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Some personal comments and impressions from Gian Marco Luna
(Original text; in an interview-like manner)
What was your role/work during the cruise?
“I was embarked as a marine microbiologist, to investigate the prokaryotic biodiversity in the deep-sea sediments of the Sardinia Channel and to link this diversity to fundamental ecosystem deep-sea functions, such as organic matter degradation, biomass secondary production and the carbon cycling.”
What is the most important outcome from a more personal perspective?
“The atmosphere onboard was friendly and collaborative, thus creating a very nice working environment. This, indeed, was also favoured by the entire R/V Urania staff, including the crew.”
… and the outcome from your professional point of view?
“I expect to obtain interesting results from the samples collected, which are currently being analysed in our laboratories. The results hopefully will allow a better comprehension of the prokaryotic biodiversity patterns in the deep-sea, which, conversely to those refereed to most other marine organisms, are still poorly known. This lack of knowledge also hampers to predict if a loss of biodiversity (which has been documented for most terrestrial and marine ecosystems) can have consequences on the functioning of the entire Ocean.”
Which difficulties did you have and/or which limits did you experience?
“I found some difficulties in obtaining all the sediment samples I have planned to collect during the cruise. This was attributable to problems occurring to the sampling device (i.e. the box-corer) we had onboard. However, most problems were resolved with the precious hand of the R/V Urania crew.”
Something else you have in mind that could be of interest for the wider public?
“I think the public should be more informed about the deep-sea environments and their importance on the biosphere, due to their extension (ca. 69% of the Earth surface), the high biodiversity they host and the role they play on the functioning of the global Earth ecosystem. The public should also be informed about the increasing anthropogenic disturbance on these ecosystems, in order to make more people (including the decision-makers) aware about the fragility of these ecosystems and the need to start conservation programs or to fund research programs.”
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