This project focuses on the distri­b­u­tion of deep-sea macro­fauna (animals between 0.3 mm – 5 cm) in the deep Arctic Ocean across tempo­ral and spatial scales. I will test the hypoth­e­sis if environ­men­tal factors like ocean warming and ice retreat will affect commu­nity compo­si­tion. In addition, I will study the diver­sity, distri­b­u­tion, and connec­tiv­ity of isopods as they comprise an abundant and diverse group of the macro­fauna but are under­stud­ied in the Central Arctic. They are “brood­ers” – meaning they hatch their young in a brood pouch (imagine a tiny kanga­roo) and there­fore they usually do not disperse as far as animals with free-swimming larvae.

The Arctic Ocean is rapidly chang­ing. Surface temper­a­tures are increas­ing four times faster than anywhere else on the planet, and the summerly sea-ice extent is declin­ing by 12% per decade. These environ­men­tal changes have reper­cus­sions on the entire ecosys­tem from the surface to the deep sea. I am intrigued by the deep-sea macro­fauna that live on the seafloor (= benthic), because the deep sea is a huge reser­voir of unknown species. Benthic deep-sea life plays an impor­tant role in the biogeo­chem­i­cal cycling of carbon and nutri­ents. However, due to the diffi­cult acces­si­bil­ity of the ice-covered Arctic basins, very little is known about the struc­ture and function of its deep-sea macro­fauna, and how it may respond to environ­men­tal changes and other anthro­pogenic pressures.

The goal of this project is thus to inves­ti­gate the diver­sity, distri­b­u­tion, and connec­tiv­ity of macro­fauna in the Arctic Ocean across differ­ent tempo­ral and spatial scales. This includes a compar­i­son of Central Arctic macro­fauna commu­ni­ties across 3 decades, as well as focused studies on the species diver­sity and distri­b­u­tion ranges of isopods. I will combine classi­cal morpho­log­i­cal identi­fi­ca­tion with molec­u­lar DNA barcod­ing to delin­eate species and their distri­b­u­tion ranges, which will provide valuable baseline data from an under­sam­pled, yet vulner­a­ble region of our planet. In addition, habitat models will identify environ­men­tal drivers and help to forecast ecolog­i­cal responses in future climate scenarios.