ReMarE

Climate and connectivity control the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems, but the impact of combined climate-connectivity changes remains unclear. Studying past ecosystems under diverse conditions helps us evaluate the long-term impacts of environmental changes. The Late Miocene Mediterranean basin is ideal in this respect, because it combined global climate change with the basin’s isolation during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC), which led to extreme conditions and an ecological crisis. The Late Miocene extreme events and the Early Pliocene ‘rebooting’ of the Mediterranean offer an opportunity to study these in the natural laboratory that is the Mediterranean Sea. Intense salinity and temperature fluctuations due to the gradual restriction of the marine gateways between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic started already in the Tortonian, leading to an ecological crisis int he Mediterranean. In this project, focusing on the Late Miocene Mediterranean, we will address the question: What are the long-term impacts of combined climate and connectivity changes on marine ecosystem structure and function?  The ReMarE project (2022-2026) is funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and implemented at the University of Vienna.