋海底发现的情况？如果气候变化导致气温上升超过这一水平，很可能会重组社区。研究金还将考察现代南大洋海底群落。将开发一个机器学习工具，以便从照片和视频数据中迅速确定现代社区的组成和结构。将使用统计方法来确定支持社区结构的动物，以及改变它们的丰度将对社区的其他部分产生什么影响。随着我对这些独特海底群落的结构、功能和进化的新认识，我将查明人类引起的环境变化（例如变暖和入侵物种的引入）如何影响生物多样性并重组群落。这项工作将提供关于如何管理海洋区域的信息，指导渔业和旅游业等活动的可持续性，并确定气候变化对生物多样性和海洋社区的风险。

项目成果

Animal survival strategies in Neoproterozoic ice worlds.

• DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16393
• 发表时间: 2023-01
• 期刊: Global change biology
• 影响因子: 11.6

Sequence stratigraphy of a wave-dominated, tidally influenced delta in the Danian of Seymour Island, Antarctica: An integrated sedimentological-palaeoecological approach

南极洲西摩岛达尼安期波浪主导、潮汐影响三角洲的层序地层学：综合沉积学-古生态学方法

• DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111789
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
• 作者: Ineson J

How predictable are mass extinction events?

• DOI: 10.1098/rsos.221507
• 发表时间: 2023-03
• 期刊: ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
• 影响因子: 3.5
• 作者: Foster, William J.;Allen, Bethany J.;Kitzmann, Niklas H.;Muenchmeyer, Jannes;Rettelbach, Tabea;Witts, James D.;Whittle, Rowan J.;Larina, Ekaterina;Clapham, Matthew E.;Dunhill, Alexander M.
• 通讯作者: Dunhill, Alexander M.