Zooplankton community changes in the Southern Ocean by analysis of regional and circumpolar scales using CPR data

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16H02970
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Environmental impact assessment
• Research Institution: National Institute of Polar Research
• Principal Investigator: Takahashi Kunio 国立極地研究所, 先端研究推進系, 准教授 (50413919)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 動物プランクトン / 連続プランクトン採集器 / 生物海洋

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research project used Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey data over more than 25 years in the Southern Ocean to extract zooplankton community changes at circumpolar and regional scales. The analysis of this study clarified the importance of two small copepods and pteropods as indicators of community changes, which will be necessary for strategic ecosystem monitoring observations in the future. The results of this research were published in the SCAR Bulletin of the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR) as a report on the status and trends of Southern Ocean zooplankton based on the CPR survey. This report has already been downloaded more than 650 times, and is expected to contribute to the construction of future prediction models and the elucidation of the response processes and mechanisms of zooplankton to changes in the habitat environment.

Free Research Field

海洋生態学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

南極海は地球規模で起こる温暖化現象の影響が最も鋭敏に現れる海域とされている。今後予測されている環境変動に対して、早期に警告を発することが出来る戦略的なモニタリング観測の重要性が指摘されるなか、本研究は群集変動の指標となる動物プランクトン種を提示し、現状報告書という形で世界に発信した。既に650ダウンロードを超え、将来予測モデルの構築や生息環境の変化に対する動物プランクトンの応答プロセス・メカニズムの解明に貢献することが期待できる。