Fri, September 30, 2016 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS RESEARCH LABORATORY (AERL). Speaker: Prof. Evgeny Pakhomov, Professor, IOF & Department of EOAS
Location: AERL 120
Abstract: The accepted life cycle of the pelagic tunicate Salpa thompsoni is largely based upon samples collected during the Discovery Expeditions in the beginning of the last century. Analyses of historic and current data have suggested a long-term southward shift in the salp distribution with a subsequent decline of the harvested Antarctic krill population. Previous works have shown that the reproduction of salps may be inhibited at low temperatures (high Antarctic), and there is a question as to how the life cycle of S. thompsoni may have been altered during this southward shift. Most recent sampling provided a unique opportunity to study the life-cycle of salps in the same area across different seasons. An alternative life strategy is proposed for S. thompsoni in the ice covered and marginal ice zones and discussed in light of its implications for the Southern Ocean biological pump.
Biography: Evgeny Pakhomov is a Professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences and a Director of the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. A graduate of the Russian Academy of Sciences, he has more than 30 years of research experience as a biological oceanographer. His research focuses on understanding physical-biological interactions and ecosystem response to climate change or global warming, from the Antarctic to coastal British Columbia and from coastal realms to high seas. His research interests span species ecology (from plankton to fish), ecosystem structure and function, and biochemical coupling. Prof. Pakhomov has disseminated his work in more than 170 publications. He is a recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award, Rhodes University, South Africa; the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Award, Germany; the New Opportunities Fund Award from the Canadian Fund for Innovation; and the Senior Early Career Fellowship from the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at UBC. He has strong links to several laboratories and institutions worldwide, including the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany, the British Antarctic Survey, NIWA in New Zealand, the University of Hawaii, and Rhodes University, South Africa.