OCEAN ACIDIFICATION - COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: OMEGAS II - Linking ecological and organismal responses to the ocean acidification seascape in the California Current System

该项目是现有海洋酸化（OA）拨款的更新，支持一个跨学科研究团队（称为OMEGAS），具有海洋学，生态学，生物地球化学，分子生理学和分子遗传学方面的专业知识。迄今为止的研究已经记录了加州海流系统（CCS）内大陆架的动态海洋学镶嵌图，该海流系统跨越1,200多公里，在当地到海洋盆地的空间尺度上，在潮汐、昼夜、事件和季节时间尺度上变化。在OMEGAS II中，该项目旨在更好地了解这种惊人的时空变化的驱动因素，并将OA海景与该生态系统的关键成员--贻贝（Mytilus californianus）的生理和生态表现联系起来。此外，研究人员还将探索这种海洋镶嵌对物种相互作用和社区组织的影响。作为一种优势生境形成种、强相互作用者和主要空间占有者，M。californianus可以说是沿着上升流主导的CCS的岩石潮间带生态系统的核心组成部分。使用跨学科的，空间广泛的方法，将内大陆架海洋学与生态学，生理学和生态力学相结合，跨学科小组将研究幼年贻贝M。californianus到OA。这些研究跨越了生物组织的各个层次，从而可以评估在野外条件下形成外壳的成本如何影响生理性能和对捕食的抵抗力。本次调查将包括建模，以连接到更大规模的生态系统和海洋动力学在CCS和beyond.Results从OMEGAS I显示，贻贝幼虫的生长，生存和壳强度受到强烈的负面影响，升高pCO 2，成年贻贝的生长各不相同的区域内和区域之间的网站。关于海水条件自然变化的新数据将使我们能够更深入地探索M. californianus，以及性状的生态后果，如壳厚度和强度的减少。本项目将扩大和加强现有的海洋学网络，以增加我们对沿海OA制度的理解，并为生态和生理研究提供环境背景。具体而言，本项目将（1）在1,400公里海岸线上的10个地点收集幼贝，进行OA对幼贝生长、贝壳生长和抗捕食能力影响的现场和实验室实验，（2）连接海洋观测器-传感器海洋学“主干”通过生态模拟评估OA对社区组织沿海变化的影响，（3）确定在普通花园条件下野外部署和培养后幼年贻贝的生理反应，以评估在来自不同地点的贻贝中观察到的反应的机制基础，（4）探索实验室围隔生态系统中贻贝对pCO 2的野外记录变化的生理和转录组学反应，以及（5）使用修改的ROMS模型，评估流域尺度海洋学和内陆架海洋学中局部尺度变化之间的联系，以评估大尺度到局部尺度因子对OA变化的相对影响。本研究旨在了解沿海生态系统将如何应对OA，从而提高我们预测OA对沿海生态系统未来影响的能力。该项目将利用补充资金进行研究，培训和推广，并吸引本科生，研究生和博士后研究人员以及PI。总体目标的一部分是提高决策者和公众对开放式农业科学的认识和熟悉程度。将通过与COMPASS（科学与海洋交流伙伴关系）、公开讲座、网站和电影电视等多媒体渠道的广泛联系促进外联。每个校园都在OA上进行地方到国家的展示。

This project is a renewal of an existing ocean acidification (OA) grant supporting an interdisciplinary research team (called OMEGAS) with expertise in oceanography, ecology, biogeochemistry, molecular physiology, and molecular genetics. Research to date has documented a dynamic oceanographic mosaic in the inner shelf of the California Current System (CCS) that spans 1,200+ km and varies at tidal, diurnal, event, and seasonal temporal scales at local to ocean basin spatial scales. In OMEGAS II, the project seeks to better understand the drivers of this striking time-space variability, and to link the OA seascape to the physiological and ecological performance of a key member of this ecosystem, the mussel Mytilus californianus. In addition, the investigators will explore the influence of this oceanographic mosaic on species interactions and community organization. As a dominant habitat-forming species, strong interactor, and major space occupant, M. californianus is arguably the core component of the rocky intertidal ecosystem along the upwelling-dominated CCS. Using an interdisciplinary, spatially extensive approach integrating inner shelf oceanography with ecology, physiology, and eco-mechanics, the interdisciplinary team will study the response of juvenile mussels M. californianus to OA. The studies span levels of biological organization, thereby allowing assessment of how the cost of forming a shell under field conditions might influence physiological performance and resistance to predation. This investigation will include modeling to link to larger-scale ecosystem and oceanographic dynamics in the CCS and beyond.Results from OMEGAS I show that the growth, survival, and shell strength of mussel larvae are strongly negatively affected by elevated pCO2, and that growth of adult mussels varied among sites within regions and between regions. Emerging data on natural variability in seawater conditions will allow a deeper exploration of the organismal response of M. californianus, and the ecological consequences of traits, such as reduced shell thickness and strength. The present project will expand and strengthen the existing oceanographic network to increase our understanding of the coastal OA regime, and provide the environmental context for ecological and physiological research. Specifically, this project will (1) conduct field and laboratory experiments on the influence of OA on the growth, shell accretion, and resistance to predation of juvenile mussels collected from 10 sites spanning 1,400 km of coastline, (2) link the OA-sensor oceanographic "backbone" to an existing database of community structure via ecological modeling to assess the influence of OA on coastal variation in community organization, (3) determine the physiological responses of juvenile mussels following field deployments and culture under common garden conditions to evaluate mechanistic underpinnings to the responses observed in mussels from different sites, (4) explore the physiological and transcriptomic response of mussels in lab mesocosms to field-documented variability in pCO2, and (5) using modified ROMS models, evaluate the linkage between basin-scale oceanography and local-scale variation in inner-shelf oceanography to evaluate the relative influences of large-to-local scale factors on OA variability. This research aims to understand how coastal ecosystems will respond to OA, and thus to develop our capacity to predict the future impact of OA on coastal ecosystems.Broader Impacts. This project will leverage complementary funding for research, training and outreach, and engage undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers, as well as PIs. Part of an overall goal is to increase the visibility and familiarity of OA science for policy makers and the general public. Outreach will be facilitated through extensive ties to COMPASS (Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea), public lectures, websites, and multimedia outlets, such as films and television. Each campus is engaged in local-to-national displays on OA.