Descripción del proyecto
Repercusiones del calentamiento del océano Ártico en los cetáceos
A pesar del papel fundamental de los cetáceos del Ártico como bioindicadores del ecosistema marino ártico, nuestra comprensión sobre su capacidad para adaptar su conducta y su fisiología a las perturbaciones inducidas por el clima sigue siendo limitada. El proyecto WARMM, financiado con fondos europeos, abordará esta brecha del conocimiento mediante la recopilación de un conjunto de datos a largo plazo sobre múltiples especies que abarcará un período de veinticinco años e incluirá a dos superdepredadores árticos (el narval y la ballena boreal) y dos subárticos (la ballena jorobada y la marsopa común) para investigar las respuestas fisiológicas y conductuales de estas especies frente al cambio climático. La elección de estos cuatro cetáceos se basa en sus diferentes alimentaciones, hábitats y niveles de actividad, lo cual hace que este conjunto de datos sea único para llevar a cabo un análisis comparativo sobre cómo estas especies lidiarán con el calentamiento inminente del océano.
Objetivo
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.
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmarine biology
- natural sciencesbiological scienceszoologymammalogycetology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinephysiology
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinador
3900 Nuuk
Groenlandia