Coastal lagoons of the Arabian Gulf – a new model for investigating the biological effects of extremes in climate change
Our understanding of the effects of marine climate change is still in its infancy. One reason for this is that most work to-date has been focussed on a narrow range of species from a restricted number of ecosystems. If we are to fully characterise the mechanisms that will allow species to cope, or not, with future conditions this remit needs to be widened.
This project is focussed on the coastal lagoons of the Arabian Gulf which have been termed a ‘natural laboratory’ for climate change studies. This is because they experience some of the most extreme environmental conditions of any marine system on earth, yet remain productive and biodiverse, with species able to tolerate the extreme and highly variable conditions they experience daily, and seasonally, (desiccation, salinity, temperature, and oxygen fluctuations), together with exposure to environmental contaminants resulting from anthropogenic activities. However, it has been suggested that many lagoon species are living at their upper physiological limits and this tolerance is accompanied by substantial physiological costs. If so, even slight increases in the intensity of environmental drivers could push those species beyond their tolerance thresholds.
This project aims to establish a new long-term international partnership via co-implementation of a project to characterise the mechanisms underpinning benthic invertebrate species’ abilities to survive under these extreme conditions at different life stages and levels of biological organisation.
Our objectives are to examine these abilities under both current, and future projected climate change conditions, and in the absence and presence of environmental contaminants. The results will produce impactful benefits to wider society, as they will also be applicable to other species, including those that provide ecosystem services such as food security within the region and beyond.
Under the leadership of Lucy Turner, this project brings together a new international partnership of researchers from the Ecophysiology and Development Research Group at the University of Plymouth, the Burt Marine Biology Lab at the New York University Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and SAMS. It combines the unique knowledge, expertise, and experience of Burt from his > 15 years of work characterising the responses of Arabian Gulf marine species to ongoing and projected climate change with that of the EDRG and SAMS teams who have a track record of characterising and understanding the ability of species throughout their life histories to respond to environmental stressors in the context of regular fluctuations as well as extreme environments and events.
To cement this new partnership this project comprise workshops series, three exchange visits, and two field experiments. These activities will also facilitate the mentoring of two early career researchers from each country who are at the heart of this project, growing their network and enhancing their skills.
The first workshop allows all project participants to meet and to exchange ideas, plan experiments, and methodologies. The second workshop towards the end of the project facilitates the discussion of findings, manuscript preparation, co-writing of an immediate follow-on grant, and dissemination of findings to local stakeholders. The exchange visits will enable training in specific skills and techniques, and to plan and execute the multi-taxa, multi-stressor experiments that are integral to this project’s aim.
