Project Title

PAL-LTER: Ecological response to "Press-Pulse" disturbances along a rapidly changing West Antarctic Peninsula

Summary

Event Number:
C-020-P
NSF / OPP Award 2224611

Program Director:
Dr. William Ambrose

ASC POC/Implementer:
Ryan Steiner / Jamee Johnson

Principal Investigator(s)

Dr. Deborah Steinberg
debbies@vims.edu
Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences
Department of Biological Sciences
Gloucester Point, Virginia

Project Web Site:
https://pallter.marine.rutgers.edu/

Location

Supporting Stations: Palmer Station
Research Locations: Palmer Station

Description

Seasonal sea ice-influenced marine ecosystems at both poles are characterized by high productivity concentrated in space and time by local, regional, and remote physical forcing. These polar ecosystems are among the most rapidly changing on Earth. The Palmer Long Time Ecological Research (PAL-LTER) seeks to build on three decades of long-term research along the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula to gain new mechanistic and predictive understanding of ecosystem changes in response to disturbances spanning long-term, subdecadal, and higher-frequency “pulses” driven by a range of processes, including long-term climate warming, natural climate variability and storms. These disturbances alter food-web composition and ecological interactions across temporal and spatial scales that are not well understood. Researchers will contribute fundamental understanding of how population dynamics and biogeochemical processes are responding within a polar marine ecosystem undergoing profound change.

Field Season Overview

Zooplankton and micro-nekton provide the main trophic link between primary producers and apex predators in the Southern Ocean. Within the PAL-LTER study region, both oceanic and coastal zooplankton assemblages occur. Over much of the shelf region both the oceanic and coastal assemblages occur in varying mixes year to year with no clear boundaries between zones. Climate change, in particular changes in seasonal sea ice dynamics showing trends in longer periods of open water in summer, is apt to favor species with life histories that are less dependent on sea ice. Two participants will deploy to study temporal/spatial variability in the distribution and abundances of the zooplankton assemblages by doing biweekly net tows and acoustic transects. A moored sediment trap will be deployed and recovered weekly to capture deposition in the water column. Participants will focus on the population dynamics of Antarctic krill, an important prey item for many seabirds and seals, and environmental factors impacting its growth, reproduction and, ultimately, recruitment success.

Deploying Team Members