Ecology of injury in marine sedimentary habitats: Effects of repeated injury on infaunal condition and sediment bioturbation

海洋沉积生境损伤生态学：重复损伤对动物状况和沉积物生物扰动的影响

• 批准号: 0825667
• 负责人: Sara Lindsay
• 金额: $ 38.18万
• 依托单位: University of Maine
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-09-01 至 2012-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0825667&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Ecology; injury; marine; sedimentary; habitats

The majority of the ocean floor is sedimentary, and marine sediments play a key role in the flux of nutrients and organic matter in the ocean. Via their feeding and other activities, organisms living in marine sediments influence benthic-pelagic coupling by processing and redistributing organic matter supplied from the water column and influencing the supply of nutrients. These activities also influence recruitment and competitive interactions. Thus, factors that impact infaunal activity can secondarily impact sediment biogeochemistry and benthic communities. Non-lethal loss of body tissue is a common event for marine infauna such as polychaetes, and numerous studies have investigated the immediate effects of injury on individuals and predicted indirect effects on ecological interactions in marine soft-sediment habitats. Accurate predictions of the effect injury has on marine infaunal communities require knowing the frequency at which infaunal organisms are injured, whether injured individuals can regenerate and the speed at which they do so. But comprehensive, accurate assessments of injury rates among soft-bodied infauna are difficult because current methods underestimate injury rates by counting only individuals that are visibly regenerating lost tissue. Past injury may be masked by rapid regeneration in some species.RESEARCH SUMMARY & INTELLECTUAL MERIT: This project will use a novel approach using a histological stain in conjunction with field surveys to answer several important ecological questions: How frequently are marine worms injured? How variable is the incidence of injury in space and time? Are there species differences in the frequency of injury? Surveys of infaunal injury will be repeated during the spring and summer months over three years at two sites in Maine. This project will also investigate the effect of repeated injury on infauna, an aspect of injury that has been largely ignored. Comprehensive measurements relating sediment activity, regeneration status and nutritional condition of infauna are rare. Laboratory experiments will compare the effect of repeated injury on survival, growth, fecundity, nutritional condition and sediment disturbance by different functional groups such as spionid polychaetes (shallow tube-dwelling interface deposit feeders with rapid regeneration rates), maldanid polychaetes (head-down tube-dwelling conveyor-belt feeders), and arenicolid polychaetes (head-down burrowers that subduct surface sediments to depth to feed). This project will then use the data gathered in the proposed experiments and surveys to create a more realistic model of the interacting effects injury has on infaunal populations, sediment bioturbation, recruitment, and predator populations. Effects of predation intensity on bioturbation and infaunal populations will be explored.BROADER IMPACTS: The project includes a significant effort to improve ocean science literacy across the nation by collaborating with the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence-Ocean Systems team (COSEE-OS) to develop educational resources describing the ways marine infauna link sediment and water column processes in the ocean. Two graduate students and three undergraduates will receive diverse training in marine organismal biology, physiology and ecology. All participants will work with COSEE-OS educational experts to develop content and educational activities that will be added to interactive concept maps of Oceans and Climate and Ocean Diversity. Undergraduate and graduate students will be introduced to the process of translating the knowledge and experience they gain during their research into larger key concepts to be presented to a general audience. Educational activities will be tested in the PI's marine science class and interactive concept maps and ocean science educational activities will be widely distributed by COSEE-OS via the internet. Materials will align with Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and National Science Education Standards. After internal evaluation at the University of Maine to evaluate student learning, the materials will then be widely distributed by COSEE-OS and evaluated using standard evaluation protocols for technology usability and end-user effectiveness. By working directly with both a national network (COSEE) and a national ocean literacy campaign with proven success, we can ensure that our deliverables will reach a broad spectrum of learners, including those traditionally underrepresented in ocean sciences.

海底的大部分是沉积的，海洋沉积物在海洋中营养物质和有机物的流动中起着关键作用。通过摄食和其他活动，生活在海洋沉积物中的生物通过处理和重新分配从水柱供应的有机物质，影响营养物质的供应，从而影响底栖-中上层的耦合。这些活动还影响招聘和竞争性互动。因此，影响底栖动物活动的因素可以继而影响沉积物的生物地球化学和底栖生物群落。身体组织的非致命性丧失是多毛类等海洋动物的常见事件，许多研究调查了伤害对个体的直接影响，并预测了对海洋软质沉积物生境中生态相互作用的间接影响。要准确预测伤害对海洋底栖动物群落的影响，需要了解底栖生物受到伤害的频率、受伤的个体是否能再生以及再生的速度。但是，全面、准确地评估软体动物的伤害率是困难的，因为目前的方法只计算明显再生丢失组织的个体，低估了伤害率。过去的伤害可能会被某些物种的快速再生所掩盖。研究总结和学术价值：这个项目将使用一种新的方法，使用组织学染色并结合实地调查来回答几个重要的生态学问题：海洋蠕虫受到伤害的频率是多少？伤害在空间和时间上的发生率有多大的变数？受伤的频率是否存在物种差异？在三年的时间里，将在缅因州的两个地点，在春季和夏季的几个月里重复进行关于基础设施伤害的调查。该项目还将调查反复伤害对动物的影响，这是伤害的一个方面，在很大程度上被忽视了。与底栖生物的沉积活性、再生状况和营养状况有关的综合测量很少。实验室实验将比较不同功能群对存活、生长、繁殖力、营养状况和沉积物干扰的影响，这些功能群包括螺旋形多毛类(快速再生的浅管-栖息界面沉积物取食者)、Maldanid多毛类(头朝下的管式传送带取食者)和多毛类多毛类(头朝下的多毛类，将表层沉积物俯冲到深处进行摄食)。然后，该项目将使用在拟议的实验和调查中收集的数据来创建一个更现实的模型，说明伤害对底栖动物种群、沉积物生物扰动、补充和捕食者种群的相互影响。将探讨捕食强度对生物扰动和底栖动物种群的影响。BROADER影响：该项目包括通过与海洋科学教育卓越中心-海洋系统团队(COSEE-OS)合作开发教育资源，描述海洋底栖动物如何连接海洋中的沉积物和水柱过程，从而在全国范围内提高海洋科学素养。两名研究生和三名本科生将接受不同的海洋生物生物学、生理学和生态学培训。所有参与者将与COSEE-OS教育专家合作开发内容和教育活动，这些内容和教育活动将被添加到海洋、气候和海洋多样性的互动概念图中。本科生和研究生将被介绍将他们在研究中获得的知识和经验转化为更大的关键概念的过程，以呈现给普通观众。教育活动将在PI的海洋科学课上进行测试，互动概念图和海洋科学教育活动将由COSEE-OS通过互联网广泛分发。教材将与海洋素养基本原则和国家科学教育标准保持一致。在缅因州大学进行内部评估以评估学生的学习情况后，这些材料将由COSEE-OS广泛分发，并使用关于技术可用性和最终用户有效性的标准评估协议进行评估。通过与国家网络(COSEE)和国家海洋扫盲运动直接合作，并取得了公认的成功，我们可以确保我们的成果将惠及广泛的学习者，包括那些在海洋科学领域传统上代表性不足的学习者。