RCN: Evaluating the Impacts of a Changing Ocean on Management and Ecology of Infectious Marine Disease

海洋生物的传染性疾病正在增加，但在海洋系统中，控制宿主传染性、病原体毒力和无脊椎动物-微生物相互作用的过程却知之甚少。由于人类活动而即将发生的海洋变化很可能影响海洋疾病的流行和严重程度。在2011年2月NSF-OCE召开的海洋传染病生态学研讨会上，讨论了几种增加我们对疾病生态学和气候变化对海洋系统影响的理解的方法。讲习班的一项主要建议是加强海洋研究人员和有关领域之间的合作和能力建设。加强包括自然科学、物理科学和社会科学（如生态学、微生物学、海洋学、经济学、传播学）在内的各科学学科之间的合作，将大大促进我们对海洋疾病以及气候变化如何影响海洋疾病动态的理解。该项目将提高科学家和管理人员预测和应对海洋疾病暴发的能力，最终为如何增强海洋系统的健康和复原力的决策提供信息。对公众风险认知的研究还将提出将这项研究应用于减少与海洋疾病有关的人为压力源的方法。这里所述的研究协调网项目是根据这些建议制订的，其两项主要活动如下：讲习班——RCN参与者的五次年度聚会将讨论具体的网络目标，包括1)疾病暴发与气候变化和酸化的联系，2)模拟气候和疾病协同作用的经济后果，3)海洋疾病诊断的进展，4)疾病传播中重要的海洋学因素，5)海洋变暖和热带病。研究培训模块-两个为期五周的实践研究培训模块将为研究生和博士后参与者提供跨学科培训：1)现场疾病调查，2)病原体培养和诊断，以及3)宿主免疫生物化学。然后，学生们将在RCN年度研讨会上提交的小组项目中，将这些方法应用于有关疾病动态的生态问题，包括温度和pH值的影响。该RCN参与者的多样性，包括研究生，初级科学家和女性科学家，支持NSF促进STEM领域多样性的目标。讲习班将涉及利益攸关方的广泛代表，包括代表性不足的群体（例如普吉特海湾地区的印第安人），以更好地了解和解决他们的关切。将开发一个RCN网站，其中包括获取出版物和简报的机会，这将有助于更广泛地传播从RCN活动中获得的知识。我们还将与科学与海洋传播伙伴关系（COMPASS）以及其他地方和国家媒体合作，宣传我们的活动和发现。来自RCN的信息还可以与一些与气候变化和海洋有关的联邦政策倡议相一致，如国家海洋政策和国家鱼类、野生动物和植物气候适应战略。此外，我们将与谷歌Ocean合作，开发与海洋疾病有关的互动式全球地图。海洋疾病暴发在空间上具有明确的性质，再加上我们的RCN内部的专门知识，为在这个广泛和可访问的平台上绘制这些事件提供了一个极好的机会。

Infectious diseases of marine organisms are increasing, and yet processes governing host infectivity, pathogen virulence and invertebrate-microbial interactions are poorly understood in marine systems. Impending ocean changes due to human activities are likely to impact the prevalence and severity of marine diseases. During an NSF-OCE convened Ecology of Marine Infectious Disease workshop in February 2011 several ways to increase our understanding of disease ecology and the impacts of climate change in marine systems were discussed. A primary recommendation of the workshop was for increased collaboration and capacity building among marine researchers and related fields. Greater collaboration across scientific disciplines, including natural, physical and social sciences (e.g. ecology, microbiology, oceanography, economics, communications) will greatly advance our understanding of marine disease and how climate change may impact disease dynamics in the ocean. This project will increase the ability of scientists and managers to predict and respond to marine disease outbreaks, ultimately informing decisions on how to enhance the health and resilience of marine systems. The research into public perceptions of risks will also suggest ways to apply this research to reducing anthropogenic stressors associated with marine disease. The Research Coordination Network (RCN) project described here was developed in response to these recommendations and the two primary activities are as follows: Workshops - Five annual gatherings of RCN participants will address specific network goals, including 1) linkages of disease outbreaks with climate change and acidification, 2) modeling economic consequences of climate and disease synergisms, 3) advances in marine disease diagnostics, 4) oceanographic factors important in disease transmission, 5) warming oceans and tropical disease. Research Training Module - Two five-week hands-on research training modules will provide cross disciplinary training to graduate and postdoctoral participants in 1) field disease surveys, 2) pathogen culture and diagnostics, and 3) host immune biochemistry. The students will then apply these methods to ecological questions about disease dynamics, including the effects of temperature and pH, in group projects that will be presented at the annual RCN workshops. The diversity of participants in this RCN, including graduate students, junior scientists, and female scientists, supports the NSF goal of promoting diversity in the STEM fields. The workshops will involve a broad representation of stakeholders, including underrepresented groups (e.g. Native Americans in the Puget Sound region), to better understand and address their concerns. An RCN website will be developed and include access to publications and presentations that will aid in the broader dissemination of knowledge garnered from RCN activities. We will also work with the Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea (COMPASS) as well as other local and national media outlets to publicize our activities and findings. Information from the RCN could also align with several emerging federal policy initiatives related to climate change and oceans such as the National Ocean Policy and the National Fish, Wildlife, & Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy. Additionally, we will work with Google Ocean to develop interactive global marine-disease related maps. The spatially explicit nature of marine disease outbreaks, coupled with the expertise within our RCN, provides an excellent opportunity to map these events on this broad and accessible platform.