Transcript SSG-Life Sciences:

SSG-Life Sciences:
Proposed Scientific Research
Programs 2013-2018
Motivation
• The current SCAR Life Sciences
Programme (EBA) will end in 2013
• July 2009: First discussion at the SCAR X
Biology Symposium
• May 2010: Workshop resulting in 2 new
programme proposals: 25 participants, 12
countries
New Programme Premises
• Biodiversity dictates how ecosystems
function and underpins the life-support
system of our planet
• Antarctic ecosystems are under stress:
– Climate change (T, precipitation, sea ice, pH)
– Human impact (invasive species, exploitation)
– Extreme events (ice shelf collapse)
Antarctic is biologically unique
• Community complexity
• How it will respond to environmental
change
Antarctic informs
• a wider ecological debate about stability
and change in ecosystems
Two Key Questions Now
• What is the STATE of the Antarctic
ecosystem?
• What are the biological PROCESSES that
define the Antarctic ecosystem tolerance
limits and determine its resistance and
resilience to change?
In response, we propose two new Programmes:
STATE
of the
Antarctic
Ecosystem
(AntEco)
Antarctic
Ecosystem
THRESHOLDS
and
RESILIENCE
(AntETR)
STATE
THRESHOLDS and RESILIENCE
Defining Questions:
Defining Questions:
-What is there?
-How did it get there?
-Why is it there?
-What threatens it?
How close to the cliff are we?
-What happens before we reach the
cliff?
-What does the cliff look like?
-What is the future beyond the cliff?
STATE
THRESHOLDS and RESILIENCE
Key Questions:
Key Questions:
- How has Antarctic biology responded
to past change and what does this tell
us about the capacity to respond to
future change?
- How do we explain the origin, current
distribution and abundance of
biodiversity?
- What are the threats and the
implications for the maintenance of
biodiversity and ecosystem services?
- How does genetic variation
underlie the life history and
physiological adaptation of polar
organisms?
- How do species traits impact on
community interactions and
stability, thereby influencing nutrient
cycles, energy transfer and
productivity? Will invasive species
have catastrophic impacts?
- What are the consequences of a
changing environment for
ecosystem functioning and
ecosystem services?
STATE
THRESHOLDS and RESILIENCE
Addressing the questions:
Addressing the questions:
- Census biodiversity with sustained
observing platforms
- Understand species radiation and
extinctions
-Apply new molecular approaches,
remote sensing and other technological
innovations along with simple,
repeatable baseline surveys
-Model and predict biodiversityenvironment interactions, patterns and
regionalization
- Understand organismal
physiology, systems biology and the
drivers of productivity in the context
of stress
- Develop an integrative view of the
vulnerability of Antarctic biota
- Apply new “-omics” and
physiological approaches
- Model and predict thresholds and
resilience
STATE
THRESHOLDS and RESILIENCE
Addressing the questions:
Addressing the questions:
- Integrate with geological record,
glaciology and palaeoecology
-Increase resolution of climateenvironmental models
- Include special habitats (e.g.
subglacial, seamounts, vents)
- Identify special characteristics such
as uniqueness, endemism and refugia
- Develop and maintain long term
environmental data to identify
tipping points
- Integrate functional process data
with existing data bases
Why Now?
• Physical and biological
measurements of the
Earth’s system now
confirm that the Antarctic
is outside the range of
natural variability
• Now is the time to assess
the STATE of the
ecosystem and the
biological PROCESSES
that will determine its
vulnerability and
resilience
Stakeholders
Contribute to:
• ATS parties and CEP
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), Inter-governmental Platform for
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
(IPBES), Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD)
Links to:
• SCAR Programmes (ACE, AGCS, SALE,
EBA and their successors)
• Other Antarctic initiatives: ACCE, CCAMLR,
COML, ANTABIF, SOOS
Deliverables
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High impact synthesis papers
Interdisciplinary interactions
Contributions to IPCC
Contributions to ACCE
New databases
Capacity building (APECS)
Outreach
New Expert Group on Impacts of
Humans and Invasive Species on
Antarctic Ecosystems
STATE
THRESHOLDS and RESILIENCE
Unique deliverables:
Unique deliverables:
- new Terrestrial “CAML” including
ICEMATE
-Genetic and barcoding metadatabase
-GIS products (visualising
bioregionalisation)
-Recommendations to the CEP’s 5year plan (e.g. prediction of distribution
and biodiversity changes, ship-borne
tourism, MPAs, ASPAs)
-New, process-oriented parameters
to ANTABIF
Acknowledgements
Professor Guido Di Prisco Italy
Dr Cinzia Verde Italy
Professor Piero Luporini Italy*
Professor Roberto Bargagli Italy
Dr Stefano Schiaparelli Italy
Professor Pete Convey UK
Professor Andy Clarke UK
Dr Katrin Linse UK
Dr Dominic Hodgson UK
Dr Antonio Quesada Spain
Dr Julian Gutt Germany
Professor Angelika Brandt
Germany
Dr Marc Lebouvier France
Professor Wim Vyverman Belgium
Dr Brent Sinclair Canada
Dr Martin Riddle Australia
Dr Clive Howard-Williams New Zealand
Dr Lucia Campos Brazil
Dr Elie Poulin Chile
Professor Diana Wall USA
Dr Renuka Badhe SCAR
Dr Yves Frenot CEP and COMNAP
Dr Kathy Conlan SSG-LS
Dr Lou Newman APECS
Ms Shulamit Gordon EBA Secretary