FSML: New technology for measuring lower trophic levels in lakes

FSML：测量湖泊低营养水平的新技术

• 批准号: 1521897
• 负责人: Lars Rudstam
• 金额: $ 29.32万
• 依托单位: Cornell University
• 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: 2015-07-15 至 2018-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1521897&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: FSML; New; technology; measuring; lower

Spatial structure affects most ecological interactions in lakes and elsewhere, including predator-prey dynamics, primary production, algal blooms, and grazing by zooplankton. This facilities improvement proposal will add the capability to measure fine-scale spatial structure of algae and zooplankton in lakes to the available instrumentation at the Cornell Biological Field Station (http://www.cbfs.dnr.cornell.edu). The equipment that will be acquired are a laser optical plankton counter used to measure zooplankton from about 0.2 mm to 3 mm in length. This range includes most of the crustacean zooplankton in lakes. A fluoroprobe, that uses a set of different wavelengths of light to separate the contributions of several algal groups in the phytoplankton; a small research vessel to transport the fluoroprobe and optical plankton counter to different sites in the lake, and finally a FlowCam, a laboratory instrument that take pictures of particles in a sample and organize pictures using image recognition software. This automation allows many more samples to be processed than with standard microscopy techniques. These instruments will be used to evaluate the role of spatial structure in fish-zooplankton and grazer (zooplankton and mussels)-algae interactions in Oneida Lake and elsewhere, including the Great Lakes. The Cornell Biological Field Station has been involved with studies on the Oneida Lake ecosystem for over half a century and the resulting data set is one of the best long-term data sets reaching from nutrients to fish in a temperate lake in North America, if not the world. The new instruments will further improve the value of this data set and associated research projects.For more detailed spatial and temporal analyses of lower trophic levels, the acquisition of equipment to measure zooplankton, phytoplankton and dreissenid mussel distributions at a finer spatial scale than what is currently possible at the Cornell Biological Field Station at Shackelton Point is necessary. The needed equipment includes a new boat with hydraulics to conduct more frequent and detailed benthic sampling (including boat motor and trailer), a laser optical plankton counter for measuring zooplankton distributions, a fluoroprobe to measure group specific phytoplankton biomass, and a FlowCAM for more detailed taxonomic analyses of phytoplankton and smaller zooplankton. Although CBFS has been a leader in developing hydroacoustics for spatial analyses of fish interactions, equipment for similar analyses of lower trophic levels is lacking. The new instruments and an appropriate boat for their deployment would remedy this situation. Research at CBFS is primarily in two areas: 1) investigations of the ecology and fisheries of Oneida Lake, a 200 km2 shallow mesotrophic lake in central New York, and 2) studies of the spatial and temporal dynamics of Great Lakes ecosystems and how those dynamics affect ecosystem processes. Both areas of research rely on long term data sets collected and/or analyzed at CBFS to understand functional mechanisms and ecosystem services as impacted by ongoing ecological changes in these systems. The availability of these long term datasets makes CBFS one of only a handful of sites in the world where research questions about lake ecology can be framed in the context of the large time scales required to understand the impacts of perturbations such as invasive species and changing climate. Long-term studies of the ecological processes in natural systems are vital to society if we are to understand the dynamics of ecological disruptions, establish the mechanisms that influence these dynamics, and differentiate the influence of human activities from natural variability. Demand for use of the CBFS facility has increased and includes NSF funded and pending proposals, as well as research funded from various other sources. Broader impacts of CBFS activities include educational opportunities for visiting undergraduate and graduate students, an undergraduate intern program which partly focuses on under-represented minorities, connections with management agencies and advice on ecosystem fisheries management including participating in management committees, and a program for increasing use of Oneida Lake in the science curriculum for K-12 public schools in the area. All these broader impacts are ongoing and will continue for the duration of this project.

空间结构影响湖泊和其他地方的大多数生态相互作用，包括捕食者-猎物动态，初级生产，藻类水华和浮游动物的放牧。 这一设施改进提案将使康奈尔生物野外站（http：//www.example.com）现有的仪器增加测量湖泊中藻类和浮游动物精细尺度空间结构的能力。www.cbfs.dnr.cornell.edu将获得的设备是激光光学浮游生物计数器，用于测量长度约为0.2毫米至3毫米的浮游动物。 这个范围包括湖泊中的大多数甲壳类浮游动物。 一个荧光探针，它使用一组不同波长的光来分离浮游植物中几个藻类群体的贡献;一艘小型研究船将荧光探针和光学浮游生物计数器运送到湖中的不同地点，最后是一个FlowCam，这是一种实验室仪器，可以拍摄样品中的颗粒并使用图像识别软件组织图片。 这种自动化允许处理比标准显微镜技术更多的样品。 这些仪器将用于评价奥奈达湖和其他地方，包括五大湖的空间结构在鱼类-浮游动物和食草动物（浮游动物和贻贝）-藻类相互作用中的作用。康奈尔生物野外站参与奥奈达湖生态系统的研究已经超过半个世纪，由此产生的数据集是北美温带湖泊中从营养物质到鱼类的最佳长期数据集之一，如果不是世界的话。新的仪器将进一步提高这一数据集和相关研究项目的价值。为了更详细地分析低营养级的空间和时间，需要购置设备，以测量浮游动物、浮游植物和德雷塞尼德贻贝的分布，其空间尺度要比目前在沙克尔顿角康奈尔生物野外站所能做到的更精细。 所需设备包括一艘新的装有液压装置的船，以便进行更频繁和详细的海底取样（包括船的马达和拖车），一个激光光学浮游生物计数器，用于测量浮游动物的分布，一个荧光探针，用于测量特定群体浮游植物的生物量，以及一个FlowCAM，用于对浮游植物和较小的浮游动物进行更详细的分类分析。 虽然CBFS一直是一个领导者，在开发水声空间分析鱼类的相互作用，设备类似的分析较低的营养水平是缺乏的。 新的仪器和部署仪器的适当船只将纠正这种情况。在CBFS的研究主要是在两个领域：1）奥奈达湖，在纽约中部200平方公里的浅中营养湖的生态和渔业的调查，和2）五大湖生态系统的时空动态的研究，以及这些动态如何影响生态系统过程。 这两个研究领域都依赖于CBFS收集和/或分析的长期数据集，以了解这些系统中持续生态变化所影响的功能机制和生态系统服务。 这些长期数据集的可用性使CBFS成为世界上少数几个可以在了解入侵物种和气候变化等扰动影响所需的大时间尺度背景下构建湖泊生态研究问题的地点之一。 如果我们要了解生态破坏的动态，建立影响这些动态的机制，并将人类活动的影响与自然变化区分开来，那么对自然系统中生态过程的长期研究对社会至关重要。对CBFS设施的使用需求有所增加，包括NSF资助的和待定的提案，以及其他各种来源资助的研究。CBFS活动的更广泛的影响包括访问本科生和研究生的教育机会，本科生实习生计划，部分侧重于代表性不足的少数民族，与管理机构的联系和生态系统渔业管理的建议，包括参与管理委员会，以及在该地区K-12公立学校的科学课程中增加使用奥奈达湖的计划。 所有这些更广泛的影响正在进行中，并将在本项目期间持续下去。