Victoria Land Latitudinal Gradient Project: Benthic Marine Habitat Characterization

该奖项是南极多国多学科项目维多利亚陆地纬度梯度项目(VLLGP)的一部分，该项目包括来自意大利南极研究计划(PNRA)和南极新西兰研究计划(ANZ)的科学家。VLLGP的总体目标是采用纬度梯度的方法来研究南极洲维多利亚陆地的生态系统。加州州立大学蒙特利湾海底测绘实验室(SFML)的工作人员将参加2004年1月期间在R/V Italica号上进行的为期20天的PNRA巡航。意大利/美国合作的具体目标是：1)确定与纬度有关的环境梯度，并将维多利亚陆地海岸的社区过渡与气候、地貌和海洋特征联系起来；2)确定具有代表性的生物的生化、生理和其他适应性反应；3)对生物多样性模式进行量化，并检验海洋组合随纬度“逐渐浮现”的假设；以及4)利用与陡峭环境梯度有关的生物变化来预测气候变化的潜在影响。SFML的作用将是利用高分辨率声学遥感(多波束和侧扫声纳)和空间数据建模工具，确定和描述从0-200米水深沿坡度方向的海底生境和物种/生境组合。如果要沿着纬度梯度进行有效的群落比较，每个研究区域内生境类型的准确测绘和分类对于选择可比较的采样点至关重要。由于罗斯海海岸横跨南极最长的纬度梯度之一(15度)，这项研究为预测和建立基线提供了一个独特的机会，以检测环境和社区对全球变化和人为干扰的反应。这项工作的更广泛影响不仅包括努力促进来自不同学科和国家项目的科学家之间的研究、后勤和数据管理合作；而且还将为本科生提供参与研究的机会。

This award is part of a multi-national and multidisciplinary program in Antarctica, the Victoria Land Latitudinal Gradient Project (VLLGP), that includes scientists from both the Italian Antarctic Research Program (PNRA) and the Antarctica New Zealand research program (ANZ). The overall goal of the VLLGP is to take a latitudinal gradient approach to ecosystem studies in Victoria Land, Antarctica. Personnel from the California State University Monterey Bay Seafloor Mapping Lab (SFML) will participate in a 20-day PNRA cruise on the R/V Italica during January 2004. The specific goals of the Italian/U.S. collaboration are to: 1) identify the environmental gradients linked to latitude and to relate community transitions along the Victoria Land Coast to climatic, geomorphologic and oceanographic features;. 2) identify biochemical, physiological and other adaptive responses of representative organisms;. 3) quantify biodiversity patterns and test the hypothesis of "progressive emergence" of marine assemblages with latitude; and 4) use biotic changes associated with steep environmental gradients to predict potential effects of climate change. The role of the SFML will be to use high-resolution acoustic remote sensing (multibeam and sidescan sonar) and spatial data modeling tools in the identification and characterization of benthic habitats and species/habitat associations along the gradient from 0-200 m water depth. Accurate mapping and classification of habitat types within each study area will be critical to the selection of comparable sampling sites if valid community comparisons are to be made along the latitudinal gradient. Since the Ross Sea coast extends across one of the longest latitudinal gradients in the Antarctic (15 degrees), this study offers a unique opportunity for predicting and establishing a baseline to detect environmental and community responses to global change and anthropogenic disturbance. The broader impacts of this work include not only efforts to foster research, logistic and data management collaborations among scientists from different disciplinesand national programs; but will also provide the opportunity for undergraduate students to participate in the research.