Adaptive evolution in marine algae under climate change and consequences for ocean services

About this project

<p><span style="font-size: 9pt"><span style="background-color: #FFFFFF"><span style="color: #0069D2"><span style="font-family: &quot;sans serif&quot;, &quot;serif&quot;">Climate change is impacting marine systems. Obvious and increasing modifications are witnessed through ocean warming and acidification. These changes strongly influence ocean climate, biogeochemical cycling and fundamental biological processes. Plankton are the base of the food chain and promote ocean services such as ocean production, fisheries, oxygen and carbon cycling. Predicting changes to these services requires an improved understanding of how phytoplankton will react to the changes in habitat, through changing physiological and ecosystem stressors/drivers. Quantifying plankton response to climate change is crucial for understanding the long-term stability of marine ecosystems to enable better ecosystem management. Model representations of plankton responses are mainly based on short-term experiments, and these experiments do not provide information on the evolutionary potential of these organisms. Importantly, science is often developed independent of user requirements so that scientific products are not fit-for-purpose. Through this project we aim to understand evolutionary responses to warming and acidification in marine plankton, focusing on two model organisms: Skeletonema marinoi and Emiliania huxleyi. These are globally distributed algae, often producing very large blooms in coastal marine areas. The new knowledge of planktonic response to climate change will be incorporated into coupled climate-ecosystem models to provide key stakeholders, participating throughout the project to secure targeted scientific products, with relevant information for decision making.</span></span></span></span></p>

Bilateral cooperation results

The ADVANCE project strengthened bilateral cooperation between Romania and Norway through a successful partnership between ICB Cluj and NIVA. This collaboration combined NIVA's expertise in marine biology and ecosystem modeling with ICB Cluj's growing capabilities in phytoplankton research. Joint activities, such as mesocosm experiments in Sweden and scientific visits to Germany, facilitated knowledge exchange and built strong professional relationships. The project involved stakeholders from both countries, ensuring the findings were relevant and applicable to Romanian and Norwegian contexts. This cooperation enhanced the international visibility of Romanian scientists and laid the foundation for future joint research initiatives, ensuring sustained collaboration beyond the project's duration.

Project partners

• Norwegian Institute for Water Research Donor project partner· Norway