Project Title

PAL-LTER: Ecological Response to "Press-Pulse" Disturbances Along a Rapidly Changing West Antarctic Peninsula

Summary

Event Number:
C-021-N
NSF / OPP Award 2224611

Program Director:
Dr. William Ambrose

ASC POC/Implementer:
Ryan Steiner / Jamee Johnson

Principal Investigator(s)

Mr. Carlos F Moffat
cmoffat@udel.edu
University of Delaware
Newark, Delaware

Location

Supporting Stations: Research Vessel
Research Locations: Palmer Station

Description

Seasonal sea ice-influenced marine ecosystems at both poles are characterized by high productivity concentrated in space and time by local, regional, and remote physical forcing. These polar ecosystems are among the most rapidly changing on Earth. The Palmer Long-Term Ecological Research (PAL-LTER) seeks to build on three decades of research along the West Antarctic Peninsula to gain new mechanistic and predictive understanding of ecosystem changes in response to disturbances spanning long-term, subdecadal, and higher frequency “pulses” driven by a range of processes, including long-term climate warming, natural climate variability, and storms. These disturbances alter food web composition and ecological interactions across temporal and spatial scales that are not well understood. Researchers will contribute fundamental understanding of how population dynamics and biogeochemical processes are responding within a polar marine ecosystem undergoing profound change.

Field Season Overview

Vessel support is transitioning to University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) ships.

Deploying Team Members