Collaborative Research: Fjord Ecosystem Structure and Function on the West Antarctic Peninsula - Hotspots of Productivity and Biodiversity? (FjordEco)

合作研究：南极西部半岛峡湾生态系统结构和功能——生产力和生物多样性的热点？

• 批准号: 1443680
• 负责人: Craig Smith
• 金额: $ 79.68万
• 依托单位: University of Hawaii
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-05-01 至 2019-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1443680&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Fjord; Ecosystem; Structure

Marine communities along the western Antarctic Peninsula are highly productive ecosystems which support a diverse assemblage of charismatic animals such as penguins, seals, and whales as well as commercial fisheries such as that on Antarctic krill. Fjords (long, narrow, deep inlets of the sea between high cliffs) along the central coast of the Peninsula appear to be intense, potentially climate sensitive, hotspots of biological production and biodiversity, yet the structure and dynamics of these fjord ecosystems are very poorly understood. Because of this intense biological activity and the charismatic fauna it supports, these fjords are also major destinations for a large Antarctic tourism industry. This project is an integrated field and modeling program to evaluate physical oceanographic processes, glacial inputs, water column community dynamics, and seafloor bottom community structure and function in these important yet little understood fjord systems. These Antarctic fjords have characteristics that are substantially different from well-studied Arctic fjords, likely yielding much different responses to climate warming. This project will provide major new insights into the dynamics and climate sensitivity of Antarctic fjord ecosystems, highlighting contrasts with Arctic sub-polar fjords, and potentially transforming our understanding of the ecological role of fjords in the rapidly warming west Antarctic coastal marine landscape. The project will also further the NSF goal of training new generations of scientists, providing scientific training for undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students. This includes the unique educational opportunity for undergraduates to participate in research cruises in Antarctica and the development of a novel summer graduate course on fjord ecosystems. Internet based outreach activities will be enhanced and extended by the participation of a professional photographer who will produce magazine articles, websites, radio broadcasts, and other forms of public outreach on the fascinating Antarctic ecosystem. This project will involve a 15-month field program to test mechanistic hypotheses concerning oceanographic and glaciological forcing, and phytoplankton and benthic community response in the Antarctic fjords. Those efforts will be followed by a coupled physical/biological modeling effort to evaluate the drivers of biogeochemical cycles in the fjords and to explore their potential sensitivity to enhanced meltwater and sediment inputs. Fieldwork over two oceanographic cruises will utilize moorings, weather stations, and glacial, sea-ice and seafloor time-lapse cameras to obtain an integrated view of fjord ecosystem processes. The field team will also make multiple shipboard measurements and will use towed and autonomous underwater vehicles to intensively evaluate fjord ecosystem structure and function during spring/summer and autumn seasons. These integrated field and modeling studies are expected to elucidate fundamental properties of water column and sea bottom ecosystem structure and function in the fjords, and to identify key physical-chemical-glaciological forcing in these rapidly warming ecosystems.

南极半岛西部的海洋群落是高产的生态系统，支持着企鹅、海豹和鲸鱼等多种有魅力的动物以及南极磷虾等商业渔业。沿着半岛中部海岸的峡湾（高悬崖之间的狭长深海入口）似乎是气候密集、潜在气候敏感、生物生产和生物多样性的热点，但人们对这些峡湾生态系统的结构和动态知之甚少。由于这种强烈的生物活动及其所支持的富有魅力的动物群，这些峡湾也是大型南极旅游业的主要目的地。该项目是一个综合的现场和建模项目，用于评估这些重要但鲜为人知的峡湾系统中的物理海洋过程、冰川输入、水柱群落动态以及海底群落结构和功能。这些南极峡湾的特征与经过深入研究的北极峡湾有很大不同，可能对气候变暖产生截然不同的反应。该项目将为南极峡湾生态系统的动态和气候敏感性提供重要的新见解，突出与北极副极地峡湾的对比，并有可能改变我们对峡湾在迅速变暖的南极西部沿海海洋景观中的生态作用的理解。该项目还将进一步推进国家科学基金会培养新一代科学家的目标，为本科生、研究生和博士后提供科学培训。这包括为本科生提供参加南极洲研究航行的独特教育机会，以及开发关于峡湾生态系统的新颖夏季研究生课程。基于互联网的宣传活动将通过专业摄影师的参与得到加强和扩展，他们将制作杂志文章、网站、广播和其他形式的有关迷人的南极生态系统的公共宣传活动。该项目将涉及为期 15 个月的实地计划，以测试有关南极峡湾海洋学和冰川学强迫以及浮游植物和底栖群落反应的机械假设。这些努力之后将进行耦合物理/生物建模工作，以评估峡湾生物地球化学循环的驱动因素，并探索它们对增加的融水和沉积物输入的潜在敏感性。两次海洋学巡游的实地工作将利用系泊处、气象站以及冰川、海冰和海底延时相机来获得峡湾生态系统过程的综合视图。现场团队还将进行多次船上测量，并将使用拖曳式和自主式水下航行器在春/夏和秋季期间深入评估峡湾生态系统的结构和功能。这些综合实地和建模研究预计将阐明峡湾水柱和海底生态系统结构和功能的基本特性，并确定这些快速变暖的生态系统中的关键物理-化学-冰川强迫。