Project Details
Projekt
Altered stoichiometry and species interactions in coastal Antarctic plankton communities under global climate change
Applicant
Dr. Christoph Plum
Subject Area
Oceanography
Term
since 2020
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 442927665
The West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) experiences major alterations in climate conditions associated with decreasing sea-ice duration and extend, changes in seasonality, increasing temperature variability with increasing sea-surface temperature (SST) and subsequent freshening of coastal areas. By that, changes in climate conditions also alter the availability of essential nutrients such as iron, nitrogen and phosphorus. The project aims to investigate the interactive effects of multiple environmental stressors on Antarctic plankton communities. To understand the underlying mechanisms, laboratory and on-board experiments combined with a field survey will be conducted to investigate the response in phytoplankton growth, biomass accumulation and particulate stoichiometry to factorial manipulations in temperature (increase of mean and variability) and nutrient ratios. The variation of these parameters translates into environmental heterogeneity that strongly affects phytoplankton populations and thus the structure of the food web. Therefore, the second aim is to understand the consequences of changes in temperature and nutrient availability on producer level for consumers in terms of resource use efficiency, biomass and stoichiometry. The originality of the project lies in the approach to assess the interactive effects of changing resources and environmental parameters on a plankton community driving a highly productive food web in a cold water environment with a strong impact on the global biogeochemistry. Overall, the project will help to improve our mechanistic understanding of how future changes in environmental conditions along the WAP will alter plankton communities, their trophic interactions and their function. This is crucial for predicting how the Antarctic food web will respond to changing environmental conditions.
DFG Programme
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