Detailseite
Projekt
Klima bedingte Invasion der Antarktis? Physiologische Auswirkungen von Temperatur und Hypoxie auf verschiedene Lebensstadien der Reptanten Dekapoden Krebse und die Bedeutung für Verschiebungen ihrer Verbreitungsgrenzen
Antragstellerin
Dr. Daniela Storch
Fachliche Zuordnung
Physik, Chemie und Biologie des Meeres
Förderung
Förderung von 2013 bis 2019
Projektkennung
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 238009887
Ecosystem changes in response to climate change include pole ward shifts in geographical distribution. These changes are largely driven by environmental temperature in combination with other threats, such as decreasing oxygen levels in the world oceans. It might explain the recent findings of king crabs in Antarctic waters. Eggs and planktonic larvae, which are instrumental in shaping contemporary species distribution, are likely the most vulnerable life stages to such (geophysical, biochemical) changes. In addition to ocean warming the recent increase of hypoxic areas (dead zones) around coastal regions further compounds the problem by reducing the availability of soluble oxygen and higher temperatures in the oceans. Higher temperatures increase the oxygen consumption of marine animals and at the same time there is less oxygen dissolved in warmer sea water. The understanding of how early life stages will respond to these changes at a cellular and ecosystem level are crucial for predicting temperature and/or low dissolved oxygen (DO) induced Antarctic invasion of new species and shifts in species distribution in general. Given the paucity of studies investigating these aspects, this project will therefore investigate physiological reactions of varying life stages with special focus on eggs and early larvae considering the often neglected important issue such as parental investment and resulting ontogenetic variability in lipid and protein contents and its implications for larval fitness. In order to test the temperature and hypoxia tolerance in varying life stages and its implications for Antarctic invasion, I propose the following working hypotheses using reptant decapod species as a model group:1) The thermal tolerance window of eggs, measured from the cellular to the organismic level, is smaller in comparison to larvae, males and egg carrying females. Therefore, the life stage “egg” will determine the distribution limits of the species.2) The thermal tolerance of eggs and larvae will be decreased by low DO in sea water3) The parental investment is dependent on temperature and low DO levels negatively affect the development and fitness of hatching larvae.4) The environmental conditions during egg development have an impact on larval fitness and recruitment in the field.The proposal aims to identify the most sensitive life stage of a species and will allow the first viable measurement of the relative vulnerability of early life stages (eggs and hatching larvae) to synergistic effects of temperature and low DO. It is expected that the external stress due to climate change will affect egg development and result in deceased larval fitness forcing species to shifttheir distribution limits pole wards and invade Antarctic waters.
DFG-Verfahren
Infrastruktur-Schwerpunktprogramme
Teilprojekt zu
SPP 1158:
Bereich Infrastruktur - Antarktisforschung mit vergleichenden Untersuchungen in arktischen Eisgebieten
Internationaler Bezug
Argentinien, Chile
