News & information17 November 2009 - LA CAML Workshop
The South American Consortium for the Census of Antarctic Marine Life (LA CAML) met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 3-4 November for a Workshop "Antarctic-South American Interactions in the Marine Environment (ASAI)". 54 participants from 12 countries attended.
The Workshop synthesised results from two projects of the Census of Marine Life: CAML and Continental Margins Ecosystems on a worldwide scale (COMARGE), with cooperation from the South American Network on Antarctic Marine Biodiversity (BioMAntar) and Evolution and Biodiversity in Antarctica (EBA).
A Symposium with the same theme "Antarctic-South American Interactions in the Marine Environment (ASAI)", followed the workshop from 5 to 6 November with the attendance of students and general public (nearly 250 people).
A Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) Training Course followed the Symposium from 9 to 11 November at the University of Rio de Janeiro. This was the first time that the CPR course occurred in South America with 14 participants of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
14 July 2009 - On the Trail of Truly Bipolar Species
A bipolar distribution has been proposed for a number of organisms. To date such distributions remain mainly unproven. There is now a concerted international effort to discover whether they exist.
The Census of Marine Life (CoML) brought scientists and science in the Arctic and Antarctic into closer discussion and synthesis. A result was information sharing on the geography of reports of species.
The CoML (Census of Antarctic Marine Life [CAML] and Arctic Ocean Biodiversity [ArcOD] projects) press release highlighted 235 species co-occurring in both polar regions.CAML identified this as a key discovery and funded a new post, based at the British Antarctic Survey, to co-ordinate an international research effort.
Dr Louise Allcock, well known for her pioneering work on Antarctic Octopus taxonomy and phylogeny, has been appointed co-ordinator.
Throughout oceans and seas, scientific cruises are collecting specimens and, at universities and laboratories across the world, scientists are investigating the identity of species using morphological and genetic techniques. Louise will communicate with researchers worldwide to investigate the validity of these candidate bipolar species, tracking down appropriate specimens for molecular genetics. The five-month timescale of the post means that success is dependent on the rapid response of the CAML and ArcOD communities to Louise's correspondence. CAML sees this as an inclusive project and we welcome input from all members of the wider scientific community.
20 May 2009 — Final Synthesis SymposiumThe CAML final Symposium for synthesis of research results was hosted by Stefano Schiaparelli of the University of Genoa, Italy.
Over 40 participants attended from 17-20 May 2009.
The papers presented from CAML's 18 voyages to the Antarctic will be published in a special issue of Deep-Sea Research II.
18 May 2009 — Polar Synthesis MacroscopeThe “Polar Synthesis Macroscope” group met during 13-16 May at the Villefranche Laboratory near Nice , France .
A total of 11 participants from the Antarctic (CAML) and Arctic (ArcOD) projects, combined with the Mapping and Visualisation group, used the latest methods to explore biodiversity data of the ice oceans.
The Census research voyages during the International Polar Year have provided a comprehensive inventory of the marine species: over 6,000 verified species of animals at each pole and 251 species which occur at both poles.
At the molecular level, DNA sequences are showing differences in some species that were previously thought to be the same. The analyses showed a close connection between the species and their physical environment at various spatial scales.
16 February 2009 — COML Excellence AwardThe Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML) received the prestigious top award for overall excellence at a recent Census of Marine Life meeting.
The meeting at Long Beach, California, USA, was part of the Census of Marine Life Synthesis Phase to integrate and synthesise information gathered by COML projects and other research activities.
CAML is one of 17 international projects under the Census of Marine Life.
27 January 2009 — CEAMARC voyage identifies vulnerable marine ecosystemsThe Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Resources (CCAMLR) declared two areas of the Southern Ocean as Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems at its annual meeting in October 2008.
The two areas, located in a previously unexplored region, were identified during a Collaborative East Antarctic Marine Census (CEAMARC) voyage in early 2008.
CEAMARC is a collaborative project between Australia, Japan and France within the Census for Antarctic Marine Life.
See the complete article Vulnerable marine ecosystems in Antarctica in the latest edition of the Australian Antarctic Magazine (Issue 15, 2009). 4 November 2008 — Polar Synthesis Macroscope
To analyse and map the distribution of polar marine life, a small group of scientists met at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina from 26 to 28 October 2008. Their goal was to explore mapping tools using a zoom function to visualise distributions at different spatial scales.
The group used repositories such as SCAR-MarBIN, OBIS and GBIF to provide georeferenced species data. By comparing the list of validated species for Antarctic and Arctic waters, they extracted 91 species which occur at both poles. Mapping the distribution data onto seafloor bathymetry and onto the temperature of the bottom water showed how the life inhabited different ocean areas.
In the Antarctic, the oxygen-rich bottom water extends into lower latitudes; in the Arctic, its extent is limited by the surrounding land masses. Tools such as GeoPhyloBuilder visualised the taxnomic hierarchy across space.
The group developed many mapping tools to the proof-of-concept stage, in preparation for more detailed analysis of life in the polar oceans. 17 September 2008 — IPY Stamp Issue
Researchers of the Census of Antarctic Marine Life contributed to Australia Post‘s Australian Antarctic Territory stamp issue commemorating the International Polar Year 2007-08.
The stamp celebrates the successful fieldwork phase of the International Polar Year‘s projects on marine biodiversity in Antarctica,
The design team at Australia Post wanted a Marine Biology theme and, from our samples, selected the image of a marine snail, or pteropod, for the special issue.
