International Research Fellowship Program: Spatial and Interannual Variability in the Zooplankton Community of the Scotian Shelf

050225约翰逊国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到二十四个月的研究。该计划的奖励为联合研究提供了机会，并利用独特或互补的设施、专业知识和国外的实验条件。该奖项将支持Catherine L. Johnson博士与Erica J. H. Head博士在加拿大达特茅斯贝德福德海洋学研究所进行为期22个月的研究。海洋生态系统中的浮游动物在浮游初级生产者和更高营养水平的生物（如鱼类、海鸟和海洋哺乳动物）之间提供了重要的联系。浮游动物丰度的变化似乎与许多海洋地区的气候变化有关，但推动这些关系的机制尚不清楚。本研究的目的是确定控制西北大西洋苏格兰大陆架浮游动物丰度和群落结构年际变化的过程，并建立气候对浮游动物种群影响的机制理解。利用三个互补的数据集，分别解决不同的空间和时间尺度，来表征浮游动物变异的时空尺度。具体问题包括：(1)水源或原位生物过程对斯科舍大陆架浮游动物变异的影响更大吗？(2)能否在低空间分辨率的长时间序列中控制水团起源；(3)来自苏格兰大陆架的平流是否能很好地预测下游缅因湾浮游动物的变化？先前的一些研究表明，斯科舍大陆架水团的运输和空间变异性可以影响浮游动物的变异性；然而，通过控制水质量，所提出的研究允许对原位过程的影响进行量化。了解浮游动物的年际变化对于了解生态系统对气候的反应至关重要。不同时空尺度的浮游动物数据集的综合提高了每个数据集的解释价值。本研究确定了西北大西洋浮游动物群落和丰度变化可能影响鱼类的补充，并有助于发展基于生态系统的斯科特大陆架渔业管理。它还有助于确定苏格兰大陆架的生态重要区域，以保护和长期浮游动物时间序列可以最有效地集中的代表性地点。

0502252JohnsonThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-two-month research fellowship by Dr. Catherine L. Johnson to work with Dr. Erica J. H. Head at Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth, Canada.Zooplankton in marine ecosystems provide a critical link between planktonic primary producers and higher trophic levels, such as fish, seabirds, and marine mammals. Variability in zooplankton abundance appears to be related to climate variability in many ocean regions, but the mechanisms that drive these relationships are poorly understood. The objectives of the proposed research are to identify the processes that control interannual variability in zooplankton abundance and community structure on the Scotian Shelf, in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, and to develop a mechanistic understanding of climate effects on zooplankton populations. Three complementary data sets, each resolving different space and time scales, are used to characterize spatial and temporal scales of zooplankton variability. Specific questions that are addressed include (1) does water origin or in situ biological processes have a greater influence on Scotian Shelf zooplankton variability; (2) is it possible to control for water mass origin in a long time series of low spatial resolution; and (3) is advection from the Scotian Shelf is a good predictor of downstream, Gulf of Maine, zooplankton variability? Several previous studies suggest that transport and spatial variability of Scotian Shelf water masses can influence zooplankton variability; however, by controlling for water masses, the proposed research allows the influence of in situ processes to be quantified. Understanding zooplankton interannual variability is essential to understanding ecosystem responses to climate. Synthesis of zooplankton data sets focused on different spatial and temporal scales enhances the interpretive value of each data set. The proposed research identifies zooplankton community and abundance shifts that may affect fish recruitment in the northwest Atlantic, and it contributes to development of ecosystem-based fisheries management on the Scotian Shelf. It also facilitates identification of ecologically significant regions of the Scotian Shelf for conservation and representative locations where long-term zooplankton time series can most effectively be focused.