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

博福特海的浅大陆架边缘（称为“大陆架断裂”）容易受到持续气候变化的直接影响#8232;以及可能因人类活动增加而产生的间接影响，以应对与海洋变暖和海冰减少有关的新机会。博福特海陆架断裂上升流的频率可能会增加，以应对最近的大规模大气变化，可能增加的重要性，一系列的上层营养级动物的陆架断裂环境。这笔赠款将支持研究，以增加我们对#8232;该地区的重要性的理解&，以上层营养水平，如白鲸
鲸鱼，海鸟和海豹，提供了一个机械的理解大气-海洋-南极洲-捕食者系统的联系，并预测未来的后果和环境变化&对这个系统的影响。一个建立在长期的、良好的关系基础上的实质性沟通计划
研究人员与阿拉斯加北坡社区和生计组织之间的合作计划既要协调计划的采样，又要将研究结果传达给社区。在两次研究航行之前和期间，将利用各种媒体在当地传播信息，包括每日电子邮件报告、Facebook网页、博客、当地广播电台的采访和传单。将向北坡社区分发一份全面的项目报告、一份用简明英语编写的总结报告和一张描述结果的海报。项目成员还将在当地系列讲座或感兴趣的当地组织中展示研究成果。计划至少让一名K-12教师参与其中一次巡航。这两个邮轮将有
一名当地社区观察员的参与，他将在航行期间与当地社区直接沟通，并与科学小组分享当地知识。博福特海陆架断裂处经历了深层营养丰富的盆地水#8232;频繁上涌到陆架上。这种上升流不仅是短期的热量、盐分和营养物质的来源，也是一种促进初级生产力提高的机制（生产反应），而且它还在海洋区域和深度层或制度之间运输种群（物理反应），可能会改变生态系统结构以及浮游动物和鱼类猎物对高营养级消费者的可用性。博福特海陆架断裂是一个域的增强丰富的上层#8232;营养级动物，大概是在响应其猎物的可用性提高。这里
我们建议探索和识别联系大尺度大气强迫、海洋物理响应、猎物基础条件和分布、上营养级动物聚集和博福特陆架断裂沿着气候变化的机制。我们的总体假设
大气迫使（风引起的）上升流沿着这一大陆架断裂，导致远洋生态系统（浮游动物，饲料#8232;鱼）的中间环节的喂养机会增加&，这反过来又维持了白鲸#8232;鲸鱼，海鸟和海豹等动物对这一环境的利用&。这一假设将使用基于船的实地考察，配备物理和生物传感器的长期系泊，以及回顾性和预测模型输出和长期数据的综合来解决。分布，丰度，条件和生物学的多营养级将
在物理环境动态的背景下进行描述，以扩大我们对营养联系的理解，以及陆架断裂上升流对该系统的重要性。物理和生物模型输出和回顾性数据将与现场项目期间获得的机械理解进行合成，以回顾性地描述风驱动的#8232;上营养级生态系统变异性，并预测生态系统如何对这些大气驱动因素和冰海洋条件的未来预测做出反应。

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.