RUI: Will climate change cause 'lazy larvae'? Effects of climate stressors on larval behavior and dispersal

面对气候变化，动物的未来分布不仅取决于它们能否适应当前栖息地的新条件，还取决于一个物种能否在不断变化的栖息地景观中传播到合适的地方。在海洋中，大多数物种都有微小的漂流幼虫阶段，栖息地之间的扩散不仅仅受到洋流的影响；幼虫的游动行为、遇到的水流环境以及在水柱中停留的时间长短等因素相互作用，影响着幼虫扩散的距离和方向。气候变化的影响，特别是海洋酸化的影响，已经在太平洋沿岸的贝类物种中显现出来，那里的孵化场管理人员已经注意到贝类养殖有“懒惰幼虫综合症”。在酸化加剧的情况下，这些“懒惰的幼虫”干脆停止游泳；然而，幼虫的游泳行为很少被纳入海洋酸化的研究。此外，海洋变暖如何与酸化对幼虫及其游泳行为的影响相互作用仍未探索；事实上，气候变暖可以逆转“懒惰幼虫综合症”。本项目采用实验室操作实验、计算机建模和实际案例研究相结合的方法，研究海洋变暖和酸化对个体幼虫的影响是否会影响萨利希海本地牡蛎种群的分布和恢复。该项目将通过雇佣学生研究人员，将材料纳入本科课程，并将海洋科学学生实习生与艺术学生实习生配对，开发旨在向公众传达气候变化影响的艺术项目，将研究与西华盛顿大学（以本科生为主的大学）的本科教育紧密结合起来。对个人绩效的影响必须放在更大的生态背景下考虑。虽然未来气候引起的环流变化肯定会影响幼虫的扩散，但气候变化应激源对单个幼虫特征的影响可能具有同样重要的影响，显著改变幼虫的运输，并最终改变物种分布。本研究将通过实验研究气候压力（变暖和酸化）对浮游生物幼虫存期、形态和游泳行为的影响；建立模型，以产生可检验的假设，这些假设是关于这些因素对幼虫扩散的影响，可以应用于整个系统；最后，使用生物物理耦合的幼虫运输模型来研究受气候影响的幼虫是否会影响萨利希海本地牡蛎种群的分布和恢复。

In the face of climate change, future distribution of animals will depend not only on whether they adjust to new conditions in their current habitat, but also on whether a species can spread to suitable locations in a changing habitat landscape. In the ocean, where most species have tiny drifting larval stages, dispersal between habitats is impacted by more than just ocean currents alone; the swimming behavior of larvae, the flow environment the larvae encounter, and the length of time the larvae spend in the water column all interact to impact the distance and direction of larval dispersal. The effects of climate change, especially ocean acidification, are already evident in shellfish species along the Pacific coast, where hatchery managers have noticed shellfish cultures with 'lazy larvae syndrome.' Under conditions of increased acidification, these 'lazy larvae' simply stop swimming; yet, larval swimming behavior is rarely incorporated into studies of ocean acidification. Furthermore, how ocean warming interacts with the effects of acidification on larvae and their swimming behaviors remains unexplored; indeed, warming could reverse 'lazy larvae syndrome.' This project uses a combination of manipulative laboratory experiments, computer modeling, and a real case study to examine whether the impacts of ocean warming and acidification on individual larvae may affect the distribution and restoration of populations of native oysters in the Salish Sea. The project will tightly couple research with undergraduate education at Western Washington University, a primarily undergraduate university, by employing student researchers, incorporating materials into undergraduate courses, and pairing marine science student interns with art student interns to develop art projects aimed at communicating the effects of climate change to public audiencesAs studies of the effects of climate stress in the marine environment progress, impacts on individual-level performance must be placed in a larger ecological context. While future climate-induced circulation changes certainly will affect larval dispersal, the effects of climate-change stressors on individual larval traits alone may have equally important impacts, significantly altering larval transport and, ultimately, species distribution. This study will experimentally examine the relationship between combined climate stressors (warming and acidification) on planktonic larval duration, morphology, and swimming behavior; create models to generate testable hypotheses about the effects of these factors on larval dispersal that can be applied across systems; and, finally, use a bio-physically coupled larval transport model to examine whether climate-impacted larvae may affect the distribution and restoration of populations of native oysters in the Salish Sea.