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CLIMATE CHANGE
 Impact of climate change on marine
algae
With climate change looming large,
countries around the world are mobilising their top scientists
in an effort to measure its impact on the environment and
society. One such scientist is the young Dr Björn Rost, who
was recently awarded a EUR 1.4 million Independent Researcher
Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). His research
will focus on the impact of climate change on micro algae in
the oceans.
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The
oceans’ surface micro algae play an important part
in the marine
ecosystem
© Shutterstock | |
Big
movie productions and many science fiction writers have again
and again painted a very dramatic picture of the consequences
of climate change. However, what is often forgotten is that
any changes that occur will first be noticed at the micro
level. And this is precisely the level at which Dr Björn Rost
will be focusing his work.
The PhytoChange project will
deal with the impact of climate change on marine phytoplankton
– micro algae. The ocean’s surface micro algae play an
important part in the marine ecosystem as they provide the
nutritional basis for marine life. There is much life on the
ocean’s surface; micro algae are able to utilise the sun’s
rays as their source of energy for growth and transform carbon
dioxide (CO2) into organic compounds such as
sugars.
However, CO2 emissions are increasing as a
result of pollution, leading to higher CO2 concentrations and
lower pH values in marine ecosystems. This causes the oceans
to become more acidic, what marine scientists term ocean
acidification. Meanwhile, rising global temperatures adversely
impact the stratification of the ocean’s surface, causing
changes to the surface water light regime and nutrient input
from deeper layers of the ocean. These changes have
far-reaching implications for the whole ecosystem and food
chain.
'Predictions of how phytoplankton may respond to
future changes at the cellular and ecosystem levels are a
central task in climate research. We must go beyond the
descriptive level and understand why photosynthesis,
calcification, nitrogen fixation and other important cellular
processes of marine algae are altered under the influence of
climate change,' explained Dr Rost who works at the Alfred
Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in
Germany.
The project will specifically examine the
impact of environmental changes on selected phytoplankton
groups, such as diatoms and coccolithophores. 'So far,
experiments focussed predominantly on the impact of individual
environmental factors and rarely on the combined effects,'
says Dr Rost. 'Therefore, we will analyse several influences
simultaneously in our laboratory and field experiments. The
methods we developed in the last few years will enable us not
only to describe, but also to explain the species-specific
responses to the altered environmental impacts.'
Dr
Rost was one of 9 000 people who applied for funding from the
ERC's Independent Researcher Grant. Only 3% of applicants in
this highly competitive field were successful. These grants
offer up to EUR 2 million over a period of five years and are
designed to boost the careers of young
researchers.
PhytoChange will work in cooperation with
several research institutes worldwide, namely the University
of British Columbia (Canada), the University of Technology,
Sydney (Australia), the Marine Biological Station of Roscoff
(France), Bar Ilan University (Israel), the University of
Copenhagen (Denmark), and the University of Edinburgh
(UK).
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More
information:
The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and
Marine Research
Independent Researcher Grant
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