vERSO Ecosystem Responses to global change: a multiscale approach in the Southern Ocean Bruno Danis (ULB) - Ann VanReusel (UGent) - Anton Van de Putte (RBINS) - Antonio Agüera Garcia (ULB) - Arnout Roukaerts (VUB) - Baptiste Le Bourg (ULiège) - Bruno David (MNHN) - Camille Moreau (ULB, UBFC) - Chantal de Ridder (ULB) - Charlène Guillaumot (ULB, UBFC) - Filip Volckaert (KU Leuven) - Francesca Pasotti (UGent) - Frank Dehairs (VUB) - Franz Maximilian Heindler (KU Leuven) - Gilles Lepoint (ULiège) - Henrik Christiansen (KUL) - Isabelle George (ULB) - Loïc Michel (ULiège) - Marc Eleaume (MNHN) - Marie Verheye (RBINS) - Philippe Dubois (ULB) - Sarah Di Giglio (ULB) - Thomas Saucede (UBFC) NETWORK PROJECT vERSO Ecosystem Responses to global change: a multiscale approach in the Southern Ocean Contract - BR/132/A1/vERSO FINAL REPORT PROMOTORS: Bruno Danis (Université Libre de Bruxelles) Philippe Dubois (Université Libre de Bruxelles) Chantal De Ridder (Université Libre de Bruxelles) Ann Van Reusel (Universiteit Gent) Filip Volckaert (KU Leuven) Frank Dehairs (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) Gilles Lepoint (Université de Liège) Anton Van de Putte (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Science) Marc Eléaume (Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle) Thomas Saucède (Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté) Published in 2019 by the Belgian Science Policy Office WTC III - Simon Bolivarlaan 30 Boulevard Simon Bolivar B-1000 Brussels Belgium Tel: +32 (0)2 238 34 11 http://www.belspo.be http://www.belspo.be/brain-be Contact person: Maaike Vancauwenberghe Tel: +32 (0)2 238 36 78 Neither the Belgian Science Policy Office nor any person acting on behalf of the Belgian Science Policy Office is responsible for the use which might be made of the following information. The authors are responsible for the content. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without indicating the reference: Danis, B., et al., 2018. Ecosystem Responses to global change: a multiscale approach in the Southern Ocean. Final Report. Brussels: Belgian Science Policy Office 2019 – 81 p. (BRAIN- be - (Belgian Research Action through Interdisciplinary Networks) Project BR/132/A1/vERSO - Ecosystem Responses to global change: a multiscale approach in the Southern Ocean TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 6 1. INTRODUCTION 8 2. STATE OF THE ART AND OBJECTIVES 10 2.1 STATE OF THE ART ............................................................................................................................................. 10 2.2 OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................................................................................ 11 3. METHODOLOGY 14 SAMPLING - GENERAL ............................................................................................................................................... 14 WP 1: CONNECTIVITY AND ADAPTATION ................................................................................................................. 15 WP 2: TROPHIC ECOLOGY ....................................................................................................................................... 16 WP 3: SENSITIVITY AND RESILIENCE ....................................................................................................................... 18 WP 4: INTEGRATIVE MODELLING .............................................................................................................................. 20 4. SCIENTIFIC RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 22 WP 1: CONNECTIVITY AND ADAPTATION ................................................................................................................. 23 WP 2: TROPHIC ECOLOGY ....................................................................................................................................... 29 WP 3: SENSITIVITY AND RESILIENCE ....................................................................................................................... 46 WP 4: INTEGRATIVE MODELLING .............................................................................................................................. 47 SCIENTIFIC TRAINING ACTIVITIES .............................................................................................................................. 50 5. DISSEMINATION AND VALORISATION 52 5.1 ORGANISATION OF AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ...................................................................................... 52 5.2 ORGANISATION OF WORKSHOPS (6) ................................................................................................................. 53 5.3 PARTICIPATION IN CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS (97) ............................................................................... 53 5.4 OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES (4) .............................................................................................. 60 6. PUBLICATIONS 62 6.1 PUBLISHED OR IN PRESS (50) ............................................................................................................................ 62 6.2 SUBMITTED (4) ................................................................................................................................................... 65 6.3 IN PREPARATION (12) ......................................................................................................................................... 66 6.4 DATA PAPERS (6) ............................................................................................................................................... 67 6.5 DATASETS (51) ................................................................................................................................................... 67 6.6 BOOKS (2) .......................................................................................................................................................... 70 6.7 CAMPAIGN REPORTS (7) .................................................................................................................................... 70 7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 72 REFERENCES 74 BRAIN-be (Belgian Research Action through Interdisciplinary Networks) 4 Project BR/132/A1/vERSO - Ecosystem Responses to global change: a multiscale approach in the Southern Ocean ABSTRACT Context Environmental changes are now vastly documented for large areas of the Southern Ocean. The response of marine organisms and ecosystem processes to these changes are still not well understood. In this framework, insights in resilience, thresholds and tipping points for species, communities and ecosystems are of paramount importance. Addressing these endpoints is however highly complex, and requires robust, interdisciplinary and collaborative research networks to progressively reach a holistic understanding. By design, the vERSO project was intended to forge ahead and identify key areas of research in this respect, and in line with the SCAR priorities. Building on the experience gathered by its long-term partners and taking advantage of the overlap period with another BELSPO-funded project (rECTO), the vERSO developments were intentionally novel and ambitious (in experimental, field and integration facets). Objectives The goal of the vERSO project was to assess the impact of the main stressors driven by global change on benthic Antarctic ecosystems using an integrated multiscale approach including different representative size classes of the benthos. Two principal regions with current contrasting responses to global change have been considered, namely the Western Antarctic Peninsula and the East Antarctic. To reach this goal, researches on connectivity and adaptation, trophic ecology and sensitivity and resilience were conducted by all partners and integrated using state of the art modelling techniques. Results and conclusions vERSO has globally reached its proposed objectives, paving the way for its sister project, rECTO. vERSO members have participated in 11 expeditions to the Antarctic. Specific efforts were devoted to involving several consortium partners in the fieldwork to optimize the exchange of know-how and crosslinkages using the obtained results. This is reflected in the authorships of the papers and datasets published so far. Most of the experimental work has been carried out successfully, including in logistically-challenging conditions. Some of the explorative, long-term experiments, are still ongoing in the framework of rECTO. A dedicated Information System was setup and has been merged in various long-term initiatives, dedicated to the discovery and publication of raw data. To date, vERSO has published 52 papers and book chapters and submitted 4 others. Over 50 datasets have been generated and are being documented and published. vERSO was represented 97 times in international conferences. The unique opportunity offered by the rECTO/vERSO overlap period allowed efficient synergies which have been largely exploited to maximize data and know-how flows. The visibility of the projects peaked in July 2017, during the SCAR Biology Symposium, which will be held in Leuven. This conference gathered 402 people from 32 countries. Keywords Southern Ocean; biodiversity; global change; plasticity; connectivity; model coupling BRAIN-be (Belgian Research Action through Interdisciplinary Networks) 6 Project BR/132/A1/vERSO - Ecosystem Responses to global change: a multiscale approach