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Impacts of ocean oxygen loss on zooplankton behavior and the carbon cycle

Project description

How ocean deoxygenation impacts krill behaviour and the carbon cycle

Krill play a key role in the biological carbon pump by sequestering carbon deep in the ocean. Decreasing ocean oxygen levels due to climate change can affect their populations and behaviour. Therefore, understanding the consequences of climate change on krill is critical to predict future changes in the global carbon cycle. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the O2ZOOM project will investigate how ocean deoxygenation in fjords impacts krill’s migratory patterns. To do so, it will examine how krill respond to low oxygen levels in incubation experiments, and then study their migratory response in fjord habitats using acoustic methods. Finally, it will create an individual-based ecology model to quantify the effect their behaviour has on carbon export.

Objective

The oceans are losing oxygen due to climate change. Among the largest impacts of oxygen loss may be in altering the behavior of zooplankton, the small animals that play a central role in marine ecosystems: as prey, predators, and carbon-flux mediators. The expansion of low-oxygen zones in deep waters may decrease the depth to which zooplankton migrate on a daily and seasonal basis. This change in their migratory behavior would impact the foraging success of their predators as well as reduce the ability of zooplankton to export carbon out of surface waters. O2ZOOM examines how the migratory behavior of krill, a key zooplankton species, is modified by low oxygen in a fjord habitat, and the ramifications for the global carbon pump, through a combination of novel acoustic observations, incubation experiments, and computational models. In O2ZOOM, I will 1) Investigate behavioral changes in krill in response to low oxygen through laboratory incubation experiments 2) Determine the migratory response of krill to low oxygen in a Norwegian fjord using novel acoustic techniques 3) Quantify the effect of low oxygen-induced behavioral changes in krill on carbon export in an individual-based model. O2ZOOM will produce a nuanced picture of the behavioral responses of krill to low oxygen, which would help disentangle the still-unquantified consequences of low oxygen for ecologically important fjord ecosystems, deep-ocean habitats, and, more broadly, the global carbon pump. Furthermore, through O2ZOOM, I will further develop my technical expertise (e.g. in acoustic tracking, advanced modeling, biogeochemistry analysis), expand my scientific network, and increase the impact of my research, steering my career towards answering big-picture questions on the cutting-edge of interdisciplinary ecology.

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITETET I OSLO
Net EU contribution

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€ 267 418,56
Address
PROBLEMVEIEN 5-7
0313 Oslo
Norway

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Region
Norge Oslo og Viken Oslo
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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