New funding for University of Waikato Antarctic research

14 June, 2013

New funding for University of Waikato Antarctic research

Waikato University Antarctic researchers Professor Craig Cary and Dr Charles Lee have secured $60,000 funding to lead a year-long pilot study to develop and validate tools to measure how the ecosystems in Antarctica respond to change.

Theirs is one of seven projects awarded funding by the New Zealand Antarctica Research Institute, from funding from the Robertson Foundation and Air New Zealand.

Leaders in Antarctic terrestrial biology, Waikato scientists have been surveying areas of Antarctica for more than 30 years. This new study will focus on developing effective ways to measure early signs of climate change in Antarctica from a biological perspective.

“We will be exploring several new technologies that each ’sense‘ specific biological processes that occur throughout the summer months and are very sensitive to environmental change,” says Professor Cary.

“The technology will include equipment that will accurately measure and monitor photosynthesis and respiration that can also withstand year-round operation under the extreme conditions found in the Dry Valleys.

“Climate predictions suggest that Antarctica will soon begin to respond to the same climate change seen around the world. We believe the biology in terrestrial Antarctica will be the first to respond,” says Professor Cary. The Waikato scientists will also involve researchers from Lincoln University, Canada and Madrid.

Says Dr Lee, “If we can understand how and why these sensitive microsystems respond to change, it will certainly increase our understandings of how climate change may affect other ecosystems and environments.

“We need to understand photosynthesis and the whole carbon cycle in Antarctica, and it involves a lot of different science - biology, geochemical and soil sciences – so we’re taking a multifaceted interdisciplinary approach, involving expertise from around the world.”

This season the 12-person team will be operating in the Taylor Valley. The plan is to deploy the new instruments near to the camp so they can be monitored around the clock. They hope that after this provisional field validation, the instruments could be left for over-winter operation.

If the new technology performs as expected, then they hope to get funding for additional sets to be deployed at strategic locations throughout the Dry Valleys and to be incorporated into a larger cross-continent international effort currently being discussed.

ENDS

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