Collaborative Research: SGER: Are Meroplankton Transported Offshore by Upwelling, and Onshore by Downwelling?

幼虫供给在海洋群落结构中的作用是海洋生态学研究的热点。研究人员调查了所谓的“供给侧生态学”或幼虫供应的“自下而上效应”，并试图将种群的幼虫供应或招募率与将幼虫带离或带到定居地点的水流联系起来。沿海上升流和下升流是这些研究的一个特别重点。在这次SGER中，研究人员将检验沿海藤壶的幼虫通过上升流被带到海上，通过下升流被带到岸上的假设。垂直分层的浮游动物样本和物理海洋学数据，解决跨大陆架海洋结构和幼虫分布将沿着俄勒冈州南部的样带站点收集。研究人员预测，这些幼虫的行为将像被动粒子一样。被动颗粒留在水团中，因此，被动幼虫的分布应该与水团的物理特征（例如盐度和温度）密切相关。非被动幼虫的分布，如果它们在水团之间移动，不应该与水团的物理特性相关。上升流和下升流影响藤壶幼虫和浮游生物分布的假设是当前底栖生态学思想的核心，对这一假设进行明确的测试，无论结果如何，都将对科学产生极大的兴趣和效用。更广泛的影响包括各级学生的参与，结合尚克斯在NSF科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）项目中的积极奖励。研究和观察结果将通过科学家和渔民交流（SAFE）项目与当地商业渔业社区分享。此外，研究成果将纳入俄勒冈州海洋保护区体系的建立过程中。

The role of larval supply in structuring marine communities is a hot topic in marine ecology. Researchers have investigated so-called "supply side ecology" or the "bottom up effects" of larval supply and have attempted to relate the rate of larval supply or recruitment to a population to currents that carry larvae away from or to settlement sites. Coastal upwelling and downwelling are a particular focus of these studies. In this SGER, investigators will test the hypothesis that the larvae of coastal barnacles are carried offshore by upwelling and shoreward by downwelling. Vertically stratified zooplankton samples and physical oceanographic data that resolve the cross-shelf oceanographic structure and larval distribution will be collected along a transect of stations off southern Oregon. The investigators predict that the larvae will behave like passive particles. Passive particles remain with a water mass and, hence, the distribution of passive-larvae should significantly correlate with water mass physical characteristics (e.g., salinity and temperature). The distribution of nonpassive- larvae, if they move between water masses, should not be correlated with a water mass' physical characteristics. The hypothesis that upwelling and downwelling affect distributions of larval barnacles and meroplankton is so central to current thinking in benthic ecology that a clear test of the hypothesis, no matter the outcome, will be of great interest and utility to the science. Broader impacts include participation of students at all levels by combining with an active award by Shanks in the NSF Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) program. Research and observations will be shared with local commercial fishing community through the Scientists and Fisherman Exchange (SAFE) program. In addition, research results will be included in the process of establishing the marine reserve system in Oregon.