Rapid Underway Measurement of Zooplankton Micro-Patchiness, Taxonomic Composition, and Size Structure

海洋浮游动物生态学的两个基本问题是：1)对生物微观尺度分布的认识不足；2)缺乏收集天气性甚至准天气性分类资料的能力。戴维斯博士及其合作者建议利用现有技术组装一个视频浮游动物记录仪（VPR），以1-10节的拖曳速度，沿轨道空间分辨率为5-30微米，准实时测量浮游动物的分布，并将其识别为主要分类群（桡足类，毛齿类等）。然后，他们将使用VPR在从伍兹霍尔到马尾藻海的横断面线上，对各种水文制度下的浮游动物的微中尺度分布进行采样。这些数据将提供在不同水文和风条件下微尺度斑块的普遍性的见解，并将揭示在从微米到公里的连续尺度上分类群内部和之间的空间关系。

Two fundamental problems in marine zooplankton ecology are 1) poor understanding of the micro-scale distribution of organisms and 2) lack of ability to collect synoptic or even quasi-synoptic taxonomic data. Dr. Davis and collaborators propose to assemble a Video Plankton Recorder (VPR), from available technology, which will measure the distribution of zooplankton and identify them to major taxa (copepods, chaetognaths, etc) in quasi-real-time at towing speeds of 1-10 knots with along-track spatial resolution of 5-30 um. They will then use the VPR to sample micro-meso-scale distributions of zooplankton in a wide variety of hydrographic regimes along a transect line from Woods Hole to the Sargasso Sea. These data will provide insights into the prevalence of micro-scale patchiness under various hydrographic and wind conditions and will reveal the spatial relationships within and among taxa along a continuum of scales from microns to kilometers.