Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Phylogeographic patterns of the Lysianassoidea (Crustacea: Peracarida: Amphipoda)
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Hydrodynamic models.
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Application 2: Connectivity.
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Seasonal changes in the vertical distribution and community structure of Antarctic macrozooplankton and micronekton
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Comparative phylogeography of three trematomid fishes reveals contrasting genetic structure patterns in benthic and pelagic species
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Impact of climate change on Antarctic krill
- Antarctic krill Euphausia superba (hereafter ‘krill’) occur in regions undergoing rapid environmental change, particularly loss of winter sea ice. During recent years, harvesting of krill has increased, possibly enhancing stress on krill and Antarctic ecosystems. Here we review the overall impact of climate change on krill and Antarctic ecosystems, discuss implications for an ecosystem-based fisheries management approach and identify critical knowledge gaps. Sea ice decline, ocean warming and other environmental stressors act in concert to modify the abundance, distribution and life cycle of krill. Although some of these changes can have positive effects on krill, their cumulative impact is most likely negative. Recruitment, driven largely by the winter survival of larval krill, is probably the population parameter most susceptible to climate change. Predicting changes to krill populations is urgent, because they will seriously impact Antarctic ecosystems. Such predictions, however, are complicated by an intense inter-annual variability in recruitment success and krill abundance. To improve the responsiveness of the ecosystem-based management approach adopted by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), critical knowledge gaps need to be filled. In addition to a better understanding of the factors influencing recruitment, management will require a better understanding of the resilience and the genetic plasticity of krill life stages, and a quantitative understanding of under-ice and benthic habitat use. Current precautionary management measures of CCAMLR should be maintained until a better understanding of these processes has been achieved.
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Connecting Biodiversity Data During the IPY: The Path Towards e-Polar Science
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Antarctic macrobenthic communities: A compilation of circumpolar information
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Ice matters. Under-ice fauna surveys in the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans
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Biogeographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean
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The data behind the Biogeographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean
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Data and mapping
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7. Biogeographic patterns of fish
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Southern Ocean benthic deep-sea biodiversity and biogeography
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Data distribution: Patterns and implications
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Impact of projected wind and temperature changes on larval recruitment of sole in the North Sea.
- The impact of climate change on larval dispersal remains poorly known. The case of sole (Solea solea) is of particular interest because it is one of the most valuable commercial species in the North Sea. It is important to understand how the retention/dispersal of larvae would be affected by climate change in order to propose appropriate measures for stock management. The transport of sole larvae from the spawning grounds to the nurseries is driven by hydrodynamic processes but the final dispersal pattern and larval abundance may be affected by behavioural and environmental factors. A temperature increase could affect for instance the spawning period, the duration of the pelagic stage, the mortality of eggs and larvae, and the match-mismatch with prey fields. Modifications in the magnitude and direction of the wind regime might affect egg and larval retention and dispersal through changes in the hydrodynamics. We compare scenarios of a particle-tracking transport model (IBM) coupled to a 3D hydrodynamic model (COHERENS) to investigate the impact of climate change through temperature increase and wind regime change. The model has been implemented in the area between 48.5°N-4°W and 57°N-10°E over the period 1995 to 2011. A larval mortality parameterization based on remote sensing algal bloom timing is tested. Sensitivity of larval recruitment to climate change is assessed by estimating the impact of a hypothetical (i) temperature increase and (ii) changes in wind magnitude/direction following IPCC scenarios. The results of projections will be discussed relatively to interannual variability.
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Variability in radiocarbon dates in Middle Pleniglacial wood from Kurtak (Central Siberia)
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Integrating field data to parameterize a larval transport model of sole and improve knowledge on recruitment in the North Sea.
- Inter-annual recruitment variability of sole (Solea solea) in the North Sea is high. Among many fish taxa, the early life stages are critical in determining recruitment. With a Lagrangian larval transport model, coupling a physical model with an Individual-Based Model (IBM), it has been shown that hydrodynamics explains part of this variability in sole (Lacroix et al. 2013). IBMs require a good knowledge of the biological processes governing larval dispersal. However, it is difficult to obtain observations of life history traits; their estimates may strongly influence larval connectivity / retention and successful migration as predicted by the model. Various assumptions about these traits can be tested by comparing simulation results with field data. Several datasets, from the literature and from a 2-year-long monthly sampling at 13 stations in the southern North Sea, will be used to identify the most plausible model parameterisation. It represents a first step towards the calibration and improvement of a larval dispersal model of sole in the North Sea and the development of a tool for fisheries management.
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Seaborne measurements of near infrared water-leaving reflectance: The similarity spectrum for turbid waters
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Atmospheric correction of SeaWiFS imagery for turbid coastal and inland waters
