Collaborative Research: Effects of multiple aspects of climate change on marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning

这个项目解决了我们在环境条件变化将如何影响地球物种和生态系统的知识方面的根本空白。主要挑战之一是预测在高度动态的生态系统中同时变化的多种环境应激源的影响。因此，沿海海洋生物栖息地的气候模拟将产生有关生物多样性和生态系统健康未来可能变化的关键信息。该项目是各机构之间的伙伴关系，重点是服务于代表性不足的学生社区，调查人员致力于通过各自的机构参与K-12和本科生指导计划。此外，这项研究将设在阿拉斯加州的锡特卡，在那里，研究人员将与锡特卡声音科学中心合作，将研究纳入学校科学家计划和小学儿童夏令营。这项工作旨在揭示气候变化对沿海海洋物种、群落和生态系统功能的影响和对多种气候压力的交互反应的轨迹。为了发现这些联系，研究人员将(1)量化底栖海洋群落环境条件下的季节和昼夜动态，(2)对两个气候应激源--二氧化碳浓度和温度增加--进行因素方差处理，并测量对生理、多样性和生产力的影响，以及(3)进行第二次实地实验，以评估生产力反应是由于生理变化还是生物多样性变化。气候变化有可能通过改变生理、丰度和群落结构(即生物多样性)来影响生态系统的功能，这项研究特别旨在划分这些不同的路径，导致对海底海洋生态系统影响的更有效预测。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project addresses fundamental gaps in our knowledge of how changing environmental conditions will impact the earth's species and ecosystems. One of the main challenges is predicting impacts of multiple environmental stressors changing at the same time within highly dynamic ecosystems. Climate simulations in coastal marine habitats will, therefore, yield critical information about likely future changes in biodiversity and ecosystem health. This project is a partnership between institutions with a strong focus on serving underrepresented communities of students, and the investigators are committed to participating in K-12 and undergraduate mentorship programs through their respective institutions. Furthermore, the research will be based in Sitka, Alaska, where investigators will collaborate with the Sitka Sound Science Center to incorporate research into the Scientist in the Schools program and a summer day camp for elementary age children.This work aims to uncover the trajectory of climate change impacts and interactive responses to multiple climatic stressors on coastal marine species, communities, and ecosystem functioning. To uncover these links, the investigators will (1) quantify seasonal and diel dynamics under ambient conditions in a benthic marine community, (2) conduct factorial manipulations of two climatic stressors - increased carbon dioxide concentrations and temperatures - and measure impacts on physiology, diversity, and productivity, and (3) conduct a second field experiment to evaluate whether productivity responses are due to changes in physiology or biodiversity. Climatic changes have the potential to influence ecosystem functioning by altering physiology, abundance, and community structure (i.e., biodiversity), and this research specifically aims to partition these different pathways, leading to more effective predictions of impacts on benthic marine ecosystems.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.