Collaborative Research: The role of calcifying algae as a determinant of rocky intertidal macrophyte community structure at a meta-ecosystem scale

合作研究：钙化藻类作为元生态系统尺度岩石潮间带大型植物群落结构的决定因素的作用

• 批准号: 1519401
• 负责人: Karina Nielsen
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: San Francisco State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-09-01 至 2016-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1519401&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; role; calcifying; algae

Environmental stress models have recently been modified to incorporate the influence of facilitation to join negative effects such as predation, competition, and abiotic stress as determinants of community structure. Nevertheless, our empirical understanding of the processes that regulate the expression of facilitation effects across systems and the potential for facilitation to amplify or dampen the ecological consequences of climate change remains limited. This project focuses on facilitation dynamics in the broader meta-ecosystem concept, which hypothesizes that variation among communities depends not only on locally-varying species interactions and impacts of abiotic factors such as environmental stress and physical disturbance but also on regionally- and globally-varying ecosystem processes such as dispersal and flows of materials such as nutrients and carbon. The investigators will study the influence of a potentially critical facilitative interaction between coralline algal turfs and canopy-forming macrophytes including kelps and surfgrass in a rocky intertidal meta-ecosystem. The research will be conducted in a climate change context, with a focus on how the macrophyte-coralline interaction is influenced by ocean conditions, including factors driven by variable upwelling (temperature, nutrients, phytoplankton abundance, and light) and increases in ocean acidification, which vary in a mosaic pattern along the coast of the northern California Current (NCC) in Oregon and northern California.The goal of the project is to test the hypothesis that the coralline turf-macrophyte canopy interaction is a cardinal interaction in the determination of low rocky intertidal community structure, and that disruption of this interaction would dramatically alter the structure and function of this kelp- and surfgrass-dominated assemblage. The project will take advantage of, and enhance, a research platform established across 17 sites spanning ~800 km in the NCC coastal meta-ecosystem with prior NSF funding that will at each site: (1) quantify ocean conditions, including temperature, nutrients, phytoplankton, light (PAR), and carbonate chemistry to document the response of community structure oceanographic variation across a meta ecosystem mosaic; (2) carry out field experiments testing the nature of the interaction between coralline algal turfs (primarily Corallina vancouveriensis) and dominant canopy species, the kelp Saccharina sessile and the surfgrass Phyllospadix scouleri; and (3) carry out laboratory experiments focusing on the mechanism of the interaction, specifically testing the effects of carbonate chemistry, light, temperature, and nutrients. Component (1) will employ both remote sensors deployed in the intertidal (fluorometers, thermal sensors, PAR sensors, and a recently developed pH sensor) and direct sampling (nutrients, phytoplankton, pCO2, and pH) to quantify the in situ exposure regime of benthic primary producers to resources, energy, and environmental stress across spatial scales. These metrics will be combined with a newly developed index for quantifying local-scale variation in upwelling intensity to characterize the linkages between climate forcing and ecosystem state. Coupling oceanography with our field and laboratory experiments will provide unique and valuable insights into how the current state of rocky intertidal ecosystems is likely to be altered in the future.Intellectual Merit. The project will contribute one of the first studies to test the community consequences of varying upwelling and CO2 across an ecosystem scale. How these factors alter the direct and indirect interactions of key species is of fundamental importance in our efforts to learn how field ecosystems will respond to climate change. Such knowledge is crucial to our efforts to manage and conserve marine communities facing human-induced variation in climate.Broader Impacts. The project will integrate research and education in a variety of ways. Three of the PIs (Hacker, Menge, Nielsen) have undergraduate and graduate teaching responsibilities, which involve instruction and training in marine ecology. Each makes a major effort to foster the participation of underrepresented groups in lab and field activities. Nielsen's position at SSU, a four-year undergraduate institution with few funded research programs, offers a rare chance for SSU undergraduates to participate in a first-rate research experience. All PIs are engaged in regional planning for marine protected areas. Finally, the work will provide insight into the consequences of predicted changes in coastal oceanic regions due to human activity and resulting climate change, thereby giving the research societal significance. The PIs will work with a policy and outreach program to communicate the research beyond academic circles to the wider public and stakeholders.

