Origin and Fate of Harmful Algal Blooms in the Warming Chukchi Sea

北冰洋的太平洋部分正在变暖，特别是楚科奇海的浅海。因此，许多生物可能会扩散到北极水域，其中一些对人类和生态系统健康构成重大威胁，例如有害藻华（HAB）物种（通常称为赤潮）。调查人员提供的证据表明，赤潮发生在楚科奇海，我们知道，它们产生的强效神经毒素可以影响海洋哺乳动物、海鸟和其他对生存采集者至关重要的资源。与此同时，人们对太平洋北极地区有毒藻类对人类目前和未来的风险知之甚少。这项研究将首次以高分辨率记录阿拉斯加北极地区及其运输路径内大空间尺度上高毒性有害藻华物种的当前分布，并将提供对现在和未来变暖的高风险毒性地区的估计。研究人员将通过小册子、公开讲座、在当地社区的电台采访以及与当地科学家和管理人员的讨论来传播结果。该项目将通过伍兹霍尔科技教育合作伙伴关系为K-12教育做出贡献，并将为博士后研究人员、研究生和本科生提供培训。该项目的假设基础是，阿拉斯加北极水域的有害藻华物种（HABs）不仅是从南方通过白令海峡平流而来，而且由于温度变暖、环流动力学和水体结构影响了藻华的规模、持续时间、毒性和复发，现在起源于楚科奇大陆架。这一问题将通过一个物理生物学领域和实验室联合项目来解决，研究楚科奇海地区有害藻华物种分布/动态与物理环境之间的关系。将根据水文和环流绘制楚科奇陆架上有害藻华种类的分布图，包括对输送楚科奇海最温暖的水的阿拉斯加海岸流进行全面调查。在白令海峡和楚科奇海的大规模风强迫和水团分配的背景下，将使用一系列分子和生理工具来研究该地区赤潮种群的起源、连通性和命运。囊泡和同位素分析将建立一个沿着通往北极西部的主要运输通道的水华历史记录。最后，楚科奇海地区赤潮的起源、迁移和命运的概念模型将阐明与不同水团的流动路径、动力学和特征的联系。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。

The Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean is warming, in particular the shallow Chukchi Sea. As a result, many organisms may spread into Arctic waters, and some present significant threats to human and ecosystem health, such as harmful algal bloom (HAB) species (commonly called red tides). The investigators present evidence that HABs occur in the Chukchi Sea and we know that the potent neurotoxins they produce can affect marine mammals, seabirds, and other resources critical to subsistence harvesters. At the same time, little is known about the present and future risk from toxic algae to humans in the Pacific Arctic region. This study will be the first to document the current distribution of highly toxic HAB species at high resolution over large spatial scales within the Alaskan Arctic and along its transport pathways and will provide estimates of areas at high risk of toxicity now and in a warming future. The investigators will disseminate results via brochures, public lectures, and radio interviews in native communities, as well as through discussions with local scientists and managers. The project will contribute to K-12 education through the Woods Hole Science and Technology Educational Partnership and will provide training for postdoctoral investigators and graduate and undergraduate students.The hypothesis underlying this project is that harmful algal bloom species (HABs) in Alaskan Arctic waters are not only advected from the south through Bering Strait but are now originating locally on the Chukchi shelf due to warming temperatures, circulation dynamics, and water mass structure that influence bloom magnitude, duration, toxicity, and recurrence. This will be addressed through a joint physical-biological field and laboratory program to study the relationship between HAB species distribution/dynamics and the physical environment of the Chukchi Sea region. The distribution of HAB species on the Chukchi shelf will be mapped in relation to hydrography and circulation, including a comprehensive survey of the Alaskan Coastal Current which transports the warmest water in the Chukchi Sea. A range of molecular and physiological tools will be used to investigate the origin, connectivity, and fate of HAB populations in the region in the context of large-scale wind forcing and partitioning of water masses flowing through Bering Strait and the Chukchi Sea. Cyst and isotope profiling will establish a historical record of blooms along the major transport pathways to the western Arctic. Finally, conceptual models of the origin, transport, and fate of HABs in the Chukchi Sea region will elucidate linkages to the flow pathways, dynamics, and characteristics of the different water masses.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.