[LUM#16] And so it melts, melts, melts…

[LUM Magazine] - Published on July 4, 2022 in Science and Society

There is life on glaciers. This cryobiodiversity—which remains largely unknown—may well disappear before it has revealed all its secrets. As they retreat further and further, glaciers are inexorably fading away. The “Life without Ice” project aims to understand this phenomenon in all its dimensions.

Birds, insects, crustaceans, algae, fungi, viruses, bacteria, and even tardigrades. Welcome… to the ice. An unexpected reservoir of life that still holds mysteries: “Many of the species that make up this cryobiodiversity have yet to be described, ” explains Olivier Dangles*. But time is running out, because this extreme biodiversity is in peril. The cause: the loss of its habitat, a symbolic victim of climate change. In half a century, glaciers around the world have lost 9,000 billion metric tons of ice—equivalent to three times the volume of ice in the European Alps each year. “After using terms like ‘retreat’ or ‘recession’ in recent decades to describe glacial dynamics, we must now explore a new lexical field: that of extinction, ” laments the researcher at the Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology. By 2100, the total mass of the world’s glaciers will have decreased by 35% to 55%.

And because some of the species that make up this cryobiodiversity live only on glaciers—and nowhere else—they will go extinct along with them. “Several dozen glaciers around the world have already disappeared, along with the endemic species they once harbored, ” the ecologist explains. This melting ice also impacts ecosystems up to several dozen kilometers downstream, such as plants that thrive in snowfields or live in wetland environments. “Furthermore, glaciers provide water and mineral salts that are essential for life, ” explains the researcher.

However, the ecological, physical, and social consequences of the global disappearance of glaciers remain poorly understood. “Despite the urgency, no transdisciplinary study has been conducted to date, ” notes Olivier Dangles. So, to gain a better understanding of this biodiversity destined to disappear—and to better grasp the phenomenon as a whole—the researcher is participating in the “Life without Ice” project led by the IRD and INRAE. “The goal is to bring together scientists from different backgrounds and scientific disciplines to study glacier melt and its consequences.”

This project will shed more light on this famous cryobiodiversity, particularly by identifying changes in habitats, but also by cataloging threatened species and those that might be able to adapt. It’s an ambitious goal that leaves no one indifferent, even though “it’s likely that this cryobiodiversity will disappear before it has revealed all its secrets, ” fears Olivier Dangles.

* CEFE (UM CNRS – IRD – EPHE)

Keywords: Climate, Environment, LUM#16, Research, Company