LTER: Land/Ocean Interactions and the Dynamics of Kelp Forest Ecosystems (SBC III)

知识价值：圣巴巴拉海岸LTER(SBC)是一个跨学科的研究和教育计划，成立于2000年4月，目的是调查陆地和海洋过程在构建陆地-海洋边缘生态系统中的作用。主要的研究区域是圣巴巴拉海峡和陡峭的沿海分水岭，小河口和流入其中的沙滩。这项研究的重点生态系统是巨型海藻森林，这是一种多样化和高生产力的海洋生态系统，出现在圣巴巴拉海峡和世界其他温带地区陆地-海洋边缘交界处的浅层岩礁上。该项目的主要重点是发展对巨型海藻森林生态系统对陆地和海洋环境压力的结构和功能反应的预测性了解。从陆地和周围海洋输送到海带森林的营养物质和有机物质的数量因气候、海洋条件和土地利用的变化而不同。这些商品供应的变化与物质干扰相互作用，影响海带森林居民的丰富度和物种构成及其提供的生态服务。这项研究的核心问题是：海带森林的结构和功能以及它们与邻近陆地和海洋生态系统的物质交换是如何受到干扰和气候的影响的？为了解决这个问题，LTER的研究人员将专注于三个主题：(1)海带森林结构和功能的生物和非生物驱动因素，(2)陆地-海洋边缘的物质交换，以及(3)沿海海洋中无机和有机物质的移动和通量。这项研究的相关性是深远的，因为LTER的科学家正在处理与以下基本问题有关的问题：生物多样性和生态系统功能、群落对气候变化和捕鱼的脆弱性和复原力、土地利用和火灾对景观变化和流域水文的作用，以及内大陆架沿岸水域的扩散物理。海带森林的动态性质，包括它们频繁的干扰和快速再生，再加上高生产力和多样化的食物网，使它们成为研究其他生态系统中需要数十年至数百年才能解决的生态问题的理想系统。该项目将利用各种方法，包括：(1)协调的长期测量，(2)操纵性现场实验，(3)测量密集型过程研究，以及(4)综合综合分析和建模，允许超出我们测量的空间和时间范围进行预测，并帮助指导未来的研究。SBC的信息管理系统侧重于数据组织、完整性、保存和面向各种最终用户的基于网络的公共访问，将促进这些努力。广泛的影响：教育和培训紧密结合到这项研究的所有方面。LTER人员已经成功地开发了一种多方面、跨学科的教育和外联方法，突出了SBC调查人员、学生和普通公众的研究兴趣。项目包括与K-12学生和教师的积极联系，这些学生和教师针对的是服务不足、成绩不佳的学校中历史上代表性不足的群体。LTER参与者在本科生和研究生培训、直接公共宣传以及与媒体、政府机构和当地行业的富有成效的互动方面也非常积极主动。LTER将继续这些外展和教育项目，并继续努力吸引更多资金来支持它们。LTER致力于与资源管理者、决策者、利益相关者和公众分享研究成果，他们有兴趣将我们的研究成果应用于自然资源、海岸管理和土地利用的政策问题。

Intellectual Merit:The Santa Barbara Coastal LTER (SBC) is an interdisciplinary research and education program established in April, 2000 to investigate the role of land and ocean processes in structuring ecosystems at the land-sea margin. The main study area is the Santa Barbara Channel and the steep coastal watersheds, small estuaries and sandy beaches that drain into it. The focal ecosystem of the research is giant kelp forests, a diverse and highly productive marine ecosystem that occurs on shallow rocky reefs at the interface of the land-sea margin in the Santa Barbara Channel and other temperate regions throughout the world. The major emphasis of this project is developing a predictive understanding of the structural and functional responses of giant kelp forest ecosystems to environmental forcing from the land and the sea. The amount of nutrients and organic matter delivered to the kelp forest from land and the surrounding ocean varies in response to changes in climate, ocean conditions and land use. Variation in the supply of these commodities interacts with physical disturbance to influence the abundance and species composition of kelp forest inhabitants and the ecological services that they provide. The overarching question motivating this research is: How are the structure and function of kelp forests and their material exchange with adjacent land and ocean ecosystems altered by disturbance and climate?To address this question LTER researchers will focus on three themes: (1) biotic and abiotic drivers of kelp forest structure and function, (2) material exchange at the land-ocean margin, and (3) movement and fluxes of inorganic and organic matter in the coastal ocean. The relevance of this research is far reaching as LTER scientists are addressing fundamental questions pertaining to biodiversity and ecosystem function, vulnerability and resilience of communities to climate change and fishing, the roles of land use and fire on landscape change and watershed hydrology, and the physics of dispersal in the little studied coastal waters of the inner continental shelf. The dynamic nature of kelp forests, including their frequent disturbance and rapid regeneration coupled with high productivity and diverse food webs make them ideal systems for investigating ecological questions that require decades to centuries to address in other ecosystems. This project will utilize a variety of approaches including: (1) coordinated long-term measurements, (2) manipulative field experiments, (3) measurement-intensive process studies, and (4) integrated synthetic analyses and modeling that allow for predictions beyond the spatial and temporal scope of our measurements, and help guide future research. SBC's information management system, which focuses on data organization, integrity, preservation and web-based public access geared for a variety of end users will facilitate these efforts.Broader Impacts:Education and training are tightly integrated into all aspects of this research. LTER personnel have successfully developed a multifaceted, interdisciplinary approach to education and outreach that highlights research interests of SBC investigators, students, and the general public. Programs include active links with K-12 students and teachers that target historically under-represented groups from under serving, low-achieving schools. The LTER participants are also very proactive in undergraduate and graduate student training, direct public outreach, and productive interactions with the media, government agencies and local industries. The LTER will continue these outreach and education programs and maintain efforts to attract additional funding to support them. The LTER is committed to sharing research results with resource managers, decision makers, stakeholders, and the general public who are interested in applying our findings to policy issues concerning natural resources, coastal management, and land use.