THE SCIENTIFIC SAILBOAT TARA SAILS FROM FRANCE TO INVESTIGATE THE MARINE MICROBIOME OFF THE COAST OF CHILE

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The French TARA Oceans Foundation, in collaboration with a consortium of 36 International Institutions and 9 Chilean Institutions, launched in December 2020 a three-year mission dedicated to researching the marine microbiome, which will unite the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in a long-term campaign. term (2021-2023). For almost two years, Tara will travel 70,000 kilometers in the South Atlantic, along the coasts of Chile and up to Antarctica.

The first part of this expedition will travel the entire Chilean coast between February and May 2021, then Antarctica between November and December 2021, with specific work on climate change, developed through the CEODOS Program promoted by a consortium of centers of excellence. in Chile and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

The importance of the ocean for the climate and its sensitivity to global change is already evident, but the knowledge we have about the climate impacts on the microbiome is still limited. Marine ecosystems not only regulate temperature and climate, but also absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, one of the main greenhouse gases. However, the ocean is also changing as a product of climate change, with various impacts such as loss of biodiversity, acidification, deoxygenation, among others.

With the Tara Microbiomes Mission and the CEODOS Program, the main centers of excellence in marine science in Chile (COPAS Sur Austral, INCAR, IDEAL, CIEP, CRG, CMM, LIA MAST, CR2 and INRIA-Chile) will carry out an integrated observation and multidisciplinary of the Chilean Ocean, with its 120,827 km2 of territorial sea, a true natural laboratory of the effects of climate change on the ocean. A large group of centers of excellence in biology, marine science, genomics, mathematics, and artificial intelligence will work together to provide an initial assessment of plankton diversity (from zooplankton to viruses), with state-of-the-art oceanographic, genomic and bioinformatics aspects. , to quantify the physiological state of the organisms responsible for the absorption of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the ocean.

With almost 200 scientists involved through the Tara-GOSEE research federation and the CEODOS program in Chile, the team will also be interested in the mechanisms and responses of the microbiome in the context of the main climatic phenomena in the area (fertilization of the oceans by rivers and icebergs; microplastic pollution), and also in the expanding oxygen-deprived bodies of water, which lie off the coast of Chile.

“In general, this mission will provide a more detailed understanding of the main mechanisms that link the microbiome and the climate throughout the coast of Chile. The CEODOS program is a long-term initiative that seeks to monitor the Chilean ocean every 5 years and thus continue its transition towards the new normal brought about by global change ”, explains Camila Fernández, from the University of Concepción and the CNRS (main body
of French research), and co-coordinator of the Mission in Chile.

“At the beginning of the decade of ocean sciences, CEODOS and TARA, like the Go-SEE and associated OceanIA projects, represent a historic opportunity to promote robust and multidisciplinary monitoring of marine biodiversity in Chile, with the large amount of biological data , physicochemical and environmental associated with this ocean microbiome, we have the opportunity to generate unique models and information to understand the relationship between Ocean-Climate-Biodiversity in a quantitative way and to be an increasingly robust support for decision-making ”, assures Alejandro Maass, director of the Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM) of the University of Chile and the CNRS, and co-coordinator of the mission in Chile.

Throughout the mission, and according to the evolution of the health rules on COVID19 in each region of Chile, the public will be able to follow the human and scientific adventure on the digital platforms of the TARA Foundation and the Chilean scientific institutes and centers and Franco-Chilean, with specific reports and materials on the ocean-climate nexus, blue carbon and the protection of Antarctica.

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