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）对生物体微观尺度分布的了解不足；2）缺乏收集天气甚至准天气分类数据的能力。 Davis 博士和合作者建议利用现有技术组装浮游生物视频记录仪 (VPR)，它将测量浮游动物的分布，并以 1-10 节的拖曳速度准实时地识别主要类群（桡足类、毛颌类等），沿轨空间分辨率为 5-30 微米。 然后，他们将使用 VPR 对沿着从伍兹霍尔到马尾藻海的横断线的各种水文状况中的浮游动物的微-中尺度分布进行采样。 这些数据将深入了解各种水文和风力条件下微尺度斑块的普遍性，并将揭示类群内部和类群之间沿着从微米到公里的连续尺度的空间关系。

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.