eabha o'donnell

Project Background: Our oceans are experiencing a period of rapid change in environmental conditions aligned to anthropogenic climate change, with conditions projected to worsen in the near future. The behavioural and physiological responses of these organisms may change the way ecosystems function. We are breeding experimental populations of the marine ragworm Hediste diversicolor over three generations to determine the permanence of responses to changed climate. H. diversicolor is an important bioturbator species, which keeps coastal sediments oxygenated. The goal of this project is to determine differences in the developmental stage of marine ragworms bred under different ocean conditions and whether this affects feeding behaviors across different generations.