U.S.-Philippines Cooperative Research: Investigation into the Populational Structure of the Philippines Seagrasses

该提案要求提供资金，以允许西雅图太平洋大学生物学教授Ronald C.Phillips博士与菲律宾共和国西里曼大学海洋实验室主任Hilconida P.Calumpong博士和Janet Esta ion女士进行为期24个月的研究，一项合作研究计划，旨在评估5种菲律宾海草在各种近岸海岸环境中的适应耐受性、生长速度、形态测量反应和移植成功。将进行海草在不同水深、水盐度、基质质地和海草种类组成的梯度上的相互和共同的花园移植。监测这些试验，以确定初始种植单位的面积范围、叶宽、平均叶/枝数量、叶面积指数、生殖物候和叶绿素含量的变化，为期两年。此外，将在所有5种海草上进行实验室实验，以评估供体地点以及对照、普通和相互移植花园的耐热性和耐寒性。这些实验的数据应该使研究人员能够预测人类活动和自然现象对菲律宾海草的影响，并启动对已受到不利影响的海岸线的有效缓解。菲律宾的海草群落是各种海洋生物的栖息地和繁殖地，这些海洋生物对当地人民具有重要的经济意义。菲律宾人摄取的蛋白质中约有60%是鱼类和贝类，其中大部分来自海草草甸。继续增加活动(疏浚、未经处理的污水、工业废物处理等)浅海环境中的海草已经损害、减少、甚至大量破坏了当地建立的大部分海草种群。希望本项目将有助于菲律宾的海洋保护和沿海管理计划，并减少该国对外国援助的依赖。合作者是这一研究领域备受尊敬的科学家。他们将得到史密森学会的埃尔纳尼·G·梅内斯博士的协助，他将担任顾问。本项目将允许这些科学家将他们的才华和兴趣结合在一起，实现互利共赢。该项目与发展中国家科学计划的目标相关，该计划旨在通过交流科学信息、思想、技能和技术，以及通过在互利问题上的合作，提高美国科学家和工程师与发展中国家同行之间的合作水平。

This proposal requests funds to permit Dr. Ronald C. Phillips, Professor of Biology, Seattle Pacific University, to pursue with Dr. Hilconida P. Calumpong, Director, and Ms. Janet Estacion, Marine Laboratory, Silliman University, Republic of the Philippines, for a period of 24 months, a program of cooperative research to assess the adaptive tolerances, growth rates, morphometric responses, and transplant success of 5 species of Philippine seagrasses in a variety of nearshore coastal environments. Reciprocal and common garden transplants of seagrasses across gradients of water depth, water salinity, substrate textures, and seagrass species compositions will be conducted. Monitoring of these experiments to determine areal extent of the initial planting unit, changes in leaf width, mean number of leaves/shoots, leaf area index, reproductive phenology, and chlorophyll content will be conducted monthly for two years. In addition, laboratory experiments will be conducted on all 5 species of seagrasses to assess ranges of heat and cold tolerances from donor sites, as well as from control, common, and reciprocal transplant gardens. Data from these experiments should allow the researchers to predict the effects of human activity and natural phenomena on Philippine seagrasses and to initiate effective mitigation along coastlines that have become adversely impacted. Seagrass communities in the Philippines serve as habitats and breeding grounds for various marine organisms that are economically important to the local people. About 60% of the Filipinos' protein intake consists of fish and shellfish, much of which comes from seagrass meadows. Continuing increased activity (dredging, untreated sewage, industrial waste disposal, etc.) in the shallow coastal environment has impaired, reduced, and even decimated large portions of locally established seagrass stocks. Hopefully, the present project will contribute to a program of marine conservation and coastal management in the Philippines and reduce that country's dependence on foreign assistance. The collaborators are highly respected scientists in the field of this research. They will be assisted by Dr. Ernani G. Menez, Smithsonian Institution, who will serve as consultant. The present project will allow these scientists to combine their talents and interests for mutual benefit. This project is relevant to the objectives of the Science in Developing Countries Program which seeks to increase the level of cooperation between U.S. scientists and engineers and their counterparts in developing countries through the exchange of scientific information, ideas, skills, and techniques and through collaboration on problems of mutual benefit.