We investigate environmental controls and impacts on ice algal/polar phytoplankton photosynthesis and productivity. This has included the effects of ocean acidification, dark survival, iron limitation and the ozone hole on these communities. Working in both the field (Arctic and Antarctic) and the laboratory our researchers have been leaders in applying fluorescence and micro sensor technologies to answer key ecological and physiological problems.
Oceanic conditions are changing due to climate change - our seas are warming, becoming more acidic as they remove 1/3 of the industrial CO2 emissions we pump into the atmosphere. As a consequence of the warming they are also becoming less nutrient rich as more dense warmer waters hinder the resupply of plant nutrients like phosphate. Just like humans marine life can get stressed out. We are currently assessing how marine life copes with these multiple stresses, which are taking place at the same time.
Toxic dinoflagellate blooms along the Tasmanian East Coast cause annually recurrent contamination of seafoods, necessitating closures of mussel and oyster farms and even the rock lobster fishery in 2012 and again 2015. Our researchers are currently working on a project to develop a rapid toxin screen test using a platform similar to the home pregnancy test kit. Ultimate adoption by the Tasmanian Shellfish Quality Assurance Program will provide an on-site tool to manage seafood harvest, limiting blanket closures of fisheries, and reducing the risk of unsafe product reaching domestic and export markets.
We are studying the ecology of zooplankton over a wide area of the Southern Ocean, from Tasmania down to the sea ice. Of particular interest is determining how and where the copepod-fish based food web in more northerly waters transitions to the krill-based food web in the south. We are focusing on understanding how climate change impacts, such as warming sea temperatures and decreasing ice conditions, will alter the base of the food web and subsequent energy flow through the entire ecosystem. Antarctic krill have life cycles that require the presence of persistent and predictable ice conditions, so as sea ice becomes more ephemeral, and krill stocks continue to decline, alternative food webs will start to dominate.
Antarctic krill are the primary food source of many Antarctic vertebrates. We undertake research on krill biology and physiology to better understand their role in the Southern Ocean ecosystem. We collaborate with the fishery investigating krill oils together with Southern Ocean environmental parameters to measure of the current and future health of krill populations, and in turn the Antarctic ecosystem.
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies
Phone: +61 3 6226 6379
ABN: 30 764 374 782 CRICOS Provider Code: 00586B