Collaborative Research: The Importance of Shelf Break Upwelling to Upper Trophic Level Ecology in the Western Beaufort Sea

合作研究：陆架破裂上升流对波弗特海西部高营养层生态的重要性

• 批准号: 1603321
• 负责人: Robert Campbell
• 金额: $ 56.51万
• 依托单位: University of Rhode Island
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-10-01 至 2021-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1603321&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Importance; Shelf; Break

The edge of the shallow continental shelf (called the 'shelf break') in the Beaufort Sea is vulnerable both to direct impacts of ongoing climate change
and to indirect impacts that may result from increased human activity in response to new opportunities associated with ocean warming and sea ice reduction. Beaufort Sea shelf break upwelling may be increasing in frequency in response to recent large-scale atmospheric changes, potentially increasing the importance of the shelf-break environment for a range of upper trophic level animals. This grant will support research to increase our understanding of the importance of
the region to upper trophic levels such as beluga
whales, seabirds, and seals, provide a mechanistic understanding of the linked atmosphere-ocean- plankton-predator system, and predict future consequences and impacts of environmental change
on this system. A substantial communications program built upon long-standing, well-established relationships
between the researchers and Alaska North Slope communities and subsistence organizations is planned both to coordinate the planned sampling and to convey the results of the research back to the communities. Information will be disseminated locally before and during two research cruises using a range of media including daily email reports, Facebook pages, blogs, interviews on local radio stations, and flyers. A comprehensive project
report, a summary report written in straightforward English, and a poster describing results
will be disseminated to the North Slope communities. Project members will also present results
of the research in local lecture series or to interested local organizations. Involvement
of a K-12 teacher in at least one of the cruises is planned. Both cruises will have
the participation of a local community observer who will communicate directly with local communities during the cruise and share local knowledge with the science party. The Beaufort Sea shelf break experiences frequent upwelling of deep, nutrient rich basin water
onto the shelf. Such upwelling is not only a short-term source of heat, salt, and nutrients, and a mechanism promoting elevated primary production (production response), but it also transports populations between ocean regions and depth strata or regimes (physical response), potentially modifying ecosystem structure and availability of zooplankton and fish prey to upper trophic
level consumers. The Beaufort Sea shelf break is a domain of enhanced abundance of upper
trophic level animals, presumably in response to elevated availability of their prey. Here
we propose to explore and identify the mechanisms linking broad-scale atmospheric forcing, ocean physical response, prey-base condition and distribution, upper trophic level animal aggregations, and climate change along the Beaufort Shelf break. Our overarching hypothesis
is that atmospherically-forced (wind-induced) upwelling along this shelf break leads to enhanced feeding opportunities for intermediate links in the pelagic ecosystem (zooplankton, forage
fish) that in turn sustain the exploitation of this environment by animals such as beluga
whales, seabirds, and seals. This hypothesis will be addressed using a combination of ship-based fieldwork, long-term moorings equipped with physical and biological sensors, and syntheses of retrospective and projected model output and longer-term data. The distributions, abundances, condition, and biology of multiple trophic levels will
be described within the context of the dynamics of the physical environment to expand our understanding of trophic linkages and the importance of shelf-break upwelling to that system. Physical and biological model output and retrospective data will be synthesized with the mechanistic understanding gained during the field program to retrospectively characterize wind-driven
upper trophic level ecosystem variability and predict how the ecosystem may respond to future projections of these atmospheric drivers and ice-ocean conditions.

Beaufort Sea中浅的大陆架（称为“架子断裂”）的边缘既容易受到直接影响，既可以直接影响持续的气候变化及间接影响，从而间接影响可能导致人类活动增加，而人类活动会增加与海洋变暖相关的新机会和减少海冰的响应。 Beaufort Sea Breaking上升流的频率可能会因最近的大规模大气变化而增加，这可能会增加货架破裂环境对一系列营养水平的动物的重要性。这项赠款将支持研究，以提高我们对该地区对高层营养水平的重要性的理解，例如Beluga whales＆＃8232; Whales，Seabirds and Seals，提供了对链接的大气层 - cocean-cocean-cocean-cocean-cocean-cocean-ocean-plankton-prodator系统的理解，并预测了环境变化的未来后果和影响。计划在研究人员和阿拉斯加北坡社区和生存组织之间建立的实质性通信计划既计划着协调计划的抽样，又计划将研究结果传达给社区。通过一系列媒体，包括每日电子邮件报告，Facebook页面，博客，当地广播电台和传单的采访，在两次研究巡游之前和期间，信息将在本地传播。一项综合项目＆＃8232;报告，用简单的英语编写的摘要报告以及描述结果的海报将被传播到北坡社区。项目成员还将在本地讲座系列或有兴趣的本地组织中介绍研究结果。计划在至少一名巡航中参与K-12老师的参与。两次巡游都将拥有当地社区观察者的参与，他们将在巡航过程中直接与当地社区进行交流，并与科学党分享当地知识。 Beaufort Sea Break Break频繁地将深，营养丰富的盆地水的上升流到架子上。这种上升的不仅是热，盐和营养的短期来源，也是促进初级生产升高（生产反应）的机制，而且还可以在海洋地区与深度层或政权（物理反应）之间运送种群（物理响应），可能会修改生态系统结构以及浮游动物和捕捞雾的上游滋养＆＃82222222222222. Beaufort Sea Break Break是上层动物的丰富性增强的领域，大概是为了响应其猎物的可用性升高而响应。在这里，我们建议探索和确定连接大规模大气强迫，海洋物理反应，猎物碱基状况和分布，上营养水平的动物聚集以及沿Beaufort架子沿Beaufort货架上断的机制。我们的总体假设＆＃8232;是沿着这个架子上的大气（风力引起的）上升的大气（风力引起的上升流动），导致增强了叶片生态系统中中间环节的喂养机会（浮游生物，饲料，饲料），反过来维持这种环境的剥削。该假设将使用基于船舶的现场工作，配备物理和生物学传感器的长期系泊设备以及回顾性和投影模型输出以及长期数据的合成来解决。多个营养层的分布，丰度，条件和生物学将在物理环境的动态中描述，以扩展我们对营养链接的理解以及对该系统上升的货架破裂的重要性。物理和生物学模型的输出和回顾性数据将与现场计划中获得的机制理解合成，以回顾性地表征风向型＆＃8232;上营养水平的生态系统变异性，并预测生态系统如何应对这些大气驱动因素和冰雪的未来预测。