Collaborative Research: Salpa Thompsoni in the Southern Ocean: Bioenergetics, Population Dynamics and Biogeochemical Impact

Salps是一种浮游食草动物，其生活史、摄食生物学和种群动态与磷虾、桡足类或其他甲壳类浮游动物截然不同。盐碱地可以出现在覆盖大片地区的非常密集的人口暴增期间，并已被证明由于它们的放牧和快速下沉的粪便颗粒的生产而产生重大影响。虽然公认为南大洋浮游动物群落的主要组成部分，在生物量和分布上往往与磷虾相当，但盐碱地受到的关注相对较少。虽然广泛的抽样记录了南大洋盐分的季节性丰富，但关于决定种群增长和该物种在放牧和颗粒垂直通量中的作用的重要比率的数据很少。这项拟议的研究将包括：测量各种大小的单粒和聚集体的呼吸和排泄率；测量摄入量，包括确定可减少摄取的颗粒的大小或浓度的实验；以及测定单粒和聚集体的生长率。除了各种速率测量外，这项研究还将包括对盐碱地的水平和垂直分布进行定量调查，以确定其生物量和空间分布，并对其影响进行区域评估。还将测量每个地点的水柱的物理特征以及可供盐碱地使用的颗粒食物的数量和质量。卫星图像和有关海冰覆盖的信息将被用来检验有关导致盐分密度高的条件的假设。结果将被用来构建盐碱地种群动态的模型，实验和模拟结果都将在盐碱地所暴露的物理和营养条件的背景下进行解释。这一综合方法将为理解南大洋盐华的生长动态提供良好的基础。该项目将培训两名研究生，并为两名本科生提供巡航和研究经验。将创建一个网站的一部分，允许学生成为研究的虚拟参与者，以加强学生的量化技能。这两个非政府组织将参加教师-研究人员讲习班，并将与一个地区水族馆开展合作，以支持公共教育。

Salps are planktonic grazers that have a life history, feeding biology and population dynamic strikingly different from krill, copepods or other crustacean zooplankton. Salps can occur in very dense population blooms that cover large areas and have been shown to have major impacts due to the their grazing and the production of fast-sinking fecal pellets. Although commonly acknowledged as a major component of the Southern Ocean zooplankton community, often comparable in biomass and distribution to krill, salps have received relatively little attention. Although extensive sampling has documented the seasonal abundance of salps in the Southern Ocean, there is a paucity of data on important rates that determine population growth and the role of this species in grazing and vertical flux of particulates. This proposed study will include: measurements of respiration and excretion rates for solitary and aggregate salps of all sizes; measurements of ingestion rates, including experiments to determine the size or concentration of particulates that can reduce ingestion; and determination of growth rates of solitaries and aggregates. In addition to the various rate measurements, this study will include quantitative surveys of salp horizontal and vertical distribution to determine their biomass and spatial distribution, and to allow a regional assessment of their effects. Measurements of the physical characteristics of the water column and the quantity and quality of particulate food available for the salps at each location will also be made. Satellite imagery and information on sea-ice cover will be used to test hypotheses about conditions that result in high densities of salps. Results will be used to construct a model of salp population dynamics, and both experimental and modeling results will be interpreted within the context of the physical and nutritional conditions to which the salps are exposed. This integrated approach will provide a good basis for understanding the growth dynamics of salp blooms in the Southern Ocean. Two graduate students will be trained on this project, and cruise and research experience will be provided for two undergraduate students. A portion of a website allowing students to be a virtual participant in the research will be created to strengthen students' quantitative skills. Both PI's will participate in teacher-researcher workshops, and collaboration with a regional aquarium will be developed in support of public education.