Pteropods, including the species Limacina helicina shown on the stamp, make a fragile shell of calcium in the form of aragonite. This shell-building is vulnerable to increase in the acidity of the Southern Ocean. Increasing carbon emissions are affecting this fundamental ocean process.
The photograph of this delicate animal is being used for identification and counting with an optical plankton recorder. Because they are difficult to preserve for study, the gelatinous zooplankton were little studied until recent underwater imaging techniques were developed.
The snail Limacina helicina is found in both the Southern Ocean around Antarctica and in the Arctic Ocean. For this reason, it is particularly appropriate to celebrate the IPY, which encourages comparison of the ecosystems of the oceans in the north and south polar regions. 19 August 2008 — CAML presentations at SCAR⁄IASC Open Science ConferenceIn July 2008, CAML participants presented their research results at the Open Science Conference in St Petersburg , Russia of the Joint Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) . The theme was Polar Research — Arctic and Antarctic Perspectives in the International Polar Year.
During the meeting CAML’s Scientific Steering Committee member, Prof. Dr. Angelika Brandt, was awarded the SCAR medal for her contributions to Antarctic deep-sea biodiversity research.
After the SCAR meeting, Arctic and Antarctic data specialists met with Russian colleagues at the Zoological Institute in St Petersburg. This ongoing collaboration has contributed significant historical biodiversity data from Russian diving expeditions, led by Boris Sirenko since 1965.
Many CAML papers were presented in the session on Polar Marine Ecosystems: Status and Change . This examined the diversity of life in polar oceans and the development of integrated analyses of the marine ecosystems. Presentations included links between climate and ecosystems, ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles, and ecosystems and fisheries, particularly with regard to the effects of variability and change.
19 August 2008 — The genie is out of the bottleLike the fabled genie, data collected during the project's fieldwork phase has been released from the CAML bottle. Researchers worldwide are taking advantage of information gathered on the voyages of 18 research vessels during the International Polar Year.
Many researchers are now freely accessing the shared CAML data from the Antarctic data portal, SCAR-MarBIN. Approaching one million georeferenced species records, this resource makes it possible to pull out relevant data to examine new questions about the biodiversity of ecosystems in the ocean around Antarctica.
Researchers are revising previous hypotheses in the light of increased sampling and geographic range. Dr Huw Griffiths, Dr David Barnes and Dr Katrin Linse from the British Antarctic Survey reported “By collating all available distribution data of four model taxa, gastropod and bivalve molluscs, cheilostome and cyclostome bryozoans, we created the largest dataset with the widest geographic scope for the Southern Hemisphere. Using this wealth of recently acquired knowledge we re-evaluated the biogeographic patterns of the region.”
Now past the half-way mark to its scheduled completion in December 2010, the CAML project is approaching another challenge. The synthesis phase will see the joining of data from almost 200 separate projects to put together the jigsaw puzzle of biodiversity of the Antarctic marine ecosystem.
29 July 2008 — International Polar Year Pole-to-PoleMargot Foster travelled aboard the Aurora Australis, on it's 2007⁄08 CEARMARC voyage, as part of the IPY Pole-to-Pole project.
Read Margot's Daily Ship Logs from aboard the Aurora Australis
Or look at Margot's work for the Science Show on ABC Radio National — Voyage to the Southern Ocean.
22 July 2008 — Southern Ocean microbial communities studiedResearchers from the University of NSW, the J. Craig Venter Institute and the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute are examining microbial communities and their functions using DNA sequencing technology.
Samples collected during the Aurora Australis CEAMARC voyage will provide a basis for examining the genomic composition of Southern Ocean microorganisms.
See the complete article Sequencing secrets of whole microbial communities in the latest edition of the Australian Antarctic Magazine (Issue 14, 2008).
There are 3 dedicated CEAMARC voyages
8 July 2008 — CEAMARC voyage captures high resolution 3—D seabed imagesUsing the latest multibeam sonar data collected by previous research voyages, 3—D maps were created of the sea-bed offshore of Terre Adélie and George V Land.
See the complete article Sound decisions for seabed sampling in the latest edition of the Australian Antarctic Magazine (Issue 14, 2008).
24 June 2008 — Aurora Australis Voyage Leader reports on the 2007⁄08 CEAMARC voyageDr. Martin Riddle reported on the seabed survey work undertaken during the 2007⁄08 CEAMARC voyage.
See the complete article Underwater world gives up its secrets in the latest edition of the Australian Antarctic Magazine (Issue 14, 2008).
17 June 2008 — Strange creatures from the underwater worldScientists found a variety of unusual creatures waiting for them during the 2007⁄08 Collaborative East Antarctic Marine Census (CEAMARC) voyages.
Dr. Graham Hosie discusses the finds, equipment and work of the three CEAMARC voyages.
See the complete article Ship's Log: Collaborative East Antarctic Marine Census in the latest edition of the Australian Antarctic Magazine (Issue 14, 2008).
15 May 2008 — CAML at European COP9 Biodiversity Conference 19-30 May 2008Dr Julian Gutt, a member of the CAML Scientific Steering Committee, will make a presentation at an exhibition linked to the COP9 (Conference of Parties) Biodiversity Conference in Bonn, Germany (19 - 30 May).
Specialising in benthic ecosystems under ice shelves, Dr Gutt is a staff member for the Alfred Wegener Institute of Polar and Marine Research (AWI) located in Bremerhaven, Germany.
Season 2007-2008All Census of Antarctic Marine Life voyages for the 2007/08 season have now returned. Visit the news archive |
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