The evolution and ecology of Antarctic sea floor communities

The evolution and ecology of Antarctic sea floor communities is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, led by Dr Rowan Whittle, looking at the past, present and future of life at the bottom of the Southern Ocean in a changing world.

Loss of biodiversity and extinction are key issues today; ~66% of marine environments have been significantly altered by human actions. Loss of biodiversity is not just losing a species, this can also lead to damage of the way entire ecosystems work. However, it is often not known how species contribute to the stability of an ecosystem until they are removed by human related activity. Due to its inaccessibility, even less is known about the biodiversity on the seafloor of Southern Ocean around Antarctica. Many organisms found here are found nowhere else on Earth and could have future implications for society. Antarctica is extremely vulnerable to change; it is one of the fastest warming areas on the planet. As such, it is a natural laboratory for understanding the impact of environmental change.

To understand how the Southern Ocean has changed over the last 100 million years, we use data from the excellent fossil sites found in Antarctica, with well-preserved exposures from greenhouse (ice free) and icehouse (ice present) periods. We use these analogues to identify the effects of climate warming in the past, and to predict potential harm in the future. We are also using technology to understand the structure, function and stability of modern Southern Ocean ecosystems. Combined, these increase in our ability to predict the risks of climate change to sea-floor communities and guide sustainable management of vulnerable ecosystems.