The IPEV program PROTEKER aims at the establishment of such a submarine observatory consisting in multi-disciplinary research: oceanographic, benthic habitat mapping and inventories, genetic, eco-physiological, and trophic analyses. In addition, the program also aims at providing with scientific criteria the managers in charge of protection and conservation policies (TAF National Nature Reserve)

Beurier, J.-P.

David, R.

De Ridder, C.

Dubois, P.

Feral, J.-P.

González-Wevar, C.A.

Marschal, C.

Marty, G.

Motreuil, S.

Poulin, E.

Roca, J.-C.

Saucède, T.

Open Marine Archive

457 
 
S22: Horizons of change 
A new submarine observatory of the Sub-Antarctic coastal benthos 
facing climate change in Kerguelen Islands 
Féral Jean-Pierre1, Jean-Pierre Beurier2, Romain David1, Chantal De Ridder3, Philippe Dubois3, Claudio 
A. Gonzalez-Wevar4, Christian Marschal1, Gilles Marty5, Sébastien Motreuil6, Elie Poulin7, Jean-Claude 
Roca8 and Thomas Saucède6 
1 Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie marine et continentale-IMBE, UMR, AMU/CNRS/ 
IRD/UAPV 7263, Station Marine d’Endoume, 13007 Marseille, France 
E-mail: jean-pierre.feral@imbe.fr  
2 Centre de droit maritime et océanique, Université de Nantes, Nantes, France 
3 Laboratoire de Biologie Marine, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium 
4 Universidad de Magallanes (UMAG), Bulnes 01890, Punta Arenas, Chile 
5 Réserve Naturelle Nationale des Terres Australes Françaises, Saint Pierre, Ile de la Réunion, France 
6 UMR 6282 Biogéosciences, Univ. Bourgogne Franche-Comté, CNRS, Dijon, France  
7 Lab. de Ecología Molecular, Inst. de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile 
8 UPMC/CNRS, Service plongée, Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls-sur-Mer, France  
 
In the current context of climate change, variations in sea surface temperature, sea level change, 
and latitudinal shifts of currents and hydrological fronts are expected to affect marine biodiversity 
of the Sub-Antarctic Islands located near the Polar Front, such as the Kerguelen Islands, particularly 
in coastal waters. Characterizing the impact of these changes on sub-Antarctic biota and 
ecosystems requires recording environmental changes through the establishment of long-term in 
situ monitoring. The IPEV program PROTEKER aims at the establishment of such a submarine 
observatory consisting in multi-disciplinary research: oceanographic, benthic habitat mapping and 
inventories, genetic, eco-physiological, and trophic analyses. In addition, the program also aims at 
providing with scientific criteria the managers in charge of protection and conservation policies 
(TAF National Nature Reserve). Sampling sites of previous oceanographic programs focused on the 
Kerguelen Islands were revisited during summer campaigns. Among eighteen coastal sites explored 
through scuba diving, eight were selected for monitoring, as representative of the Kerguelen sub-
Antarctic marine habitats, and were progressively equipped with sensors and settlement plots. ROV 
observations and beam trawling (50 and 100m) have also been conducted for contextualization. 
Eight sites in the Morbihan Bay [4], in the North [2] and in the South [2] of the Kerguelen Islands are 
monitored using photo and video surveys, temperature loggers installed at 5 and 15m depth, and 
settlement plots at about 10m depth. Temperature data have been recovered yearly since 2011 at 
some sites. Biodiversity found on settlement plots will be characterized yearly through morphology 
and DNA techniques. Phylogeographical studies of target taxa within molluscs, crustaceans, 
echinoderms, and fish are being conducted to improve our knowledge of endemicity and 
connectivity levels among sub-Antarctic islands. In addition, our knowledge of sub-Antarctic life and 
of its potential resilience to environmental changes will be improved by trophic analyses and eco-
physiological experiments performed in situ. The originality of the PROTEKER observatory consists 
of (1) the nature of the investigated region [Sub-Antarctic zone], (2) the large spatial scale of the 
observing system (8 permanent monitored sites with different environmental conditions of open 
sea, sheltered bays, and fjord), (3) the experiment duration [over 8 years], (4) the dynamic approach 
to characterize the colonization process, (5) the double approach including taxonomic and 
metagenomics analyses, (6) the fact that the monitored sites and data in open, interoperable and 
reusable formats will also be used for other scientific programs, hereby the submarine observatory 
truly making sense. 
 
References  
- Féral J.-P., Saucède T., Poulin E., Marschal C., Marty G., Roca J.-C., Motreuil S., Beurier J.-P. 2016. 
PROTEKER: implementation of a submarine observatory at the Kerguelen islands (Southern Ocean). 
Underwater Technology 34(1): 1-8, doi: 10.3723/ut.34.000 
- González-Wevar C.A., Hüne M., Rosenfeld S., Saucède T., Féral J.-P., Poulin E. 2016 Patterns of 
genetic diversity and structure in Antarctic and Subantarctic Nacella (Patellogastropoda: 
Nacellidae) species. Biodiversity doi: 10.1080/14888386.2016.1181573 
  


A new submarine observatory of the Sub-Antarctic coastal benthos facing climate change in Kerguelen Islands

Féral, Jean-Pierre

Beurier, Jean-Pierre

David, Romain

De Ridder, Chantal

Dubois, Philippe

GonzáLez-Wevar, Claudio Alejandro

Marschal, Christian

Marty, Gilles

Motreuil, Sébastien

Poulin, Elie

Roca, Jean-Claude

Saucède, Thomas

ZENODO

NEUROSURGERY ENTHUSIASTIC WOMEN SOCIETY

International audienceThe IPEV program PROTEKER aims at the establishment of such a submarine observatory consisting in multi-disciplinary research: oceanographic, benthic habitat mapping and inventories, genetic, eco-physiological, and trophic analyses. In addition, the program also aims at providing with scientific criteria the managers in charge of protection and conservation policies (TAF National Nature Reserve)

de Ridder, Chantal

González-Wevar, Claudio Alejandro

HAL-uB

A new submarine observatory of the Sub-Antarctic coastal benthos facing climate change in Kerguelen Islands

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Open Marine Archive

ZENODO

NEUROSURGERY ENTHUSIASTIC WOMEN SOCIETY

HAL-uB