Will food quality limit marine biomass production in a warming world? (5023)

Maximising the harvestable production of marine biomass for human consumption is essential for delivering global food security. However, achieving this is complicated by the poorly-understood effects of environmental warming, which directly affects the physiology of cold-blooded animals, and indirectly affects the quantity and quality of their food. Using marine zooplankton as tractable model organisms, this project will determine how their biomass production is affected by the direct and indirect effects of climate change through a series of controlled laboratory experiments and field observations. This project will use a multifactorial approach to examine variability in zooplankton metabolism in the context of changing temperature and phytoplankton elemental composition. In doing so, it will provide new, fundamental understanding that can be used to improve the sustainable management of marine resources throughout the 21st century.
Aims and objectives
This project aims to:
Generate mechanistic understanding of how future temperature-driven effects on the physiology of marine zooplankton and changes in the quantity and nutritional 'quality' (C:N ratio) of their phytoplankton food collectively influence the efficiency with which they convert ingested food into new biomass;
Translate this knowledge to other disciplines, including fisheries stock assessment and aquaculture nutrition, to pioneer new approaches for maximising the efficiency of harvestable biomass production.
This will be achieved by addressing the following objectives:
Quantify how rates of ingestion, respiration and biomass turnover in marine zooplankton respond to environmental warming.
Conduct controlled factorial experiments across a thermal gradient to quantify how changing the quantity and quality of phytoplankton affect zooplankton growth and metabolism.
Analyse plankton samples collected in situ from national and international research expeditions to determine how zooplankton growth responds to environmental temperatures and the quantity and quality of phytoplankton.
Work in collaboration with experts from the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences (Cefas) and experts in aquaculture nutrition to translate the knowledge gained into additional disciplines, including the sustainable development of aquaculture practices.
Training
The candidate will join an enthusiastic and supportive research team studying how the ecology and biogeochemistry of marine ecosystems are responding to environmental change. They will receive training in a range of plankton skills, including culturing of phytoplankton and zooplankton, conducting live experiments, and sampling and preserving plankton at sea. Training in a range of highly transferrable skills will also be provided, including experimental design and data analysis, scientific writing, and public speaking. Research expedition participation is not essential. However, whilst it cannot be guaranteed, it may be possible for the candidate to collect samples and run experiments at sea through collaboration with the Associated Partner Cefas and via other funded projects that will run in parallel.
Project structure
The student will be hosted in Exeter, supervised locally by Mayor, Cook and Wilson, with external support and supervision by Poulton at Heriot-Watt, and Van Der Kooij and Capuzzo at Cefas. Experimental design will be supported by all supervisors, with regular project meetings via video conferencing facilities and the student hosted at Heriot-Watt and Cefas for 2-6 months and 3 months, respectively over the duration of the project.