ANTARCTICA, IL WEDDELL SEA IN ADDITION TO SPONGES AND CORALS, IT IS INHABITED BY NUMEROUS ORGANISMS ADAPTED TO THE COLD. AS CLIMATE CHANGE ADVANCES, THIS POLAR REGION COULD BECOME A REFUGE FOR ICE-DEPENDENT ORGANISMS, SUCH AS KRILL AND SEALS. THE PROJECT FUNDED TO TO INITIATE LONG-TERM SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATIONS ON POTENTIAL CHANGES IN THIS UNIQUE ECOSYSTEM
Il Weddell Seain Antarctica, known for its depths that host varied biotic communities, including sponges and corals, is inhabited by numerous organisms adapted to the cold.
As the climate changesthis polar region could become a refuge for ice-dependent organisms such as krill and Weddell seals.
L’Alfred Wegener Institute coordinates the European project “Weddell Sea Observatory of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Change” (WOBEC). The program involves eleven European and US institutions, including theUniversity of Padua. Objective to initiate systematic long-term observations of potential changes in this unique ecosystem.
The project, financed with approximately 1.9 million euros, will develop a strategy for monitor changes in the Weddell Sea. This region is a candidate to become a marine protected area on the proposal of the EU and other states. The WOBEC kick-off meeting takes place in Bremerhaven from 11 to 14 June 2024.
The Weddell Sea, the largest sea in the Southern Ocean, boasts rich biodiversity. Seals and emperor penguins give birth to their young here, while krill feed on microalgae under the ice floes, attracting fish, whales and seabirds.
At the bottom of the sea, millions of hemoglobin-free icefish breed underwater gardens of glass sponges, anemones and sea snails. Some areas achieve a biodiversity comparable to tropical coral reefs.
The Weddell Sea is a source of important ecosystem services
«The Weddell Sea is a largely uncontaminated and therefore extremely precious habitat – explains Dr. Hauke Floresmarine biologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute and coordinator of the WOBEC project -. Not only does it have a high aesthetic value, but it is also characterized by unique biodiversity and is a source of important ecosystem services, such as the storage of carbon in the deep sea through the algae that grow on the ice and the remains of plankton that sink to the bottom. However, climate change has been spreading to the south polar region for some time: in recent years we have seen an unexpectedly rapid decline in sea ice. We don’t know how, or if, the region’s organisms can adapt to changing environmental conditions. To assess this, we must first better understand the current state of the ecosystem and urgently begin systematic data collection.”
The team from the University of Padua is a partner in the project
Eleven institutions from eight countries participate in the WOBEC project. Over the next three years, researchers will evaluate the state of the Weddell Sea biotic community, establishing a baseline for long-term monitoring of the ecosystem.
WOBEC is part of the European Union program BiodivMon, under the aegis of Biodiversa+, the European partnership for biodiversity. The project started in April 2024 with a meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, with a budget of around 1.9 million euros.
The team from the University of Padua, supported by the Ministry of University and Research with almost 200 thousand euros, is coordinated by the professor Chiara Papetti and includes the teacher Isabella Morodoctor Alessandro Vezzi and young researchers Luca Schiavon, Alessia Prestanti e Federica Strangers.
«We expect that Antarctic fish, due to their peculiar adaptations to the polar environment and their life cycles closely connected to those of the other numerous components of the Antarctic marine community, can act as indicators of changes in the abundance and distribution of biodiversity in the Weddell Sea»explains Chiara Papetti who, with her collaborators, studies the connection between populations of Antarctic fish in the Southern Ocean. “Only in recent years have we been able to begin to characterize the vast biodiversity of Antarctic fish in this region,” he adds.
In 2026, theUniversity of Rostock will coordinate an expedition with the icebreaker Polarstern, covering the Prime Meridian and the region east of the Weddell Sea, with the participation of Chiara Papetti.
Around fifty international scientists will explore the seamount Maud Rise and investigations into the benthic communities at Cape Norway, west of the German Neumayer III station, will continue.
Share monitoring between science and resource management
The WOBEC project focuses on long-term observation of biodiversity changes in the eastern Weddell Sea. Countries such as Germany, Norway and South Africa have been conducting research in the region for decades, but systematic studies of the ecosystem are lacking.
Hauke Flores highlights the large gap in knowledge: For thousands of kilometers to the east and west of the WOBEC study area there are no long-term observations of marine biodiversity. In addition to collecting new data in the field, researchers are also making previously unpublished results available.
«Based on historical and current data, WOBEC’s goal is to create a strategy for long-term environmental monitoring in the Weddell Sea using autonomous observatories, satellite remote sensing and ship-based sampling», says Hauke Flores.
«To be complemented with new genetic data and the application of non-invasive techniques such as the analysis of environmental DNA, isolated from water samples», adds Chiara Papetti.
The project will take place in close collaboration with the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and with the political, economic and nature conservation communities to share monitoring between science and resource management.
The marine protected area project in the Weddell Sea
The EU and other CCAMLR members have supported the protection of large areas of the Weddell Sea for years. Thanks to the experience of the Alfred Wegener Institute, with which the University of Padua has been collaborating for over 20 years, a protection concept was developed and presented to the CCAMLR in 2016.
“The proposed marine protected area currently consists of two regions in the western and eastern Weddell Sea, some of which lie within the WOBEC study area,” explains the doctor Katharina Teschkemarine ecologist and project manager for the establishment of the marine protected area in the Weddell Sea for the Alfred Wegener Institute.
The marine protected area project in the Weddell Sea adopts an ecosystem approach based on the precautionary principle. Ratification of the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity in Areas Not Subject to National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Treaty) happened last year.
The process of declaring a marine protected area in the Weddell Sea is a promising sign, the note says. WOBEC will provide the opportunity to create a scientific strategy to assess biodiversity and future changes within the protected area.
«The objective is to preserve a still uncontaminated marine region as a refuge for cold-adapted species where, despite the current warming of the Earth, they can hopefully live undisturbed in the changed environmental conditions. So far the proposal for a new marine protected area has not passed because the vote must be unanimous, and the current geopolitical situation makes the CCAMLR negotiations even more difficult.” conclude Katharina Teschke.