Integrating biodiversity and oceanographic information for modeling and predicting Southern Ocean diatom biogeography
Applicant
Dr. Bánk Beszteri
Alfred-Wegener-Institut
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Sektion Polare Biologische Ozeanographie
Project Description
The organizational framework and technical infrastructure for archival, public availability and dissemination of biodiversity related primary research data is undergoing major developments, towards improving cross-disciplinary data integration. This trend also opens up novel possibilities for effective integration of biodiversity related data into oceanographic studies, and for up-scaling efforts aimed at understanding environmental determinants of geographic distribution of biodiversity in the oceanic plankton. Our proposal aims at contributing to these developments and exploiting them for biogeographic-ecological research of pelagic diatoms of the Southern Ocean by building upon ecological niche modeling methodology to characterize biogeographic distributions of a number of key diatom taxa of this environment. The statistical modeling methodology to be used also enables projections of models of suitable habitats upon modeled environmental scenarios, representing a first step towards predicting potential future biogeographic scenarios.
DFG Programme: Infrastructure Priority Programmes
Term from 2011 to 2015