Aquatic Environment and Biodiversity Annual Review 2012

AEBAR 2012: Appendices: Past projects
BIODIVERSITY continued
Project Code Project Title Specific Objectives Status Citation/s
ZBD2008-15 Continuous plankton
recorder project:
implementation and
identification
ZBD2008-20 Ross sea benthic
ecosystem function:
predicting consequences
of shifts in food supply
ZBD2008-22 Acidification and
ecosystem impacts in NZ
and southern ocean
waters (data collected
during IPY).
ZBD2008-23 Macroalgae diversty and
benthic community
structure at the Balleny
Islands
1. To set up a time series of annual CPR data collection by deployment from a
toothfish vessel on the annual summer transit between New Zealand and the
Ross Sea.
2. To identify phytoplankton and zooplankton according to strict observation
protocols determined by the SAHFOS[1] CPR Survey and SO-CPR[2].
3. To enter species data, frequency and location along the transect into a
spreadsheet that will allow spatial mapping of the plankton density and
distribution.
4. To analyse the full dataset after 5 years of data collection to: (a) determine
trends in the dataset and (b) compare results with Australian datasets available
through SO-CPR.
5. To evaluate the continuation of the programme
1. To increase understanding of Ross Sea coastal benthic ecosystem function
2. Conduct in situ investigations into responses to and utilisation of primary food
sources by key species, at two contrasting coastal Ross Sea locations
1. To assess the response of cocolithophorids, and their replacement by noncalcifying
organisms during incubation under a range of dissolved CO2
concentrations.
2. To describe and characterise changes in abundance and biodiversity of
microbial components of the samples incubated at sea under a range of
dissolved CO2 concentrations.
3.To predict the likely impacts of higher acidity on foodwebs and on carbon
fixation under scenarios to be encountered in the Southern Ocean under
forecasted trends associated with climate change.
1. To describe and characterise macroalgae diversity from the Balleny Islands
and the Western Ross Sea.
2. To describe and quantify benthic community structure from one location at the
Balleny Islands
3. To complete anatomical and morphological investigations & molecular
sequencing required for the identification of macroalgae samples from the
Balleny Islands & western Ross Sea coastline to describe & characterise
macroalgae diversity in Balleny Isds
4. To process and analyse samples collected at the Balleny Islands- to analyse
them using ICECUBE methodology- and compare results with those from other
ICECUBE sampling locations along the Ross Sea coastline
361
Ongoing
analysis
Completed Cummings & Lohrer 2011;
Cummings et al. 2011a;
Lohrer et al. 2012
Completed Maas et al. 2010b
Completed Nelson et al. 2010