Concept information
Preferred term
CLICOPEN EOI 193
Definition
- Full Proposals for IPY 2007-2008 Activities Click for printer friendly version Proposed IPY Activity Details 1.0 PROPOSER INFORMATION (Activity ID No: 34) 1.1 Title of Activity Impact of CLImate induced glacial melting on marine and terrestric COastal communities on a gradient along the Western Antarctic PENinsula 1.2 Short Form Title of Proposed Activity ClicOPEN EoI 193 1.3 Activity Leader Details doris abele Alfred Wegener Institute f Polar & Marine Res Germany 1.4 Lead International Organisation(s) (if applicable) NULL NULL NULL NULL 1.5 Other Countries involved in the activity Argentina Canada Poland Ukraine Australia Chile Russia Uruguay Brazil Great Britain Spain USA Belgium Korea Sweden NULL 1.6 Expression of Intent ID #'s brought together in this proposed activity 193, 194, 726, 233 1.7 Location of Field Activities Antarctic 1.8 Which IPY themes are addressed 1. Current state of the environment 2. Change in the polar regions 4. Exploring new frontiers 5. The polar regions as vantage points 1.9 What is the main IPY target addressed by this activity 1. Natural or social science top of page 2.0 SUMMARY OF THE ACTIVITY Rapid regional warming of air temperature on the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) observed over the last 50 yrs is exceptional and unprecedented within the past 500 yrs records of ice core data (Vaughan et al. 2001, Science 293). At Vernadsky Station (former Faraday, Beascochea Bay) aerial warming averages 0.56°C per decade since the 1950s (Turner et al. 2005, Int. J. Climatol. 25: 279-294). The glacial systems of the Antarctic Peninsula show direct responses to the climatic changes, including retreat of ice fronts and increased melt water production. The broad pattern of glacial retreat over time reflects the trend of atmospheric warming in the peninsula region since the 1940s: the magnitude of glacial retreat (average change in m a-1) increases towards the southern sectors (Cook et al. 2005, Science 308). It results that changes of terrestrial as well as marine ecosystems along the Peninsula are expected to be more subtle and graded in the North and more radical at the South-Western coasts of the WAP. A directly and plausibly relatable effect of glacial retreat along WAP is the opening of newly ice-free areas for the colonization of terrestrial and intertidal plant vegetation and animals. The ClicOPEN initiative is aimed at investigating the response of terrestrial and marine coastal systems to ongoing climate change in 4 areas of interest along the WAP. Comparative work can be carried out at Mac Murdo, Ross Sea, where climate change is far less (0.1°C/decade, Kejna & Lagun, Polish Polar Studies, 2004). Rationale of ClicOPEN: Locally increased import of fresh water from melting glaciers and increased sediment import from rock abrasion (by both, glacial melting and aerosol transport) are anticipated primary effects in coastal marine ecosystems. Warming and freshening of surface waters will impact shallow intertidal habitats. Freshening and shading induced changes of benthic and pelagic primary production and the alterations in the phytoplankton community composition are prone to alter quality and quantity of food supply for zooplankton, as well as for benthic filter and detritus feeders. This may entail important changes of trophic coupling in the coastal food webs. In the terrestrial sphere, an impact of glacial retreat and climate warming on the genetic diversity and evolutionary fitness of sessile lichens and bryophytes through range shifts and associated bottleneck effects is expected, and will be investigated using molecular markers. The climatic changes that propagate glacial melting on the WAP are prone also to impinge on Antarctic bottom communities and sediment composition in more remote areas of the Southern Ocean (e.g. South Georgia, South Orkneys, Weddell Sea). Loss of sea ice has been observed in several places beginning in the 1970s (Parkinson 2002). The reduction in sea ice correlates with a loss of krill stock density, likely to entail severe changes within coastal Antarctic food webs (Loeb et al. 1997, Nature 387, Atkinson et al. 2004, Nature 432). The ClicOPEN project aims to link the effects of glacial melting at the coast and the processes in key habitats at the shelf ice edge under focus in other EoIs like, CCAMLR (IPY 148), HABIPOL (IPY 543) and "Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML)". The objectives within the ClicOPEN approach are dual: A) to analyze and quantify effects of glacial melting and increased rock erosion on terrestrial and near shore marine ecosystems on a latitudinal gradient along the Western coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. B) to provide a basis for a mechanistic understanding of climate change processes at the peninsula that will serve to draw a link to present and future changes in more remote shelf regions of the Southern Ocean. ClicOPEN is land based and uses existing Antarctic research stations in 4 different areas of the Antarctic Peninsula as platforms for synoptic field and laboratory studies during the IPY. Comparative work at McMurdo, Ross Sea is intended. A station based programme enables us to include many scientists into cooperative and comparative work, make use of the existing logistic background provided by field stations and home institutions, and also to draw from historical data sets in locations of long-term scientific records, including temperature records and documented contours of ice caps and glaciers. Summary provided by http://classic.ipy.org/development/eoi/proposal-details.php?id=34 (en)
Broader concept
- A - C (en)
URI
https://gcmd.earthdata.nasa.gov/kms/concept/aafc2fb8-4922-4231-b9c4-c90f95ef0794
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