The Distributional Ecology of Antarctic Seals

9403672 Siniff将在1994年2月和3月期间在阿蒙森海和别令斯豪森海进行一次海洋考察，同时对南极海豹的生态进行一项研究。海洋学的目标和巡航轨道的设计提供了一个无与伦比的机会来调查该地区的海豹种群。最近一个关于南极海豹的国际研讨会已经确定了这些顶级捕食者对南大洋碳通量的潜在重要性。这次研讨会提出了一些问题，以解决关于海豹在浮冰生态系统中的作用的假设。这次航行将有助于收集以下九个重要研究问题之一的数据：“浮冰海豹分布变化的原因和规模是什么？”由于这次巡航是多学科性质的，因此将收集有关海洋学参数的数据，以及鸟类数量，这将使分析成为可能，从而深入了解功能关系，从而了解分布模式变化的原因。海豹研究将收集密度和分布数据，以及用于南极地区基因比较的组织样本。＊＊＊

9403672 Siniff A study of the ecology of Antarctic seals will be conducted in conjunction with a physical oceanography cruise that will take place in the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas during February and March 1994. The objectives of the oceanography and design of the cruise track offers an unparalleled opportunity to investigate the region's seal populations. A recent international workshop on Antarctic seals has identified these top level predators as potentially important in the carbon flux of the Southern Ocean. This workshop posed questions to address hypotheses regarding the seals' roles in the pack ice ecosystem. This cruise will help collect data on one of these nine important research questions: "What are the causes and scale of variation in the distribution of pack ice seals?" Since the cruise is multidisciplinary in nature, there will be data collected on oceanographic parameters, as well as bird abundance which will make possible analyses to give insight into functional relationships and hence causes of variations in distributional patterns. The seal studies will collect data on densities and distribution, as well as tissue samples for genetic comparisons among regions of the Antarctic. ***