Polar Night eco-physiology, and eco-evolutionary dynamics of the kelp Saccharina latissima

Abstract

For primary producers, the suitability of the High Arctic (~ 80 °N) as habitat depends on their capacity to survive the long-term absence of light during the Polar Night. During the Climate Crisis, it now strongly depends on their capacity to adapt to the combined threat of rise in temperature and prolonged darkness during the Polar Night. This thesis addresses, mainly for the kelp Saccharina latissima, eco-physiological as well as transcriptomic aspects of rising temperature during Polar Night. For a more holistic impression of the adaptive capacity, it further provides a comparative epigenetic assessment of the nuclear and chloroplast genome regarding dynamics of eco-evolution in this kelp. Results obtained during this dissertation provide a solid interdisciplinary data complex on two topics where data have been severely missing for (High Arctic) kelp. They have already been incorporated into a scientific book (Berge et al 2020, see references within this work), and have laid the foundation for a completely new branch of research on kelp (priming). In conclusion, this dissertation contributes important knowledge gains for a more holistic understanding of (High Arctic) eco-evolutionary processes during the current biodiversity crisis in the wake of this Climate Crisis, and a possible counteraction method.