Marine Biodiversity
and Climate Change
Research Lead – Dr Nova Mieszkowska
The MarClim project is the most spatio-temporally extensive time-series for intertidal systems globally. MarClim surveys track the abundance and distribution of 87 species of invertebrates and macroalgae at 100 sites around the UK Regional Seas and northern France on an annual basis. The project has recorded some of the fastest distributional shifts in leading and trailing range edges of species in any natural system. MarClim is one of the MBA long-term time-series which span over half a century.
This work has been extended to other temperate regions around the world including Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. We are interested in identifying the biological mechanisms and changes in gene expression occuring in invertebrates and macroalgae that underpin the macroecological responses to climate warming and ocean acidification. To develop this line of research the genome of every MarClim species is being sequenced as part of the MBA’s role in the Darwin Tree of Life Project. Current research using combined laboratory and field experiments is investigating how increasing temperatures and ocean acidification are altering reproductive cycles, impacting performance and recruitment, and identifying the effects of climate change on invasive capabilities of non-natives.
Our Research Impacts
Assessing native intertidal biodiversity
MarClim data have been developed as Good Environmental Status indicators for the UK Marine Strategy. These indicators have been designed to assess the ‘maintain native intertidal biodiversity’ target and developed as the UK Intertidal Community Temperature Index (CTI), a measure of the status of a community in terms of its species composition of coldwater (boreal) and warmwater (lusitanian) species. These indicators are used to assess progress against the following target, which is set in the UK Marine Strategy Part 1: Maintain native intertidal biodiversity (HM Government, 2012).
Protecting a Special Area of Conservation
A survey of biological indicators of ecological effects of Tributyltin (TBT) release sometime in 2015 to 2016 in the Yealm Estuary, south Devon by the Marine Biological Association of the UK (MBA) was commissioned by the Environment Agency (EA) on 28th November 2022. The report was used in subsequent legal proceedings which led to a fine for multi-national owned International Paint Ltd. for allowing the banned chemical to enter the Site of Special Scientific Interest designated Yealm estuary in Devon.
Key Publications
Latest Projects
The Marine Biodiversity and Climate Change Project
MarClim has the most spatio-temporally extensive time-series of rocky intertidal systems globally. Eighty seven species of invertebrate and macroalgae of boreal, Lusitanian, and invasive origins are surveyed at one hundred sites around the coastlines of the UK and northern France and surveyed every year. MarClim has shown some of the fastest biogeographic range shifts in response to climate change in any natural system. The data are used by Natural Resources Wales and Natural England and form part of Condition Assessments for MPAs.
The Darwin Tree of Life Project
The Darwin Tree of Life project aims to sequence the genomes of 70,000 species of eukaryotic organisms in Britain and Ireland. It is a collaboration between biodiversity, genomics and analysis partners that is transforming the way we do biology, conservation, and biotechnology. The Darwin Tree of Life Project is one of several initiatives across the globe working towards the ultimate goal of sequencing all complex life on Earth, in a venture known as the Earth BioGenome Project. The Marine Biological Association is the lead Genome Acquisition Laboratory for marine species.
FutureMARES
FutureMARES is an EU-funded research project examining the relations between climate change, marine biodiversity, and ecosystem services. The project’s activities are designed around two Nature-based Solutions (NBS) and one Nature-inclusive Harvesting (NIH). We are conducting our research and cooperating with marine organisations and the public in five regions across the globe. Our goal is to provide science-based policy advice on how best to use NBS/NIH to protect future biodiversity and ecosystem services in a future climate. The MarClim time-series is one of the biological time-series being used in the project.
Our Team
Dr Nova Mieszkowska
Senior Research Fellow
Dr Nova Mieszkowska
Senior Research Fellow
nova@mba.ac.uk
My international research programme focuses on species and ecosystem-level responses to environmental change and multiple stressors in the marine environment, embedding small-scale, process-oriented experimental studies within larger scale macroecological investigations. This approach focuses on individual organisms via experimental physiological ecology and ecological genomics, integrating to the population level with long-term time-series data collection, analysis and modelling to identify mechanisms of species response. I am the principal investigator for the Marine Biodiversity & Climate Change Project (MarClim), which has the most spatio-temporally extensive time-series of rocky intertidal systems globally. MarClim has shown some of the fastest biogeographic range shifts in response to climate change in any natural system. I have also been involved with the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) in various capacities for more than a decade. My science-policy knowledge exchange work includes provision of field survey and monitoring data and assessments of ecosystem status, contributions to national and international policy drivers, authorship on national reports including the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership Annual Report Cards, and presenting to UK government and EU bodies. I have developed indicators of Good Environmental Status for implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive in intertidal and subtidal habitats around the UK.
Patrick Adkins, MRes
Samples Collections Officer.
Patrick Adkins, MRes
Samples Collections Officer.
patadk@mba.ac.uk
I’m a research assistant on the Darwin Tree of Life project who specialises in marine invertebrate identification and collection. Primarily crustacea, echinodermata and various vermiform phyla. I take part in fieldwork and offshore boat work most of the year as well as the processing and preservation of tissues in preparation for genomic work. I am a graduate of Plymouth University courses in Marine Biology and Oceanography (BSc) and Applied Marine science (MRes). The main focus for my MRes thesis was looking at the epifaunal communities living on macroalgae and how they differ between native species and the non-native Sargassum muticum. Before coming to the Marine Biological Association I worked for a year in a benthic laboratory for a consultancy company. My next major goal is to undertake a PhD, potentially to look at the evolution of introduced species in their new ranges when compared to their native ranges, but as someone who is interested in pretty much everything that may change!
Belle Heaton MRes
Research Technician
Belle Heaton MRes
Research Technician
belhea@mba.ac.uk
I am a research technician working mainly with the Coastal Ecology research groups. I work mainly on Nova Mieszkowska’s team, helping with both fieldwork surveys and the processing and identification of marine organisms. I also work as part of the aquarist team to help maintain the condition of the Research Aquarium and ensure good health of the resident marine organisms.
I have previously been on a placement year (2018-2019) during my undergraduate degree (Marine Biology and Oceanography) within the MBA working within the Outreach Team. I was subsequently employed briefly by the MBA (2019) to help promote the opening of the National Marine Park.
I now have an MRes in Applied Marine Science, which focused on the effects of Magallana gigas (Pacific Oysters) on macrobenthic biodiversity within estuaries of the Southwest, UK. I feel extremely lucky to work at the MBA and I wish to further build upon my coastal ecology and taxonomic knowledge. I am intrigued to see how the Pacific Oyster story unfolds within the UK and in the future would potentially pursue further research into the species.
I love going gym, swimming, snorkelling, climbing and hiking so Plymouth has been kind of perfect for me the past few years. I look forward to the new opportunities and surprises that await me within this new job role.
Rebekka Uhl BSc MRes
Research Assistant
Rebekka Uhl BSc MRes
Research Assistant
rebuhl@mba.ac.uk
