Polar Outreach Catalogue

Changing patterns of microbial diversity along a latitudinal gradient in the Ross Sea are sensitive indicators of climate change. The research will generate a bio-inventory of the micro-organisms in sea ice using both conventional methods and molecular technology, and will quantify abundances to generate community fingerprints for sea ice biodiversity. Each fingerprint will summarise the biodiversity at one of three sites along the coast of the Ross Sea that will allow temporal and geographical comparisons.