FORCIS | Foraminifera response to Climatic Stress
This document presents the main results of the FRB-CESAB FORCIS group “Foraminifera Response to Climate Stress: Assessing Changes in Calcifying Zooplankton Biodiversity under Multiple Stressors“.
Anthropogenic CO2 emissions cause ocean warming, but also a decrease in the pH of the surface ocean. This ocean acidification affects calcifying marine organisms, which play a key role in the biological pump. Among these organisms, the fossilized shells of planktonic foraminifera represent the most thoroughly documented geological archive of past biodiversity as well as of paleoclimates. Recent changes in planktonic foraminifera assemblages have never been synthesized at the global scale, even though the distribution of these microorganisms has already been impacted.
The FRB-CESAB FORCIS project investigated the response of planktonic foraminifera to climate stress through the analysis of global data since 1910. It aimed to build a database, identify key environmental drivers, and model their past and future responses to global change.
This document summarizes in a few pages the group’s context and objectives, the methods and approaches used, the main findings, as well as the impact for science, society, and both public and private decision-making.
