Each of the projects encompasses a diverse array of UK universities and research institutes, as well as collaborating with a group of international partners and organizations.
Marine organisms play a critical role in storing carbon in the ocean that would otherwise be in the atmosphere. However, recent evidence suggests that climate models are not fully accounting for their impact. This could hinder predictions of the ocean’s role in future carbon storage at a critical time.
(Image credit: NOC)
Adrian Martin, BIO-Carbon Champion, said: “With countries striving for net-zero carbon and debate ongoing over whether we can use the ocean to remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the need to understand how the ocean stores carbon has never been stronger and we know that marine life plays an important role. Partnering with the Future Marine Research Infrastructure (FMRI) project, these three exciting projects will use an ambitious combination of research vessels and marine robots. Together they will deliver fundamental insights into how ocean organisms will help it continue to store carbon as the climate changes.”
The projects being funded by the Bio-Carbon program include the PARTITRICS project. Using shipboard observations and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) this project will seek to answer how organic matter is transformed through interactions between particles and organisms. It will also look at how this changes depending on depth, location, and season.
The next project, Coccolithophore controls on ocean alkalinity (CHALKY) will quantify how diversity and ecology influence the oceans’ ability to absorb carbon dioxide. Part of the CHALKY project will examine the influence of marine viruses and grazing by zooplankton, microscopic animals such as copepods, foraminifera and sea snails that form a vital part of the ocean’s food chain.
(Image credit: NOC)
The Integrating Drivers of Atlantic Productivity (IDAPro) project will further use a combination of ship-based, robotic and satellite platforms, to improve the understanding of the productivity of phytoplankton, the single cell organisms that form the basis of all life in the ocean and which are ultimately responsible for an enormous amount of ocean carbon storage.
The three projects will also collaborate on a simultaneous mission funded by the Future Marine Research Infrastructure (FMRI) program. FMRI seeks to enhance ocean exploration by delivering a new generation of UK research infrastructure. To coincide with the research ship expedition next spring, the National Oceanography Centre’s (NOC) famous Boaty McBoatface AUV will embark on a trip from the Iceland to UK, rendezvousing with the research ship en route.
(Image credit: NOC)
A suite of sensors on Boaty will allow it to provide data to the different projects over a wider area than possible using the ship alone, assisted by multiple smaller robot samplers, called gliders and Bio-ARGO floats, which will also be deployed during the cruise. BIO-Carbon will utilize both the RRS James Cook and RRS Discovery, world class research facilities operated by NOC.
All three projects will generate new data on how ocean biology impacts the storage of carbon that will help to inform the next generation of ocean modelling through future stages of the BIO-Carbon program.
(Image credit: Mark Moore)
About BIO-Carbon:
The ocean stores huge amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) that would otherwise be in the atmosphere. Marine organisms play a critical role in this process, but emerging evidence indicates that climate models are not fully accounting for their impact. This is particularly important at a time when we are debating artificially manipulating the ocean to remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The £10.3 million biological influence on future ocean storage of carbon (BIO-Carbon) research programme is carefully designed to produce new understanding of biological processes. It will provide robust predictions of future ocean carbon storage in a changing climate. It already funds 6 projects listed here. This announcement is for 3 new ones focussed on collecting new observations in the North Atlantic in 2024.
PARTITRICS is led by Prof. Stephanie Henson from the National Oceanography Centre and includes researchers from the University of East Anglia, British Antarctic Survey, University of Exeter and Imperial College.
CHALKY is led by Prof. Alex Poulton from Heriot-Watt University and includes researchers from the Universities of Exeter, Strathclyde, East Anglia and Southampton, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, the National Oceanography Centre and the Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE).
IDAPro is led by Prof. Mark Moore from the University of Southampton and includes researchers from the Universities of Oxford, Exeter and Liverpool, Heriot-Watt University and the National Oceanography Centre.
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is the custodian of the UK’s environmental science. It ensures the UK has the diverse talent and skills, the facilities, and the infrastructure needed for world-leading research. NERC researchers diagnose environmental issues, mitigate risk, and support solutions to major challenges such as air quality and climate change for the UK and beyond.
