Where’s my dinner? Do Arctic benthic communities show preferential food uptake?

Project Overview
The project will investigate the benthic macrofaunal communities along a Longitudinal transect in the Barents Sea, and over different seasons to try and determine whether the fauna preferentially feed on ice algae as opposed to phytoplankton

The project

Year 1: Literature review on the changing faunal community in the Barents Sea, and more widely in the Arctic and the impact of a changing climate and food resources. To identify the fauna to allow for determining the composition and, species and functional diversity of the benthic communities

Year 2: Time spent at Akvaplan-niva/University of Tromso to aid with identification. Investigations of the highly branched isoprenoids found in the larger benthic fauna.

Year 3: To determine the molecular (lipids) and isotopic (15N and 13C) ratios of selected fauna representing the different size classes at pre-determined locations in order to identify trophic position, relationships and resource partitioning. Supervisory Team
Dr Bhavani Narayanaswamy (SAMS)
Dr Kim Last (SAMS)
Dr David Mckee (University of Strathclyde)
Dr Paul Renaud (Akvaplan-niva)
Professor Bodil Bluhm (University of Tromso)

Grant reference: 2269779
Funder: Natural Environment Research Council
Total awarded: £0 GBP
Start date: 30 Sep 2019
Duration: 3 years 6 months
End date: 30 Mar 2023
Status: Active

Abstract

General Project Information