Project Title

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

Summary

Event Number:
C-045-N/P
NSF / OPP Award 2224611

Program Director:
Dr. William Ambrose

ASC POC/Implementer:
Ryan Steiner / Jamee Johnson

Principal Investigator(s)

Dr. Benjamin Van Mooy
bvanmooy@whoi.edu
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Marine Chemistry & Geochemistry
Woods Hole, Massachusetts

Project Web Site:
https://pallter.marine.rutgers.edu/

Location

Supporting Stations: Research Vessel, Palmer Station
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

Two participants will deploy to Palmer Station for the 2025-26 austral summer. They will participate in collaborative twice per week sampling at Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Station E. Primary sampling responsibilities are for dissolved inorganic carbon/alkalinity, particulate organic carbon, flow cytometry, particulate carbohydrates, particulate lipids, 14-C productivity, and caloric content. Sediment traps will be deployed and recovered weekly. Additionally, participants will conduct incubation experiments with other LTER teams. Grantees will participate in twice weekly trips into the Palmer Deep Canyon (Adélie penguin foraging area) and Bismarck Strait (Gentoo penguin foraging) to conduct acoustic surveys.

Deploying Team Members