Biodiversity, marine ecology and molecular science
It is understood that marine biodiversity plays a central role
in supporting ecosystem functions, from the basic building blocks
of life (DNA, RNA and protein) to individuals, populations and
communities.
Knowledge of biodiversity in the marine realm is extremely
limited, in particular what lives there, where it lives and how it
functions. Marine ecosystems cover approximately 70% of the Earth’s
surface, yet the total amount of seafloor actually surveyed by
humans, is a small fraction of this huge area. To compound this
problem the majority of marine life does not live on the seabed,
where it can be easily seen, but lives either buried within or
floating above it in the water column and, therefore, important
organisms with a key role in ecosystem function and health
may be yet to be discovered.
The most severe threats to marine biodiversity are in the
coastal zone and are mostly a direct result of human activity;
habitat degradation; fragmentation and loss; climate change and
other large-scale atmospheric changes, such as ozone depletion;
direct and indirect effects of fishing and other forms of over
exploitation; nutrient run-off; mineral extraction; pollution and
marine litter; species relocations and invasions; watershed
alteration, and the physical alteration of coasts. A loss in
biodiversity would have consequences upon the provision of key
biogeochemical processes and ecosystem function, which are still to
be fully understood, and is of concern when considering the global
economy’s heavy reliance on the goods and services provided by
coastal waters.
PML has a depth of expertise in understanding and valuing marine
biodiversity, which is vital in developing tools and strategies for
preserving the ocean’s vast biological diversity and, therefore,
the goods and services provided by the ocean. To increase the value
of this knowledge to society, PML is at the forefront of UK,
European and international biodiversity networks, which enables the
sharing of species and distribution data to researchers, industry,
stakeholders and the general public across the world.
Key research areas