Effects of Marine Preserves and Nonindigenous Species on Rocky Subtidal Communities: Indirect Interactions, Disturbance and Community Dynamics

海洋保护区和非本地物种对潮下岩石群落的影响：间接相互作用、干扰和群落动态

• 批准号: 0850809
• 负责人: Kenneth Sebens
• 金额: $ 71.84万
• 依托单位: University of Washington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-07-01 至 2013-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0850809&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Effects; Marine; Preserves; Nonindigenous; Species

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Subtidal communities in temperate geographic zones of the world are faced with changes caused by fishing, climate change, habitat alteration and invasive species, yet we know fairly little about their community dynamics. The loss of large predators (species removals), and the introduction of nonindigenous species (species additions), are likely to have immediate and large consequences for the structure, resilience and function of subtidal communities. Marine preserves have recently been established in many coastal locations, including the San Juan Archipelago of Washington State. While they are demonstrated to have positive effects on certain fish populations, effects on the rest of the subtidal community are generally not known. The benefit of marine preserves to fisheries remains to be determined on a case-by-case basis. Regardless of the benefit to fisheries, they can serve effectively as conservation zones, similar to terrestrial parks, where original species assemblages can recover in the absence of human extraction. They also provide excellent venues to study the effects of large predators in relatively intact communities, in comparison to nearby non-preserve locations.With goals such as maintaining or increasing biodiversity, it is important to understand how the protection of large predators influences small prey and non-prey species. Determining the ecological effects of fish extraction is of prime interest in the growing body of marine protected area science. Higher level predators can decrease the abundance of their prey, but can also indirectly increase the abundance of organisms two trophic levels beneath them through a trophic cascade. Additionally, non-trophic interactions may cause species abundances to change in unpredicted ways after the recovery of large predators. The investigators in this project will explore the interaction of invasive ascidian species in the Puget Sound region, including sites where they have invaded successfully and sites where they have not. Much of this research will be conducted in (and out of) a regional network of MPAs in San Juan Co., WA, with a focus on the rocky subtidal community on these shores. The significance of this research applies to any nearshore temperate ecosystem with rocky substrate; thus it has broad ecological relevance, particularly with regard to management of coastal ecosystems. Coastal communities are changing due to extraction, invasive species, and climate change, yet we know little about these effects in the shallow rocky subtidal zone. The FHL Research Apprenticeship Program is a successful vehicle to provide intensive research experiences to undergraduates, and it motivates many to pursue graduate and professional training. There will also be an opportunity for summer FHL Blinks Fellows (undergraduate researchers of diverse background) and REU students to work on this project. FHL research, including that done by students, also supports citizen-driven conservation priorities. A primary connection is through the San Juan County Marine Resources Committee (MRC). This research will also provide training for several graduate and undergraduate students in current techniques in subtidal ecological research and advanced SCUBA based research and operations. They will also be encouraged to take part in FHL K-12 Outreach activities, and the new GK-12 Program at FHL (and Seattle).

该奖项是根据2009年的《美国复苏与再投资法》（公法111-5）资助的。世界温带地理区域中的缩减社区面临着捕鱼，气候变化，栖息地改变和入侵物种造成的变化，但我们对他们的社区动态知之甚少。大型捕食者（物种去除）的丧失以及非土著物种的引入（种类添加）可能会对潮汐社区的结构，韧性和功能产生直接和大的后果。最近在包括华盛顿州的圣胡安群岛在内的许多沿海地区建立了海洋保护者。虽然证明它们对某些鱼类种群具有积极影响，但对潮流群社区的其余部分的影响通常尚不清楚。海洋保护者对渔业的好处仍有待定的确定。无论对渔业的好处如何，它们都可以有效地用作保护区，类似于陆地公园，在没有人类提取的情况下，原始物种的组合可以恢复。与附近的非公园地点相比，它们还提供了出色的场所来研究大掠食者在相对完整的社区中的影响。与维持或增加生物多样性等目标相比，重要的是要了解大掠食者的保护如何影响小猎物和非捕食物种。在海洋保护区科学的不断增长中，确定提取鱼的生态影响是主要的兴趣。较高的捕食者可以减少猎物的丰度，但也可以间接增加生物体的丰度，通过营养级联反应下方两个营养水平。另外，非营养性相互作用可能会导致物种丰度在恢复大掠食者后以不可预测的方式变化。该项目中的研究人员将探索普吉特声音区域中侵入性海囊物种的相互作用，包括他们成功入侵的地点和没有的地点。这项研究的大部分将在华盛顿州圣胡安公司的MPA区域网络中进行，重点是这些海岸的岩石质潮汐社区。这项研究的意义适用于带有岩石底物的任何近岸温带生态系统。因此，它具有广泛的生态意义，特别是在沿海生态系统的管理方面。由于提取，入侵物种和气候变化，沿海社区正在发生变化，但我们对浅岩石下端带的这些影响知之甚少。 FHL研究学徒计划是一项成功的工具，可以为大学生提供密集的研究经验，并激励许多人接受研究生和专业培训。夏季FHL眨眼研究员（不同背景的本科研究人员）和REU学生也将有机会从事这个项目。 FHL研究，包括由学生进行的研究，还支持公民驱动的保护优先事项。主要联系是通过圣胡安县海洋资源委员会（MRC）。这项研究还将为几位研究生和本科生提供培训，以临时生态研究和基于先进的水肺研究和运营的当前技术。还将鼓励他们参加FHL K-12外展活动，以及FHL（和西雅图）的新GK-12计划。