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PROJECT

Description of the project

Acronym
Benthic biodiversity - function and toxicology of selected key Arctic organisms
Title
Benthic biodiversity - function and toxicology of selected key Arctic organisms
Objectives
The project therefore has two components:Part I: Function and bioturbat ion of adult benthic faunaPart II: Ecotoxicology and sensitivity of larval stages to oil compounds and dispersants
Start year
2007
End year
2009
Funding programme
Norway - National programme
Coordinator institution
Akvaplan-niva - Akvaplan-niva AS (Norway)
Coordinator email
sabine.cochrane@akvaplan.niva.no
Coordinator country
Norway
Summary
The programme focuses on benthic fauna in Arctic waters around Svalbard. We address the increasing concern about potential oil spills in Arctic waters from shipping (such as coal transport from Svalbard) and offshore oil and g as exploitation in the Barents Sea. Potential contamination will affect biological activity at the sea floor and in the water column, larval stages of benthic organisms are at risk. The project therefore has two components:Part I: Function and bioturbat ion of adult benthic faunaPart II: Ecotoxicology and sensitivity of larval stages to oil compounds and dispersants.Part I: Function and bioturbation of adult benthic fauna. By using radioisotope and fluorescent tracers, we examine the particle transport behaviour of three types of faunal communities and individual organisms, each representing different environmental conditions. The results will give input to ecological models, and will allow us to build hypotheses of a) how vulnerable different types of faunal community are to disturbance and b) how contaminants may behave in sediments dominated by different types of organisms.Part II: Ecotoxicology and sensitivity of larval stages to oil compounds and dispersants. Using live larvae sampled from Adven tfjorden on Svalbard, a series of ecotoxicology experiments are carried out to investigate the vulnerability of polychaete larvae to oil compounds and dispersants.