Future Challenges in Southern Ocean Ecology Research

José C Xavier,Christopher Jones,Erli S Costa,Karin Lochte,Julian Gutt,Angelika Brandt,Mahlon C Kennicutt,William J Sutherland,Yan Ropert-Coudert,Charlotte Havermans,Renuka Badhe,Irene R Schloss

doi:10.3389/fmars.2016.00094

Abstract

The Southern Ocean is experiencing relentless change. The Antarctic and Southern Ocean community, represented by 75 scientists and policy-makers from 22 countries, recently met to formulate a collective vision on the priorities for Antarctic research for the next two decades and beyond. Here, we assess high-interest research areas related specifically to Southern Ocean life and ecology that, although not all retained as the 80 top priorities among the addressed scientific domains, are of considerable relevance to the biology and ecology of the Southern Ocean. As certain regions of the Southern Ocean ecosystems have witnessed abiotic and biotic changes in the last decades (e.g. warming, changes in sea ice and abundance of marine organisms), such an exercise was urgently needed. We concluded that basic biological information on the taxonomy of numerous organisms is still lacking in areas such as the deep-ocean floor or the under-ice environments. Furthermore, there is a need for knowledge about the response and resilience of Antarctic marine ecosystems to change. The continuation of a long-term commitment and the development and use of innovative technology to adequately monitor the Southern Ocean ecosystems is required. Highlighting the most important Southern Ocean research topics allow the identification of the challenges and future requirements in technological development, and both research and funding strategies for the various stakeholders

Highlights

The Southern Ocean represents 9.6% of the world’s oceans and plays a key role in various global cycles and budgets
The “stability” of the Earth System is under threat, with the rate of change is accelerating, suggesting that the current changes are only minor compared to the expected future trends (Rockstrom et al, 2009; Steffen et al, 2015)
Based on the questions originally sent by the scientific community we consider the major gaps in the present ecological knowledge that are essential to shed light on tomorrow’s Southern Ocean life and ecology

Summary

Introduction

The Southern Ocean represents 9.6% of the world’s oceans and plays a key role in various global cycles and budgets. The “stability” of the Earth System (including natural background dynamics) is under threat, with the rate of change is accelerating (with core elements of climate change and biosphere integrity, that can drive the Earth System into a new state), suggesting that the current changes are only minor compared to the expected future trends (Rockstrom et al, 2009; Steffen et al, 2015) These trends include, inter alia, increased ocean warming, widespread decrease of sea ice, increase of aragonite undersaturation (acidification), and the interaction of these (and other) environmental factors that affect the Southern Ocean ecosystems (Gutt et al, 2015). Our understanding of Southern Ocean biological processes (e.g., distribution, feeding ecology, reproduction; Figure 1) has improved considerably in recent years, the capacity of organisms (at population, community and/or species level) to adapt to changes and the dynamics of biological cycles remain poorly understood. This knowledge, is essential for predicting biological responses to predicted physical changes (IPCC, 2013)

Objectives

Conclusion