Project description DEENESFRITPL Impact of Arctic Ocean warming on cetaceans Despite the crucial role of Arctic cetaceans as bio-indicators of the Arctic marine ecosystem, our understanding of their ability to adjust their behaviour and physiology to climate-induced perturbations remains limited. This knowledge gap will be addressed by the EU-funded WARMM project, which will compile a multi-species long-term data set covering 25 years and including two Arctic (narwhal and bowhead whale) and two sub-Arctic (humpback whale and harbour porpoise) apex predators to investigate the behavioural and physiological responses of these species to climate change. The choice of the four cetaceans is based on their contrasting diet, habitats and level of activity, making this data set unique for conducting a comparative analysis of how these four species will cope with the imminent warming of the ocean. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective Over the past 30 years, sea ice in the Arctic has declined by 3-4% per decade, making the Arctic the area experiencing the most rapid ecological changes due to climate change. Understanding the consequences of climate change on the Arctic ecosystem is therefore part of the European Union’s (EU) wider efforts. As a consequence of rapid sea-ice loss and increasing temperatures, the abundance, diversity and distribution of low trophic level organisms will be inevitably altered, generating cascading effects through the entire marine food chain from phytoplankton to apex predators. Despite their crucial role as bio-indicators of the Arctic marine ecosystem, the capacity of Arctic cetaceans to adjust their behaviour (foraging, movement patterns) and physiology (fat storage, thermoregulation) to climate-induced perturbations remains poorly understood. By compiling a multi-species long-term dataset covering 25 years and including 2 Arctic (narwhal and bowhead whale) and 2 sub-Arctic (humpback whale and harbour porpoise) apex predators, the WARMM project aims at investigating the behavioural and physiological responses of these species to climate change. The choice of the 4 cetaceans is based on their contrasting diet, habitats and level of activity, making this dataset unique to feed a comparative analysis of how these 4 species will cope with an imminent warming ocean. I will exploit a large existing dataset that will be augmented by physiological data collected during the project to (1) identify the foraging strategies from acoustic and accelerometry data, (2) link the behaviours and physiology to the environment, to finally (3) predict the future responses of apex predators in terms of thermal stress and geographical range. Our project will constitute an unprecedented scientific baseline to advise the EU and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in mitigating the effects of climate change and safeguarding the Arctic marine biodiversity. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesmarine biologynatural sciencesbiological scienceszoologymammalogycetologynatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystemsmedical and health sciencesbasic medicinephysiologynatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2020 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2020 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF) Coordinator GRONLANDS NATURINSTITUT Net EU contribution € 286 921,92 Address Kivioq 2 3900 Nuuk Greenland See on map Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 Partners (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all Partner Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement. THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA United States Net EU contribution € 0,00 Address Franklin street 1111 12 floor 94607 Oakland ca See on map Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 177 265,92
