Local woman studies cold, cold climate

Berwick native Nann Fangue has seen first-hand how the world’s changing climate is already affecting some of the most sensitive animals as she recently returned from researching fish species in Antarctica, which has the most stable environment on the planet, she says.
Fangue, 37, a 1995 Berwick High School graduate, always wanted to study marine biology so she went to do just that at the University of West Florida on a softball scholarship, she said. Fangue completed her undergraduate and master’s degrees at the University of West Florida.
Fangue is a “fish physiologist” and now an associate professor at the University of California-Davis who runs a lab in the conservation biology department.
Just before Christmas, Fangue returned from doing research in Antarctica. It was her second visit to the continent, having been once before in 2006 as a graduate student. She made her second trip to Antarctica in October, staying for about three months as part of a research team. Fangue stayed at McMurdo Station on Ross Island.
“We were there to study climate change sensitivity in Antarctic fishes,” Fangue said. Many of the fish there are specialized to live at about minus 1.8 degrees Celsius, which is the freezing point of seawater, she said.
Those fish species cannot tolerate change because they have evolved in an extremely cold, stable habitat over millions of years, she said. As climate change occurs, researchers believe these Antarctic fish may be some of the most sensitive animals due to their longtime stable environment.
“We know with 100 percent certainty that CO2 levels in the atmosphere are going up, and we know that that’s because of fossil fuel burning. But what we don’t know is exactly what the implications of increasing CO2s are,” Fangue said.
Fangue participated in experiments exposing animals to future climate scenarios and measuring their physiological responses, she said. Climate change has already begun to affect animals’ seasonal habits in order to match the climate, she said.
“If you are a migrating animal that has to go up north to spend the winter, those animals are doing that sooner because they’re getting off-cycle, Fangue said. The atmosphere is getting warmer and thus winters are getting shorter, she said.
Scientists know that the world is stuck with some form of climate change, but people need to not continue to make it worse, Fangue said. Projections for atmospheric CO2 by the year 2100 will be close to 1,000 parts per million, the amount of CO2 currently in the atmosphere is about 400 parts per million now and 300 parts per million before the industrial revolution began, she said.
“You’re off the chart from anything that has been in a really long time,” Fangue said.
If CO2 levels rise, temperatures also rise. Scientists project a rise in ocean temperatures anywhere from 2 to 6 degrees Celsius by 2100. “It’s especially a lot if you’re an ectotherm,” Fangue said. Many organisms will continue to exist but increasing climate change will cause a lot of organisms with specific habitat requirements to decline in population, she said. The animals that will survive are ones that can tolerate more fluctuations in their environments, she said.
Though people tend to think about very immediate things, when it comes to climate change, they need to think further ahead in the future, Fangue said. “We think about the next four years whereas we need to be thinking about the next 400 years,” Fangue said.
The lab Fangue runs at UC-Davis primarily focuses on conservation and studies fish populations in decline, she said. “In California, water is very limiting. So we’re having one of the worst droughts, if not the worst drought on record now,” Fangue said. California experiences some rain during the winter, then snowmelt from the Sierras, which provide drinking water to all of California, she said. Fangue resides in northern California and water from there is shipped to southern California, she said.
“Water is probably the most precious commodity in California. And it’s really hard to understand that coming from here (Berwick) where water’s all around us,” Fangue said.
Similarly to California, Antarctica is the driest place on earth and snow only rarely falls, she said. About 1,000 people were on the station with 900 support personnel and 100 scientists during the three-month period Fangue visited Antarctica. Fangue likened the station to a “mining town,” but instead of supporting industry, it supports science, she said.
While Fangue was there, a group of about 12 members of Congress visited the station. The researchers showed them many sites to demonstrate how sensitive Antarctica is to cliamte change, she said. Antarctica is unique for climate research because scientists can sample the atmosphere in its purest form, Fangue said. The station is run by the National Science Foundation.
One interesting fish Fangue has studied in Antarctica is call ed the dragonfish. The male and female dragonfish lay eggs on the surface of rocks on the bottom of the ocean and guard the eggs for at least 10 months, Fangue said.
“So they have this huge investment in this brood of eggs they produce,” Fangue said. “Ten months for the development of fish is really long.”
Most temperate-climate fish hatch within several weeks, she said. Researchers are trying to determine whether temperature and CO2 will affect the developmental progression of dragonfish eggs, Fangue said.
If those eggs hatch earlier than 10 months, researchers will explore what would be available for the juvenile dragonfish to eat, Fangue said. “One of the climate change issues is that if everything is not synchronized, in the way that it should be, if all these animals hatch will they have anything to eat?,” Fangue said.
Fangue also studied juvenile Emerald rockcod, which are common in Antarctica, she said. Biologists research whether swimming performance, ability to detect predatory cues and other traits could be affected by climate change factors, Fangue said.
At home in California, Fangue deals with the conflict regarding native fishes who need water and people who want that water for municipal water sources or for agriculture, Fangue said. Her and her students’ research is aimed at determining how to best manage that conflict between the people’s need for the water with allowing for the fishes’ need for that resource, she said.
Lots of the fish species Fangue studies follow salmon life cycle where the fish grow up in the ocean and then return to freshwater to spawn, she said. “They need a certain amount of freshwater flow so that they know how to go, they know where to go,” Fangue said. “When you start taking that water away, they don’t find their way.”
The young fish grow up in fresh water before they go through a process that prepares them to go to sea, she said. “So this life history and any of the fish that have this life history are in jeopardy because of the water crisis,” Fangue said.
Conservation biology is also important in Louisiana with the conflicts of trying to balance people and wildlife needs, she said. “How do you deal with huge storms? How do you deal with saltwater intrusion? How do you deal with loss of marsh?” Fangue said.
“Conservation-related missions really are everywhere because anywhere you have people, you’re going to have conflict with wildlife.”

This story was written by Zachary Fitzgerald of The Daily Review staff. Reach him at zfitzgerald@daily-review.com.