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

该项目解决了我们在不断变化的环境条件将如何影响地球物种和生态系统方面的知识的根本空白。主要的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压力因素的影响。因此，沿海海洋栖息地的气候模拟将产生关于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合作伙伴关系，重点是为代表性不足的学生社区提供服务，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，这项研究将在阿拉斯加的锡特卡进行，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“科学家在学校”项目和小学儿童夏令营。本研究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轨迹及其对多种气候压力源的交互响应。为了揭示这些联系，研究人员将(1)量化底栖海洋群落在环境条件下的季节和昼夜动态，(2)对两个气候压力源（二氧化碳浓度和温度升高）进行因子操作，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，以评估生产力响应是否由于生理或生物多样性的变化。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）来影响生态系统功能，本研究特别旨在划分这些不同的途径，从而更有效地预测对底栖海洋生态系统的影响。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。

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.