K081 - Aquatic Ecosystems

Our programme takes a multi-disciplinary approach to assess the sensitivity of inland aquatic habitats to incremental (eg climatic) and discontinuous (eg invasive species) change.  This research will inform environmental management of Antarctic systems of how things are likely to change, which environments are likely to be most sensitive to change, and which areas need to be prioritised for protection. We will identify and categorise the range of aquatic ecosystems within the Ross Sea sector and elucidate the mechanisms by which they are connected, their resilience to environmental change and their vulnerability to invasive organisms. In 2011-12 we will focus on two types of water body; (a) glacially-associated, ice-based meltwaters that are some of the most ubiquitous and diverse aquatic habitats in Antarctica, for which there is little comprehensive biological information; and (b) rock-based pond ecosystems close to and remote from Scott Base that are important biodiversity elements in continental Antarctic landscapes.