RECTO project (Refugia and Ecosystem Tolerance in the Southern Ocean) will strive at understanding how past climatic events, such as glaciation, have driven diversification and adaptation in different animal groups in the Southern Ocean.

Because of its long history and geographic isolation, the Southern Ocean provides a natural laboratory for research on evolution and biodiversity. Confronted with fast-paced environmental changes, biota in Antarctic ecosystems are however strongly challenged.

RECTO will strive at understanding how past climatic events, such as glaciation, have driven diversification and adaptation in different animal groups in this region. The conclusion could then be applied as proxies to understand the contemporary situation and predict future scenarios.

This project is led by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, and involves ULB’s Marine Biology Lab (Faculty of Sciences), as well ad the ULg, UGent, KUL, VUB, the Musée national d'histoire naturelle (France), Université de Bourgogne, The British Antarctic Survey (UK) and Iodine sprl.

End of the project: 15/03/2020

Dates
Created on August 29, 2018