BIOTA RESILIENCE TO GLOBAL CHANGE: BIOMINERALIZATION OF PLANKTIC AND BENTHIC CALCIFIERS IN THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
ProjectA pressing issue is the understanding of the future state of the planet within the context of global change (warming, excessCO2, ocean acidification, eutrophication, anoxia) to recognize causal or casual links among the Anthropocene CO2 emissions and associated thermal-stress and ecosystem resilience and adaptive capacity. Given enough time, a resilient ecosystem may be able to fully recover from perturbations and become as diverse and healthy as before. However, continuing stress can severely compromise the resilience and under critical conditions even apparently trivial disturbances can become devastating.
The rate of current atmCO2 increase far exceeds the speed at which natural feedbacks can restore the system to “normal” conditions. Oceanic uptake of CO2 inexorably drives acidification, weakening the adaptive capacity of marine calcifying organisms to thermal stress and changing seawater chemistry, with severe shifts in biodiversity in neritic and pelagic settings.
Studies on modern biota are vital for measuring ecosystem resilience at (very) short-term, but the Earth's biological systems should be scrutinized also at medium- and long-term using geological records. Our planet, in fact, has experienced extreme environmental disturbances, with varied tempos and modes of ecosystem resilience, occasionally reaching tipping-points that triggered permanent modification in abundance, diversity and biomineralization processes of marine calcifiers.
The overarching objective of the proposed research is the reconstruction of the response of pelagic and neritic ecosystems to excess CO2 and global warming. Along with experiments and in situ monitoring of some extant calcifiers, we aim to study case-histories of past environmental stress: a) ecosystems returning to pre-disturbed conditions, b) ecosystems shifting to a new regime after reaching tipping-points.
The six Research Units ensure expertise in Paleozoic to Recent shallow-water benthos (Milano, Ferrara, Modena, Perugia, Genova, Napoli), Mesozoic-Cenozoic calcareous plankton (Milano, Ferrara), and Paleozoic-Mesozoic palynomorphs (Perugia). The research strategy is designed to achieve high-resolution databases of abundance, diversity and biomineralization patterns in planktic and benthic organisms through intervals of global change. The integrated study of extant and fossil marine calcifiers is expected to implement reconstructions of “Doubthouse” transitions from Icehouse to Greenhouse states and vice versa. This will have an impact on scientific knowledge of future ecosystems functioning at individual group level as well as on the oceanic ecosystem at large.
A suite of biotic archives and geochemical proxies will be gathered by using the same agreed-upon methodologies to understand the response of calcifiers in both the pelagic and neritic habitats. For each selected case-history, the synergic research activities will result into an integrated chronicle of the oceanic ecosystem resilience to perturbations recorded by calcifiers’ abundance, diversity and biomineralization.
The main objectives of the proposed research are to: a) quantify the response of calcareous plankton and benthos to CO2-induced ocean acidification and global warming at medium- to long-term scale (paleontological record) and short-term (laboratory experiments and extant taxa); b) investigate similarities/differences of the response of planktic and neritic calcifiers to environmental stress; c) verify the synchroneity/diachroneity of responses; d) identify thresholds/tipping points; e) assess the impact and frequency of disturbances that control the resilience of pelagic and neritic ecosystems. The overarching goal of our research is to understand if different causes solicited analogous responses at different times. The comparison of the various study-intervals will point out if consequences are repetitive or specific of individual cases, providing potential means of validations of future predictions. Starting from basic research, our project is foreseen to produce data with implications for understanding strategies enabling ecosystems to adapt to current (and future) global change.
The young scientist component will be expanded via recruitment of post-docs, who will work in a “training through research” environment aimed at the transfer of knowledge to the future generation of Earth Science researchers capable of performing, developing and implementing multi- and inter-disciplinary investigations of the Earth System.
Expected results will be published in scientific journals and presented at international conferences. Efforts will also be dedicated to dissemination of the research to the public through outreach activities, expected to increase public awareness and engagement of more scientifically-educated citizens and society organizations.
The rate of current atmCO2 increase far exceeds the speed at which natural feedbacks can restore the system to “normal” conditions. Oceanic uptake of CO2 inexorably drives acidification, weakening the adaptive capacity of marine calcifying organisms to thermal stress and changing seawater chemistry, with severe shifts in biodiversity in neritic and pelagic settings.
Studies on modern biota are vital for measuring ecosystem resilience at (very) short-term, but the Earth's biological systems should be scrutinized also at medium- and long-term using geological records. Our planet, in fact, has experienced extreme environmental disturbances, with varied tempos and modes of ecosystem resilience, occasionally reaching tipping-points that triggered permanent modification in abundance, diversity and biomineralization processes of marine calcifiers.
The overarching objective of the proposed research is the reconstruction of the response of pelagic and neritic ecosystems to excess CO2 and global warming. Along with experiments and in situ monitoring of some extant calcifiers, we aim to study case-histories of past environmental stress: a) ecosystems returning to pre-disturbed conditions, b) ecosystems shifting to a new regime after reaching tipping-points.
The six Research Units ensure expertise in Paleozoic to Recent shallow-water benthos (Milano, Ferrara, Modena, Perugia, Genova, Napoli), Mesozoic-Cenozoic calcareous plankton (Milano, Ferrara), and Paleozoic-Mesozoic palynomorphs (Perugia). The research strategy is designed to achieve high-resolution databases of abundance, diversity and biomineralization patterns in planktic and benthic organisms through intervals of global change. The integrated study of extant and fossil marine calcifiers is expected to implement reconstructions of “Doubthouse” transitions from Icehouse to Greenhouse states and vice versa. This will have an impact on scientific knowledge of future ecosystems functioning at individual group level as well as on the oceanic ecosystem at large.
A suite of biotic archives and geochemical proxies will be gathered by using the same agreed-upon methodologies to understand the response of calcifiers in both the pelagic and neritic habitats. For each selected case-history, the synergic research activities will result into an integrated chronicle of the oceanic ecosystem resilience to perturbations recorded by calcifiers’ abundance, diversity and biomineralization.
The main objectives of the proposed research are to: a) quantify the response of calcareous plankton and benthos to CO2-induced ocean acidification and global warming at medium- to long-term scale (paleontological record) and short-term (laboratory experiments and extant taxa); b) investigate similarities/differences of the response of planktic and neritic calcifiers to environmental stress; c) verify the synchroneity/diachroneity of responses; d) identify thresholds/tipping points; e) assess the impact and frequency of disturbances that control the resilience of pelagic and neritic ecosystems. The overarching goal of our research is to understand if different causes solicited analogous responses at different times. The comparison of the various study-intervals will point out if consequences are repetitive or specific of individual cases, providing potential means of validations of future predictions. Starting from basic research, our project is foreseen to produce data with implications for understanding strategies enabling ecosystems to adapt to current (and future) global change.
The young scientist component will be expanded via recruitment of post-docs, who will work in a “training through research” environment aimed at the transfer of knowledge to the future generation of Earth Science researchers capable of performing, developing and implementing multi- and inter-disciplinary investigations of the Earth System.
Expected results will be published in scientific journals and presented at international conferences. Efforts will also be dedicated to dissemination of the research to the public through outreach activities, expected to increase public awareness and engagement of more scientifically-educated citizens and society organizations.