Project description
Plankton help predict the impact of climate change on oceans
Scientists need to understand the fate of oceans and marine ecosystems due to ongoing climate change. The EU-funded MICRO2MACRO project will use the microfossil record of planktonic foraminifera (PF) to reconstruct marine pelagic ecosystems between 54 and 32 million years ago, when climate and environmental conditions approximated what we will begin to experience in the next century. The research fellow will generate the first reproducible early Cenozoic global dataset of ecology, abundance, species composition, diversity and biogeography for these prolific pelagic calcifiers. Using data generated over the last 15 years, they will apply novel data-science tools to compile ocean temperature and chemistry datasets and statistically compare them against the new PF dataset generated by the project.
Objective
One of the most pressing scientific challenges today is understanding the fate of our oceans and marine ecosystems under on-going climate change. Unfortunately, anthropogenic stressors act at a rate and magnitude that exceed recent natural variability, making the use of decadal ecological data and time-series insufficient for predictions of future behaviour of marine ecosystems. MICRO2MACRO will reconstruct snapshots of marine pelagic ecosystems between 54 and 32 million years ago (Eocene and early Oligocene), when climate and environmental conditions approximated what we will start to experience in the next century and beyond. Using the microfossil record of planktonic foraminifera (PF), the most complete of any Cenozoic eukaryote, the project will generate the first methodologically controlled (hence reproducible) early Cenozoic global dataset of ecology, abundance, species composition, diversity and biogeography (macroecology) of these prolific pelagic calcifiers. Benefiting from the mole of data generated over the last 15 years, I will learn and apply novel tools in data-science technology to compile ocean temperature and chemistry datasets for the studied time intervals and statistically compare them against the new PF dataset generated with this project. This study will combine the most advanced knowledge in several disciplines (micropaleontology, informatics, statistical ecology) to test for links between time-specific climate (e.g. sea surface temperatures) and ecosystem (e.g. species composition, dominant ecology) configurations, and understand how plankton biogeography was shaped in a warmer world. Hence, MICRO2MACRO will highlight future ecological and evolutionary analogues if the current climate trajectory remains interrupted and we are to hit climate conditions similar to those in the Eocene and Oligocene. Given the uncertainties associated with projections based on modern data this study will represent a major advancement in the field.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
28359 Bremen
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.