ERC Starting Grant · 2025
Nitrogen cycling in modern sponges with clues about their role in past oceans
Sponges are the oldest metazoans on our planet and can be found in all aquatic environments, from canals in Dutch medieval towns to deep-sea trenches. Nevertheless, we lack a deep understanding of nitrogen (N) cycling processes in sponges from different taxonomic classes. In fact, glass sponges (class Hexactinellida) I collected in the abyssal Central Pacific have a bulk δ15N signal which is inconsistent with their feeding type and trophic level. Due to the large biomass that sponges reach at some sites and their filtration capacity, they can have large impacts on local biogeochemical cycles. Even during earth history, sponges formed assemblages that likely transformed paleoenvironmental…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.