环境压力模型最近被修改，以纳入促进加入负面影响，如捕食，竞争和非生物胁迫的影响，作为社区结构的决定因素。然而，我们的经验理解的过程，调节跨系统的促进效应的表达和促进放大或抑制气候变化的生态后果的潜力仍然有限。该项目侧重于更广泛的元生态系统概念中的促进动力学，该概念假设群落之间的变化不仅取决于当地不同物种的相互作用和非生物因素的影响，如环境压力和物理干扰，而且还取决于区域和全球不同的生态系统过程，如营养物和碳等物质的扩散和流动。研究人员将研究珊瑚藻草皮和形成树冠的大型植物（包括海带和冲浪草）之间潜在的关键促进相互作用的影响。这项研究将在气候变化的背景下进行，重点是海洋条件如何影响大型植物-珊瑚的相互作用，包括可变的上升流驱动的因素（温度、营养物质、浮游植物丰度和光照）以及海洋酸化的增加，沿北方加州海流（NCC）海岸呈沿着镶嵌状变化在俄勒冈州和北方加州。该项目的目标是测试珊瑚草坪-大型植物冠层相互作用是决定低岩石潮间带群落结构的主要相互作用的假设，这种相互作用的中断将极大地改变这种以海藻和海草为主的组合的结构和功能。该项目将利用并加强在NCC沿海元生态系统中跨越约800公里的17个站点建立的研究平台，该研究平台将在每个站点获得NSF的资助：（1）量化海洋条件，包括温度，营养物，浮游植物，光照（PAR）和碳酸盐化学，以记录整个Meta生态系统镶嵌体的群落结构海洋学变化的响应;（2）进行实地实验，测试珊瑚藻草皮（主要是Cortenia vaguveriensis）与占优势的冠层物种、无柄海带和冲浪草Phyllospadix scouleri之间相互作用的性质;（3）进行实验室实验，重点研究相互作用的机制，特别是测试碳酸盐化学、光照、温度和营养物质的影响。组成部分（1）将采用部署在潮间带的遥感器（荧光计、热传感器、PAR传感器和最近开发的pH传感器）和直接取样（营养物、浮游植物、pCO 2和pH），以量化海底初级生产者在不同空间尺度上对资源、能源和环境压力的原地暴露状况。这些指标将与一个新开发的指数相结合，用于量化上升流强度的局部尺度变化，以描述气候强迫和生态系统状态之间的联系。将海洋学与我们的实地和实验室实验相结合，将为未来岩石潮间带生态系统的现状可能如何改变提供独特而有价值的见解。该项目将有助于第一批研究之一，以测试不同的上升流和二氧化碳在整个生态系统规模的社区后果。这些因素如何改变关键物种的直接和间接的相互作用是至关重要的，在我们的努力，了解如何现场生态系统将应对气候变化。这些知识对于我们管理和保护面临人为气候变化的海洋群落的努力至关重要。该项目将以各种方式整合研究和教育。三个PI（黑客，门格，尼尔森）有本科生和研究生的教学责任，其中涉及海洋生态学的教学和培训。每个小组都作出重大努力，促进代表性不足的群体参与实验室和实地活动。尼尔森在SSU的职位，一个四年制的本科院校，几乎没有资助的研究项目，为SSU的本科生提供了一个难得的机会，参加一流的研究经验。所有PI都参与了海洋保护区的区域规划。最后，这项工作将深入了解由于人类活动和由此产生的气候变化而导致的沿海海洋区域预测变化的后果，从而赋予研究社会意义。PI将与政策和外展计划合作，将学术界以外的研究传达给更广泛的公众和利益相关者。