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

南极半岛西部沿着的海洋群落是高产的生态系统，支持着企鹅、海豹和鲸鱼等魅力动物的多样化组合，以及南极磷虾等商业渔业。沿着半岛中央海岸的峡湾（高崖之间的狭长深海湾）沿着，似乎是气候敏感的热点地区，是生物生产和生物多样性的热点地区，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和它所支持的魅力动物群，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领域和模拟程序，以评估物理海洋学过程，冰川输入，水柱群落动态，海底底部群落结构和功能，在这些重要的，但很少了解峡湾系统。这些南极峡湾的特征与经过充分研究的北极峡湾有很大不同，可能会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，突出与北极次极地峡湾的对比，并可能改变我们对峡湾在快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动NSF培养新一代科学家的目标，为本科生，研究生和博士后学生提供科学培训。这包括为本科生提供独特的教育机会，让他们参加南极洲的研究性航行，以及开发一个关于峡湾生态系统的新的夏季研究生课程。一名专业摄影师的参与将加强和扩大基于因特网的外联活动，他将制作杂志文章、网站、无线电广播和其他形式的关于迷人的南极生态系统的公共外联活动。该项目将包括一个为期15个月的实地方案，以测试有关南极峡湾海洋学和冰川学作用力以及浮游植物和底栖生物群落反应的机制假设。这些努力之后，将结合物理/生物建模工作，以评估峡湾生物地球化学循环的驱动因素，并探讨其对增强的融水和沉积物输入的潜在敏感性。两次海洋学巡航的实地考察将利用系泊设备、气象站以及冰川、海冰和海底延时摄影机，以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水下航行器在春/夏和秋季深入评估峡湾生态系统的结构和功能。这些综合领域和模拟研究，预计将阐明水柱和海底生态系统的结构和功能在峡湾的基本特性，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。

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.