Programme presentation

Phase VI

The sixth phase of the Antarctic research programme (2006-2010) is included in the “Science for a Sustainable Development” programme (SSD). This structure ensures interactions with other research domains such as energy, climate, biodiversity and terrestrial and marine ecosystems lying at the basis of a sustainable development policy and will allow positioning of Antarctic research and the role of Antarctica within the global environmental system.

Given the delicate role of Antarctica and the surrounding Southern Ocean as global climate regulators as well as its importance as a unique ecosystem, special attention will be given in the SSD programme to the internationally recognised Belgian research expertise within the fields of ice-dynamics modelling, biogeochemical modelling, food-web dynamics, shelf slope dynamics and marine biodiversity.

The total research budget for Antarctic research in this period will amount to ± 6 MEURO.

The major Antarctica research themes remain climate change and biodiversity:

Climate change:

• Holocene climate variability and ecosystem change in coastal East and Maritime Antarctica (HOLANT) (SD/CA/01A)
• Antarctic Subglacial Processes and Interactions: Role of Transition Zones in Ice Sheet Stability (ASPI) (SD/CA/02A)
• Integrated Study of Southern Ocean Biogeochemistry and Climate Interactions in the Anthropocene (BELCANTO III) (SD/CA/03A)

Biodiversity:

• Antarctic Microbial Biodiversity: The importance of geographical and ecological factors (AMBIO) (SD/BA/01)
• Biodiversity of three representative groups of the Antarctic Zoobenthos - Coping with Change (BIANZO II) (SD/BA/02)

More information about this phase and the projects in general is available via the following publications: -

These publications can be ordered via the "Links & Resources" page.