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

幼鱼供给在海洋群落结构中的作用是海洋生态学研究的热点问题。研究人员调查了所谓的“供应侧生态”或幼虫供应的“自下而上效应”，并试图将幼虫供应或向种群招募的比率与将幼虫带离或带到定居地点的水流联系起来。海岸上升流和下降流是这些研究的一个特别重点。在这份SGER中，研究人员将检验沿海藤壶幼虫通过上升流带到近岸，通过下流带到岸边的假设。垂直分层的浮游动物样本和物理海洋学数据将沿着俄勒冈州南部近海的一个横断面收集，以确定跨陆架的海洋结构和幼虫分布。研究人员预测，幼虫的行为将像被动粒子一样。被动颗粒留在水团中，因此，被动幼虫的分布应与水团的物理特征(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征相关。上升流和下降流影响幼虫藤壶和浮游动物分布的假说是当前底栖生态学思想的核心，无论结果如何，对该假说的明确检验都将对科学产生极大的兴趣和实用价值。更广泛的影响包括通过与Shanks在NSF科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)计划中的积极奖励相结合，让各级学生参与进来。研究和观察结果将通过科学家和渔民交流(SAFE)计划与当地商业捕鱼界分享。此外，研究成果将纳入俄勒冈州建立海洋保护区制度的过程中。

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.