THE PLANS!
WP1 : COORDINATION and MANAGEMENT (responsible CEBC and WILD TOUCH)
This WP is dedicated to the coordination of the project, the external relationship with BNP-Paribas foundation, with host institutions of the team members, with the French Polar Institute (IPEV), and with the French Overseas Territories Administration (TAAF). WP1 is also dedicated to the implementation of the actions for the dissemination of SENSEI’s research outputs and activities to a wide public audience.
The fantastic sceneries of polar environments offer stunning images with iconic species and extraordinary stories.
A southern elephant seal turned into an oceanographer, carrying a data recording device on its head. (credit: C. Guinet)
WP2: PREDATOR FORAGING AND SEA ICE PROCESSES (responsible CEBC and LOCEAN)
We will investigate the processes linking local sea-ice conditions to prey availability and foraging performances of the studied species. To do so, we will use a combination of state-of-the-art, miniaturized data recording devices customized for each species. Besides classical GPS/Argos trackers or diving activity recorders, we will also collect in situ data on ice characteristics using novel sonar devices for acoustic and optical measurements of ice thickness and sea-ice biomass. Diving predators will thus act as mobile samplers of under-ice properties.
WP3: PREDATOR DEMOGRAPHY AND SEA ICE PROCESSES (responsible CEBC and WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION)
We will explore the relationships between foraging and demographic parameters, and sea-ice variability to build more realistic predictive population models of the eco-indicating species based on IPCC scenarios of sea-ice change. We will use data collected by long-term monitoring programs managed by the project’s consortium to develop comprehensive climate-dependent, stage-structured matrix population models. These models will allow quantifying the respective effects of sea-ice and other known-stressors on the population growth using perturbation analysis.
Snow petrels and black guillemots have been studied using capture-mark-recapture for several decades. (credit: C. Barbraud and G. Divoky)
Using physiological (hormones), mathematical (fractal) and population trends, we will produce eco-indicators of the sea ice ecosystem.
WP4: INDICATORS OF SEA ICE CHANGES (responsible CEBC and McGILL UNIVERSITY)
We will build a suite of indicators of sea-ice ecosystem changes, ranging from physiological indices (stress hormones as a gauge of the environmental conditions), behavioural indices (complexity of foraging activities measured through fractal index and proxies of foraging success) to longer term population indices (demographic parameters and population trends). We will benefit from the analyses outputs of WP 1 and 2, and from the expertise of the project’s team.
We use a common statistical framework to confront in-situ and satellite based sea-ice characteristics, foraging and demographic performances of top predators so as to be able to compare the respective effects of sea-ice variability on the different predator species and polar ecosystems.