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Febuary 6, 2001

Palmer LTER Input for NSF/COV/GPRA Bio/DEB

• Biological Sciences (Bio)
• Division of Environmental Biology (DEB)
• Committee of Visitors (COV)
• Government and Performance Act (GRPA)

OUTCOME I:

1. PAL is a multidisciplinary program established to study the Antarctic marine ecosystem - the assemblage of plants, animals, ocean, sea ice, and island components south of the Antarctic Convergence. Our location is along the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) region, an area sensitive to climate change because of the confluence of contrasting marine and continental climate regimes and within a polar region predicted by climate models to be influenced by enhanced CO2-related warming. All of the modern records (Smith & Stammerjohn, in press) are consistent in showing a rapid warming trend and associated decreases in sea ice in the WAP region during this century. A fundamental question is the sensitivity of this ecosystem to change.

2. Our findings, including paleoclimate records, show that this century’s rapid climate warming has occurred concurrently with a shift in the population size and distribution of penguin species (Smith et al., 1999). The air temperature warming and decrease in winter sea ice which is affecting long-term population trends of Adelie Penguins (Fraser & Patterson, 1997). A further example of environmental response to environmental variability has been documented with respect to the response of krill to their food environment (Ross et al., 2000). Differences in phytoplankton community composition caused by changes in environmental conditions, including climate change, will thus be reflected at higher trophic levels in the grazer community and their level of productivity. These observations show the WAP region is a highly sensitive location for assessing ecological responses to climate variability.

3. Upon their discovery in the early 1970s, Archaea were believed to be “relicts” from past, extreme earth environments (volcanic fumeroles, deep see vents, etc.). But in 1992, Ed DeLong working with PAL scientists reported an unexpected abundance of planktonic Archaea in waters near Palmer Station (DeLong, et al., 1992). Subsequent improvements in the detection of planktonic Archaea have permitted investigation of these organisms in time and space. Our results indicate that Archaea are more important in austral winter than in summer and, in summer, more abundant at depths greater that 200m than in the surface. Current work is underway to better understand their ecological role (Karner et al., 2000 and work in progress).

OUTCOME II:

Our work synthesized and increased understanding of the paleoclimate of the Western Antarctic Peninsula area and demonstrated the sensitivity of the Palmer region to climate variability. Thus we provide an important ecological test site to measure ecological response to climate variability. Our observations and discoveries provide the basis for developing testable hypotheses addressing key contemporary ecological and resource management questions for the Antarctic marine ecosystem. Our research also provides a unique long term data base for various international committees, including the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR) which provides scientific advice to policy makers within the Antarctic Treaty System, and to other international collaborators.

The Palmer LTER Information Management is active in incorporating emerging technology and standards to insure accessibility of ecological databases for research, policy-making, education and public communities. Participation in larger federated efforts (Baker et al, 2000) will ultimately influence both integration with future knowledge systems as well as research site coordination with larger science networks.

OUTCOME III:

We have been active in the training of volunteer, undergraduate REU, and graduate students within the program. One third of our PI’s are women, and approximately one-half of our volunteers, students and teachers are women for both laboratory and field work.

OUTCOME IV:

The Palmer LTER is active in the LTER Education and Schoolyard programs with a focus on long-term and inquiry-based science activities (Baker et al). Further, an active association with in NSF Program Teachers Experiencing in Artic and Antarctica (TEA) ensures that teachers are exposed to inquiry-based science and gain field experience through ecological research in the Antarctic. Their subsequent presentations have reached more than several thousand parents and students over the last three years in addition to the greater audience reached via online electronic field journals and email communications. Fellow teachers are reached through annual presentations at the National Science Teacher Association (NSTA).

REFERENCES:

Baker, K.S., B.J.Benson, D.L.Henshaw, D. Blodgett, J. H. Porter, and S.G.Stafford, Evolution of a multisite network information system: in LTER information management paradigm, BioScience, 50(11), 963-978, 2000.

Baker, K. S., D. Rawls, S. Bell, B. Dawson, M. A. Wallace, and W.Winn, Proceedings of Palmer LTER Education Outreach Forum, held at National Center for Ecosystem Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), Santa Barbara, CA, on 25-28 July 99, SIO Report No. 99-14, University of California, San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California, 1999. SIO Reference No. 99-14.

DeLong,E.F., K.Y. Wu, B.B. Prezelin & R.V.M. Jovine. 1992. High abundance of archaea in Antarctic marine picoplankton, Nature 371:695-679.

Fraser, WR & DL Patterson. 1997. “Human disturbance & long-term changes in Adelie penguin populations: A natural experiment at Palmer Station, Antarctic Peninsula.” pp 445-452, in Battaglia et al eds. Antarctic Communities, species, Structure and Survival. New York: Cambridge U. Press

Karner, M.B., E.F. DeLong & D.M. Karl. 2000. Archaeal dominance in the mesopelagic zone of the Pacific Ocean. Nature 409:507-510.

Smith, RC, D Ainley, K Baker, E Domack, S Emslie, B Fraser, J Kennett, A Leventer, E Mosley-Thompson, S Stammerjohn, M Vernet. 1999. “Marine ecosystem sensitivity to climate change”, BioScience 49, 393-404.

Stammerjohn, SE & RC Smith. 2000. “Variations of Surface Air Temperatures and Sea Ice Extent in the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) Region”, IGS, in press.

Ross, RM, LB Quetin, KS Baker, M Vernet & RC Smith, “Growth limitation in young Euphausia Superba under field conditions.”, Limnology & Oceanography 45, 31-43.