Third party funded individual grant
Acronym: Z-Projekt
Start date : 01.12.2019
End date : 30.11.2022
Website: https://cnidaria.nat.uni-erlangen.de/wp/
TERSANE is dedicated to elucidating the consequences of ancient, non-anthropogenic global change with the aim to project the consequences of anthropogenic climate change on organisms and ecosystems. Our overarching hypothesis is that the impact of climate-related stressors (CRS) that were associated with past marine biological crises may serve as analogues for the future ocean. Success of the still ongoing initial phase of TERSANE and outstanding questions lead us to apply for a renewal: TERSANE 2.0. Our own previous work and independent new developments necessitate emphasizing in phase 2 of TERSANE: Spatial patterns, biogeochemical cycles, mechanism-based understanding, and modeling.
TERSANE 2 will have nine projects, which are organized in three tightly connected research pillars each comprising three projects
1. Identifying CRS across the Permian-Triassic boundary
Spatiotemporal patterns of CRS impacts
3. Bridging spatiotemporal scales
Pillar 1 will use geochemical proxies and earth system modeling to reveal the exact environmental changes across the largest hyperthermal event and mass extinction of the Phanerozoic. Projects will target nutrient and carbon cycles, continental weathering, and the intensity of causes of anoxia. Temperature, CO2 and pH have already been addressed in phase 1.
Pillar 2 explores the spatial pattern of CRS impacts in a time series context. Here paleobiological methods and modeling are applied. Projects focus on temperature change as a trigger of range shifts and extinction. Each project will also emphasize patterns across the Permian-Triassic boundary linking to pillar 1.
Pillar 3 is dedicated to probing the role of spatiotemporal scales on CRS impacts. We hypothesize that physiological data provide the mechanistic understanding for CRS responses on multiple time scales. Consequently, we link physiological experiments, body size dynamics across multiple time scales and organismic-ecosystem fates in this pillar. Projects in this pillar are tightly linked to both pillars 1 and 2.