Key challenge: Biodiversity
What is the relationship between marine biodiversity and
marine ecosystem function, both in sediments and in the water
column, and how does human activity affect it?
The oceans harbour a huge amount of biological diversity,
although our knowledge of this diversity is extremely limited. This
has been likened to what our knowledge of rainforest biodiversity
might be like if our only way of assessing it was by means of a
grappling hook deployed from a hot-air balloon. Unsurprisingly, we
do not actually know how many species live in the sea, although
current estimates for multicellular organisms are of the order
of a quarter of a million species.
Biodiversity is under threat from a multitude of stressors, such
as fishing, pollution, oxygen depletion and climate change. Loss of
marine diversity could compromise both the maintenance of global
ecosystem processes and the sustainable use of resources. The
United Kingdom has both a moral and legal obligation to prevent
biodiversity loss and meet international commitments, such as the
Convention on Biological Diversity.
PML’s biodiversity research aims to develop novel approaches for
measuring and describing biodiversity across a range of scales from
the basic building blocks of life through to individuals,
populations and communities. This information is then used to give
a unique insight into the role played by biodiversity in
controlling ecosystem functioning and the provision of key
biological processes.
PML takes an interdisciplinary approach to biodiversity
research, where ecologists and modellers work together to
incorporate ecological concepts in numerical models in order to
gain an understanding of the relationships between marine
biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and the social and economic
human benefits that arise. These models can then be used to predict
the impacts caused by human exploitation and the resulting
biodiversity change on the marine environment.
Relevant projects
- Channel integrated Approach for marine Resource
Management (CHARM)
CHARM is an EU InterReg project which is
assessing the key marine species and their habitats in the
eastern English Channel and is developing prototype management
tools. The latest phase of the programme includes the western
English Channel and the southern North Sea and new expertise (e.g.
plankton and climate change) has been added to the CHARM
team.
- Ecology and Hydrology
Funding Initiative (EHFI) - Bacteria
The objectives of the project are: to
test the hypothesis that preservation of cell-to-cel interactions
results in the ability to culture bacteria from the soil and marine
environment that have not been cultured by standard axenic
approaches; to develop mixed cultures to study the composition of
bacteria/archaeal communities involved in the marine nitrogen
cycle; to isolate novel key terrestrial taxa and to determine the
underlying nutrient status effects on soil community composition;
and to develop understanding of the factors that control spatial
development of microbial populations - the topography of microbial
populations.
- European Project on OCean
Acidification (EPOCA)
The goal of the EPOCA project is to advance
our understanding of the biological, ecological, biogeochemical,
and societal implications of ocean acidification.
EPOCA aims to document the changes in ocean chemistry and
biogeography across space and time and to determine the sensitivity
of marine organisms, communities and ecosystems to ocean
acidification.
- UK Ocean
Acidification Research Programme (UKOARP)
The 5 year UK Ocean Acidification Research
Programme is the UK’s response to growing concerns over ocean
acidification. The programme aims to; reduce uncertainties in
predictions of carbonate chemistry changes and their effects on the
marine environment; understand the responses to ocean acidification
by marine organisms, biodiversity and ecosystems and to improve
understanding of their resistance or susceptibility to
acidification; and provide data and effective advice to policy
makers and managers of marine
bioresources.