GLOBEC: Microzooplankton in the Northern California Current System

小型浮游动物是200克大小的食草生物，在海洋中上层食物网中起着核心作用，是浮游植物的重要消费者，也是大型浮游动物的主要食物来源。PI将根据CCS长期观测计划（LTOP）收集的物理、化学和生物数据，提供GLOBEC加利福尼亚洋流系统（CCS）中微型浮游动物种群的详细信息。他们将记录CCS中微型浮游动物原生生物分布的时间（季节性和年际）和空间（沿海和从海岸到近海）变化。研究的具体目标是：(1)对1997年9月强厄尔尼诺期间和1998年9月厄尔尼诺事件缓和后俄勒冈州纽波特（NH）线附近海域的浮游动物种群进行回顾性分析；(2)2003年9月前作为LTOP计划的一部分，对CCS的浮游动物种群进行季节性/区域性采样；3)根据LTOP巡航收集的环境参数分析微浮游动物种群的空间和年际变化；4)估计微浮游动物的潜在食草率，以及微浮游动物作为中浮游动物食物资源的意义，用于CCS食物网模型。数据将包括微型浮游动物一般分类群的丰度和碳生物量，以及原始食物液泡中摄入猎物的观察和混合营养纤毛虫的丰度。小型浮游动物存量的回顾性分析结果，以及2000-2003年LTOP巡游期间我们的抽样计划的结果，将被处理、存档，并在数据可用时分发给其他GLOBEC调查人员。本研究结果将为CCS生态系统建模者提供重要数据，并将在CCS和阿拉斯加海岸湾（CGOA）生态系统动态的比较中具有价值。

Microzooplankton, grazing organisms 200 gm in size, have a central role in marine pelagic food webs and are significant consumers of phytoplankton and a major food resource for larger zooplankton. The PI's will provide detailed information on microzooplankton stocks in the GLOBEC California Current System (CCS), in the context of physical, chemical, and biological data collected in the CCS Long Term Observation Program (LTOP). They will document temporal (seasonal and interannual) and spatial (along-shore and from coast to offshore) variability in distribution of microzooplanktonic protists in the CCS. The specific objectives of the research are: 1) Retrospective analysis of microzooplankton stocks in the CCS from samples collected along the Newport (NH) line off Oregon in September 1997 during a strong El Nino, and in September 1998 after relaxation of the El Nino event, 2) Seasonal/regional sampling of microzooplankton stocks in the CCS as part of the LTOP program through September 2003, 3) Analysis of spatial and interannual variability in microzoo-plankton stocks with respect to environmental parameters collected as part of the LTOP cruises, and 4) Estimating potential rates of herbivory by microzooplankton, and significance of microzooplankton as a food resource for mesozooplankton, for use in CCS food web models. Data will include abundance and carbon biomass of general taxonomic groups of microzooplankton, and observations of ingested prey in protist food vacuoles and of the abundance of mixotrophic ciliates. Results from the retrospective analysis of microzooplankton standing stocks, and from our sampling program during the LTOP cruises in 2000-2003 will be processed, archived and disseminated to other GLOBEC investigators as the data become available. The results of this study will provide important data for CCS ecosystem modelers, and will also be valuable in comparisons of CCS and Coastal Gulf of Alaska (CGOA) ecosystem dynamics.