Monitoring of micro-benthic (foraminifera) in marine surface sediments in Kongsfjorden
Foraminifera are highly sensitive small marine protists. Because of their short life cycles, high diversity and specific ecological requirements of individual species, foraminifera react quickly to environmental disturbances. Foraminiferal assemblages are easy to collect; commonly abundant, providing a highly reliable database for statistical analysis, even when only small sample volumes are available. Furthermore, many foraminiferal taxa secrete a carbonate or an areneous shell, and leave an excellent fossil record. This can be used to characterise baseline conditions, and to reconstruct the state of the ecosystem prior to sampling. Hence, living benthic foraminifera and their fossil assemblage counterparts represents a unique set of tools in understanding temporal and spatial variability environmental changes.
The main purpose of this monitoring program (annual sampling) of foraminifera (micro-benthics) in Kongsfjorden is to investigate how they respond to the on-going environmental changes in the Arctic. Through this program we also aim at establishing this group of marine organisms as Arctic bio-indicators. The reason behind this is that the micro-benthics (foraminifera) are very opportunistic, and various species will most likely survive even severe environmental changes but still allow for continued monitoring.
Project lead: Dorthe Klitgaard Kristensen
Participants: Dorthe Klitgaard Kristensen, Patrycja Jernas, Nalân Koç
Contact: Nalân Koç