Please consider presenting your research results at the Special Session described below on the ASLO Summer Meeting to take place at St. John\'s NewFounland, Canada, 8-13 June, 2008.

ABSTRACT DEADLINE FEBRUARY 28, 2008

For more information: http://www.aslo.org/meetings/stjohns2008/

SS34. Impacts of Climate Warming on Polar Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems
Organizers: Carlos M. Duarte, IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB, Mallorca, Spain, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; Susana Agust, IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB, Mallorca, Spain, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The 4th International Polar Year (IPY, March 2007 - March 2009) is taking place at a time when climate warming is clearly affecting polar regions. Warming rates and the associated ice loss appears to be accelerating in the Arctic and some regions of Antarctica. Provided the critical role of ice cover in determining the functioning and traits of polar aquatic ecosystems, marine and freshwater, rapid ice loss is expected to severely impact these ecosystems at multiple levels. Ice loss will affect the radiative balance of polar waters, affecting their thermal and light, including UV, environments. Ice loss will intensify air-water interactions in polar ecosystems, and will also severey impact all species, from microbes to megafauna, depending on ice as habitat. Warming together with ice loss will affect the key biological and biogeochemical processes supporting aquatic polar ecosystems, and may induce ecological regime shifts in these ecosystems, derived from posible losses of polar biodiversity together with an increased vulnerability to invasions from exotic species. This session aims at providing a forum to present and discuss, both through oral presentations and postres, results on the Impacts of Climate Warming on Polar Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, allowing scientists concernid with freshwater and marine ecosystems to interact and exchange information. These discussions may provide timely in redirecting and providing new impetus to research efforts as we cross the equator of the IPY.

Best regards,

Carlos M. Duarte and Susana Agustí