For the longest time, it was thought that the waters of the Polar Regions were relatively low in biodiversity. Research that has been conducted over the past few decades has proven otherwise, particularly research that has been conducted in the Southern Ocean. Researchers are only beginning to understand the incredible biodiversity that lies beneath the surface and its importance in local, regional and global ecosystems.



Making sure that we don't negatively influence the biodiversity of the very delicate Antarctic marine ecosystem is extremely important. Maintaining biodiversity is important to ensure that the proper balance is maintained to ensure the proper functioning of various biogeochemical processes that are necessary for maintaining nutrient cycles or processing and recycling wastes, including carbon dioxide. The Southern Ocean is also a major source of natural living resources such as krill and various species of fish, and maintaining biodiversity ensures that the living marine resources that humans have come to depend on will be there.

As someone who is an expert on plankton and has been investigating the role that plankton plays in the ecosystem of the Southern Ocean, Dr. Graham Hosie of the Australian Antarctic Division talks to SciencePoles about the Collaborative East Antarctic Marine Census (CEAMARC). CEAMARC is a collaborative project between Australia, Japan and France within the Census for Antarctic Marine Life (CAML), an IPY project (n°53) that is investigating the distribution and abundance of Antarctic marine biodiversity and how it will be affected by climate change.

An article that also appears on SciencePoles has a look at the importance of establishing marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Southern Ocean, which the Commission for the Conservation for Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) is trying to accomplish. By identifying and sectioning the Southern Ocean into different bioregions, CCAMLR hopes to be able to set up a representative network of MPAs.

Picture: Red Knight-like crustacean amphipod / Copyright: Thomas Schickan - Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences