ICEDNA · Investigating Changes in Antarctic Marine Ecosystems using Environmental DNA
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2017-11-25 → 2019-11-24
- EU contribution
- €200,195
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-CAR
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Investigating Changes in Antarctic Marine Ecosystems using Environmental DNA
Polar marine ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts, from the combined effects of both global warming and ocean acidification. Yet practically speaking, these ecosystems are extremely difficult to work in and gather field data from, so there is a strong need to appraise the efficacy of powerful new techniques for studying them. This study examined the use of environmental DNA for the purpose of understanding Antarctic marine biodiversity and what affects it in nearshore seafloor ecosystems. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is defined as DNA that is isolated from an environmental sample (such as water, sediment, air) rather than directly from specific individual organisms. Because organisms are continually shedding cells and DNA into the environment, eDNA has proven a sensitive and powerful indicator of organism presence. This study examined this in the context of Antarctic nearshore ecosystems exposed to a gradient of human impacts (around an expeditioner station in Antarctica) and by collecting eDNA samples from an experiment that manipulated the acidity of seawater surrounding experimental seafloor communities to acidity levels predicted 100 years from now. This work is important for society on multiple levels; broadly it will help us understand the uses and limits of this new technique in the context of studying Antarctic seafloor ecosystems and specifically it will give insight into how small scale human impacts (such as the ongoing operations of an expeditioner base) and large scale human impacts (climate change and ocean acidification) affect biodiversity in these ecosystems. The overall objectives of the study were to: 1) Define the scale at which eDNA signals vary from centimetres to kilometres using different sample mediums (seawater collected at 5m depth V seawater/sediment collected from the seafloor and, 2) relate variation in eDNA signals in the context of impacts of the ongoing operation of an expeditioner station and to the likely effects of future ocean acidification on benthic communities.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The earth's climate is changing rapidly and nowhere more so than in polar regions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has noted that polar marine ecosystems are especially vulnerable to climate change impacts, through the synergistic effects of both thermal climate changes and ocean acidification. How such impacts will transpire biologically and the flow-on effects from this are quite unclear, and there is broad acknowledgment of this scientifically and in terms of public policy. Polar ecosystems are extremely difficult to work in and gather field data from, so there is a strong need to appraise the efficacy of powerful new techniques for studying them. This project (ICEDNA) proposes to appraise and apply the nascent technique of environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis to elucidate how polar marine ecosystems respond to environmental impacts. ICEDNA leverages on recent manipulative and ecological field experiments in Antarctic nearshore ecosystems. These experiments focused on detection of fine scale human impacts from research stations and the biological impacts from ocean acidification. By marrying spatially and temporally nested eDNA data with traditional physical, chemical and biological data collection techniques, ICEDNA will yield a thorough understanding of the uses and limits of eDNA for marine (and polar) biodiversity and ecological monitoring, which is at the forefront of marine ecological research. These data will also yield unprecedented insight into (1) how polar marine communities respond to small scale human impacts and (2) how these communities respond to the large scale human impact of ocean acidification. ICEDNA combines the latest eDNA methods from Europe with the applicants extensive applied ecology experience, to produce a dynamic multidisciplinary researcher.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET · KOBENHAVNCoordinatorDenmark
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union