Collaborative Research: Physical Mechanisms Driving Food Web Focusing in Antarctic Biological Hotspots

合作研究：驱动食物网的物理机制聚焦南极生物热点

• 批准号: 1745009
• 负责人: Josh Kohut
• 金额: $ 49.88万
• 依托单位: Rutgers University New Brunswick
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-09-15 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1745009&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Physical; Mechanisms; Driving

Undersea canyons play disproportionately important roles as oceanic biological hotspots and are critical for our understanding of many coastal ecosystems. Canyon-associated biological hotspots have persisted for thousands of years Along the Western Antarctic Peninsula, despite significant climate variability. Observations of currents over Palmer Deep canyon, a representative hotspot along the Western Antarctic Peninsula, indicate that surface phytoplankton blooms enter and exit the local hotspot on scales of ~1-2 days. This time of residence is in conflict with the prevailing idea that canyon associated hotspots are primarily maintained by phytoplankton that are locally grown in association with these features by the upwelling of deep waters rich with nutrients that fuel the phytoplankton growth. Instead, the implication is that horizontal ocean circulation is likely more important to maintaining these biological hotspots than local upwelling through its physical concentrating effects. This project seeks to better resolve the factors that create and maintain focused areas of biological activity at canyons along the Western Antarctic Peninsula and create local foraging areas for marine mammals and birds. The project focus is in the analysis of the ocean transport and concentration mechanisms that sustain these biological hotspots, connecting oceanography to phytoplankton and krill, up through the food web to one of the resident predators, penguins. In addition, the research will engage with teachers from school districts serving underrepresented and underserved students by integrating the instructors and their students completely with the science team. Students will conduct their own research with the same data over the same time as researchers on the project. Revealing the fundamental mechanisms that sustain these known hotspots will significantly advance our understanding of the observed connection between submarine canyons and persistent penguin population hotspots over ecological time, and provide a new model for how Antarctic hotspots function. To understand the physical mechanisms that support persistent hotspots along the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), this project will integrate a modeling and field program that will target the processes responsible for transporting and concentrating phytoplankton and krill biomass to known penguin foraging locations. Within the Palmer Deep canyon, a representative hotspot, the team will deploy a High Frequency Radar (HFR) coastal surface current mapping network, uniquely equipped to identify the eddies and frontal regions that concentrate phytoplankton and krill. The field program, centered on surface features identified by the HFR, will include (i) a coordinated fleet of gliders to survey hydrography, chlorophyll fluorescence, optical backscatter, and active acoustics at the scale of the targeted convergent features; (ii) precise penguin tracking with GPS-linked satellite telemetry and time-depth recorders (TDRs); (iii) and weekly small boat surveys that adaptively target and track convergent features to measure phytoplankton, krill, and hydrography. A high resolution physical model will generalize our field measurements to other known hotspots along the WAP through simulation and determine which physical mechanisms lead to the maintenance of these hotspots. The project will also engage educators, students, and members of the general public in Antarctic research and data analysis with an education program that will advance teaching and learning as well as broadening participation of under-represented groups. This engagement includes professional development workshops, live connections to the public and classrooms, student research symposia, and program evaluation. Together the integrated research and engagement will advance our understanding of the role regional transport pathways and local depth dependent concentrating physical mechanisms play in sustaining these biological hotspots.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

海底峡谷作为海洋生物热点发挥着不成比例的重要作用，对我们了解许多沿海生态系统至关重要。尽管有显著的气候变化，但沿着南极半岛西部，峡谷相关的生物热点已经持续了数千年。对南极半岛西部代表性热点帕尔默峡谷（Palmer Deep canyon）的海流观测表明，海面浮游植物大量繁殖以1 ~ 2天为尺度进入和退出局地热点。这种居住时间与流行的观点相冲突，即峡谷相关热点主要由当地生长的浮游植物维持，这些特征与富含营养物质的深水上涌有关，这些营养物质为浮游植物的生长提供了动力。相反，这意味着水平海洋环流对于维持这些生物热点可能比局部上升流更重要，因为它的物理集中效应。该项目旨在更好地解决在南极半岛西部峡谷中创造和维持生物活动集中区域的因素，并为海洋哺乳动物和鸟类创造当地的觅食区。该项目的重点是分析维持这些生物热点的海洋运输和集中机制，将海洋学与浮游植物和磷虾联系起来，通过食物网与常驻捕食者之一企鹅联系起来。此外，该研究将通过将教师和他们的学生完全融入科学团队，与来自服务代表性不足和服务不足的学生的学区的教师进行接触。学生们将与项目研究人员在同一时间使用相同的数据进行自己的研究。揭示维持这些已知热点的基本机制将极大地促进我们对海底峡谷与持续存在的企鹅种群热点在生态时间内的联系的理解，并为南极热点如何发挥作用提供一个新的模型。为了了解支持南极西部半岛（WAP）持续热点的物理机制，该项目将整合建模和实地计划，以负责将浮游植物和磷虾生物量运输和集中到已知企鹅觅食地点的过程为目标。在帕尔默深峡谷，一个代表性的热点，团队将部署高频雷达（HFR）海岸表面洋流测绘网络，独特的装备，以确定漩涡和锋面区域集中的浮游植物和磷虾。现场项目以HFR确定的地表特征为中心，将包括：(1)一支协调的滑翔机舰队，在目标会聚特征的尺度上调查水文、叶绿素荧光、光学后向散射和主动声学；利用与全球定位系统相连的卫星遥测技术和时间深度记录仪精确跟踪企鹅；（iii）和每周小船调查，自适应地定位和跟踪收敛特征，以测量浮游植物、磷虾和水文。高分辨率物理模型将通过模拟将我们的现场测量推广到WAP沿线的其他已知热点，并确定导致这些热点维持的物理机制。该项目还将通过一项教育计划吸引教育工作者、学生和普通公众参与南极研究和数据分析，该计划将促进教学和学习，并扩大代表性不足群体的参与。这种参与包括专业发展研讨会、与公众和教室的实时联系、学生研究专题讨论会和项目评估。综合研究和参与将促进我们对区域运输途径和局部深度依赖的集中物理机制在维持这些生物热点中所起作用的理解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Krill availability in adjacent Adélie and gentoo penguin foraging regions near Palmer Station, Antarctica

南极洲帕尔默站附近邻近阿德利企鹅和巴布亚企鹅觅食区的磷虾供应情况

• DOI: 10.1002/lno.11750
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Limnology and Oceanography
• 影响因子: 4.5
• 作者: Nardelli, Schuyler C.;Cimino, Megan A.;Conroy, John A.;Fraser, William R.;Steinberg, Deborah K.;Schofield, Oscar
• 通讯作者: Schofield, Oscar

A subsurface eddy associated with a submarine canyon increases availability and delivery of simulated Antarctic krill to penguin foraging regions

与海底峡谷相关的地下涡流增加了模拟南极磷虾向企鹅觅食区的供应和运输

• DOI: 10.3354/meps14211
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Marine Ecology Progress Series
• 影响因子: 2.5
• 作者: Hudson, K;Oliver, MJ;Kohut, J;Dinniman, MS;Klinck, JM;Cimino, MA;Bernard, KS;Statscewich, H;Fraser, W
• 通讯作者: Fraser, W