Pelagic Diversity of the Austral Ocean [SCAR-MarBIN]

The PELAGANT project is an interdisciplinary study of the key components of the Austral Ocean Pelagic Ecosystem and deals with the criteria for the appearance, maintenance, and modification of biodiversity. The diversity and dynamics of this ecosystem are particularly sensitive to variations in physical structure of the ocean and in ice coverage, and are affected by climate changes. This research project is a contribution of Belgian science to international conventions on the maintenance and monitoring of the Antarctic ecosystem in a context of environmental and climatic changes (CCAMLR, SCAR, SO-GLOBEC). The project is integrated with international Antarctic scientific programmes (e.g. Italy, Germany and France) where the pelagic diversity in the Austral Ocean is studied in an environmental and biological context. SCAR-MarBIN is assisting PELAGANT in setting up a biodiversity database, on order to give access to the data collected during the project.