Unlocking impacts of climate change by using ancient DNA
Two projects led by NORCE have been endorsed as UN Ocean Decade Action projects. Both projects use ancient DNA to answer questions about climate change effects.
NORCE researchers Tristan Cordier and Agnes Weiner both lead a project using ancient DNA to answer questions about the effects of climate change have been endorsed as UN Ocean Decade Action projects. Both projects have been funded by the Research Council of Norway. Read more about the projects below.
Reconstructing the biological carbon pump in the Nordic Seas with ancient plankton DNA
Tiny phytoplankton in the ocean surface absorb CO2 from the atmosphere in vast quantities, and transfer it to the deep ocean when it dies. This process, referred to as the 'biological carbon pump’ regulates the ocean carbon cycle and the climate system. Without it, the atmospheric concentration of CO2 would be about 50% higher.
– Despite this key role, it remains unclear whether climate change will weaken or strengthen the biological carbon pump. In the BIOCAP project, we will analyse ancient plankton DNA stored in the sediment to reconstruct this key ecosystem process across past climate changes. This will inform in the possible response of the biological carbon pump to our warming climate, says Tristan Cordier who leads the BIOCAP project.
Tracing past biodiversity using genetic material preserved in marine sediments
Increasing temperatures, decreasing oxygen levels and sea ice loss in Arctic fjords have dramatic consequences for large animals like fish or mammals. But we don’t have the whole picture of how climate changes affect smaller organisms – also known as microbial communities.
Microbial communities are the founding blocks of the ecosystem, and to learn about how sensitive they are to environmental change, the researchers will collect sedimentary ancient DNA to investigate the microbial communities’ response to changes in the past.
– This way, we can observe how microbial communities responded to environmental changes in the past and thus may be able to better predict future ecosystem changes in Norwegian fjords. It is important to know, because any change in microbial biodiversity can have wide-ranging consequences for ecosystem health, says Agnes Weiner, leader of the PASTIME project.
