Marine microorganisms in the Anthropocene era

Marine microbial diversity and function vary spatially and temporally according to their biotic and abiotic environments. As an integral part of this environment, the human species exerts a range of pressures and disturbances on the marine environment, both on a global scale (climate change) and on a local scale (chemical pollution). Continued development in the coastal zone generates numerous forms of pollution, to which marine microorganisms and the communities they form must adapt. Faced with the multiplicity of anthropogenic pressures exerted simultaneously, establishing the hierarchy of natural and anthropogenic constraints on microbial communities and their functions is a major challenge of the Anthropocene, in addition to elucidating the interactions between microbial species and specific chemical contaminants.

Marine microbial diversity and function vary spatially and temporally according to their biotic and abiotic environments. As an integral part of this environment, the human species exerts a range of pressures and disturbances on the marine environment, both on a global scale (climate change) and on a local scale (chemical pollution). Continued development in the coastal zone generates numerous forms of pollution, to which marine microorganisms and the communities they form must adapt. Faced with the multiplicity of anthropogenic pressures exerted simultaneously, establishing the hierarchy of natural and anthropogenic constraints on microbial communities and their functions is a major challenge of the Anthropocene, in addition to elucidating the interactions between microbial species and specific chemical contaminants.

This research will draw on the skills of the OMICS, Eléments biogènes en océanographie and PRECYM platforms, as well as the Radioactivity shared service. The team's expertise in describing microbial diversity and dynamics will form the basis of collaborations with the CEM and EMBIO teams to assess the microbial contribution to contaminant transfers between marine compartments (sediment, water, biota).