Cross-disciplinary connectivity assessment of Antarctic amphipods to enhance conservation management in the Southern Ocean

Polar ecosystems harbour a unique cold-adapted biodiversity that is threatened by environmental change and increasing anthropogenic impact. Environmental and biological information being scant, multiscale data on connectivity and adaptation are essential for the conservation management of biodiversity. Three key features of connectivity are important in this context: 1) geographic connectivity, 2) environmental connectivity, and 3) genetic connectivity. While knowledge on geographic bio-regionalisation is fairly well-advanced, in-depth estimates of environmental and genetic connectivity need further development. Here, ecological niche models and population genomic approaches complement each other to advance the understanding of spatial connectivity in key benthic Antarctic organisms. Connectivity is investigated at ecological and evolutionary scales of selected crustaceans. While some specimen and tissue collections are available, they will be complemented by additional sampling in the Eastern part of the Southern Ocean. Genetic variability with putative functional importance and estimates of longterm population viability will be assessed under the current situation and IPCC scenarios of climate change. The information from genomic methods will be integrated in ecological niche modelling at the habitat and population level. The results are expected to advance our understanding of the spatial and functional distribution of biological variation in the Southern Ocean