Collaborative Research: Pteropod Swimming Behavior as a Bio Assay for Ocean Acidification

海洋酸化构成严重威胁，特别是对从海水中沉淀碳酸钙的生物。翼足类动物是一种具有文石外壳的生物，它是高纬度生态系统的关键。使用OA，翼足类动物的壳会变薄，因为文石是高度可溶的。随着壳变薄，它改变了动物的质量分布和浮力，这将影响运动，并通过它影响所有依赖运动的行为，如觅食，交配，捕食者回避和迁移模式。较低的壳重量将被较小的粘液网抵消，可能会降低摄食率和碳通量率。这项跨学科的研究依赖于对翼足类软体动物Limacina helicina在自然环境中游泳行为的生物学研究，并通过3D断层扫描粒子图像测速和计算流体动力学（CFD）对游泳流体动力学进行流体力学分析。这项工作将：（a）确定如何L。螺旋藻用它的翅膀（parapodia）以推进自身;（B）检查其运动运动学是否提供有效推进;（c）识别影响游泳轨迹和“摆动”的因素;以及（d）综合所有数据和见解，为翼足类动物游泳行为作为OA生物测定的潜在用途提供指导。这些人为增加CO2的哨兵的丧失可能导致生态转变因为在南大洋，有尾翼足类动物几乎承担了一半的初级生产，而且也是像鱼类这样的高营养级动物的主要食物来源。由于运动数据可以立即收集，在本提案中正在开发的生物测定可以作为一个早期预警OA的影响即将开始对这个重要的浮游生物成员。学生和研究人员将通过与生物海洋学家，流体力学专家和CFD专家以及在南极工作所需的团队精神合作，在丰富的跨学科研究环境中进行合作。通过在挪威和帕尔默站建立一个独一无二的3D断层扫描系统来可视化浮游生物周围的流动，我们增加了最先进技术的国际交流。目前研究的教育影响将成倍增加，包括在研究团队，本科生，高中生和代表性不足的少数民族，除了研究生。

Ocean acidification (OA) poses a serious threat, particularly to organisms that precipitate calcium carbonate from seawater. One organism with an aragonite shell that is a key to high latitude ecosystems is the pteropod. With OA, the pteropod shell will thin because the aragonite is highly soluble. As the shell thins, it changes the mass distribution and buoyancy of the animal, which will affect locomotion and through it, all locomotion dependent behavior such as foraging, mating, predator avoidance and migratory patterns. A lower shell weight will be counterbalanced by a smaller mucus web potentially decreasing ingestion rates and carbon flux rates. This interdisciplinary research relies on biological studies of swimming behavior of the pteropod mollusk Limacina helicina in their natural environments with fluid mechanics analyses of swimming hydrodynamics via 3D tomographic particle-image velocimetry and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). This work will: (a) determine how the L. helicina uses its 'wings' (parapodia) to propel itself; (b) examine whether its locomotory kinematics provide efficient propulsion; (c) identify the factors that influence swimming trajectory and 'wobble'; and (d) synthesize all data and insights into guidelines for the potential use of pteropod swimming behavior as a bioassay for OA.The loss of these sentinels of anthropogenic increases in CO2 may result in an ecological shift since thecosome pteropods are responsible for ingesting nearly half the primary production in the Southern Ocean and also serve as a primary food resource to upper trophic levels like fish. Since locomotory data can be gathered immediately, the bioassay being developed in this proposal may serve as an early warning of the impending onset of OA effects on this important member of the plankton. Students and researchers will collaborate in a rich interdisciplinary research environment by working with a biological oceanographer, a fluid mechanics expert and a CFD expert coupled with the teamsmanship needed for work in the Antarctic. By setting up a one-of-a-kind 3D tomography system for visualizing flow around planktonic organisms in Norway and at Palmer Station, we increase international exchange of state-of-the-art techniques. The educational impact of the current research will be multiplied by including in the research team, undergraduate students, high-school students and underrepresented minorities in addition to graduate students.