Assemblage-wide effects of Ocean Acidification and Ocean Warming on Ecologically important Macroalgal-associated Crustaceans in Antarctica

海洋酸化和海洋变暖对南极洲具有重要生态意义的大型藻类相关甲壳类动物的总体影响

• 批准号: 1848887
• 负责人: James McClintock
• 金额: $ 69.88万
• 依托单位: University of Alabama at Birmingham
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-08-01 至 2025-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1848887&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Assemblage; wide; effects; Ocean; Acidification

Undersea forests of seaweeds dominate the shallow waters of the central and northern coast of the western Antarctic Peninsula and provide critical structural habitat and carbon resources (food) for a host of marine organisms. Most of the seaweeds are chemically defended against herbivores yet support very high densities of herbivorous shrimp-like grazers (crustaceans, primarily amphipods) which greatly benefit their hosts by consuming filamentous and microscopic algae that otherwise overgrow the seaweeds. The amphipods benefit from the association with the chemically defended seaweeds by gaining an associational refuge from fish predation. The project builds on recent work that has demonstrated that several species of amphipods that are key members of crustacean assemblages associated with the seaweeds suffer significant mortality when chronically exposed to increased seawater acidity (reduced pH) and elevated temperatures representative of near-future oceans. By simulating these environmental conditions in the laboratory at Palmer Station, Antarctica, the investigators will test the overall hypothesis that ocean acidification and ocean warming will play a significant role in structuring crustacean assemblages associated with seaweeds. Broader impacts include expanding fundamental knowledge of the impacts of global climate change by focusing on a geographic region of the earth uniquely susceptible to climate change. This project will also further the NSF goals of training new generations of scientists and of making scientific discoveries available to the general public. This includes training graduate students and early career scientists with an emphasis on diversity, presentations to K-12 groups and the general public, and a variety of social media-based outreach programs. The project will compare population and assemblage-wide impacts of natural (ambient), carbon dioxide enriched, and elevated temperature seawater on assemblages of seaweed-associated crustacean grazers. Based on prior results, it is likely that some species will be relative "winners" and some will be relative "losers" under the changed conditions. The project will then aim to carry out measurements of growth, calcification, mineralogy, the incidence of molts, and biochemical and energetic body composition for two key amphipod "winners" and two key amphipod "losers". These measurements will allow an assessment of what factors drive species-specific enhanced or diminished performance under conditions of ocean acidification and sea surface warming. The project will expand on what little is known about prospective impacts of changing conditions on benthic marine Crustacea, in Antarctica, a taxonomic group that faces the additional physiological stressor of molting. The project is likely to provide additional insight on the indirect regulation of the seaweeds that comprise Antarctic undersea forests that provide key architectural components of the coastal marine ecosystem.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.

海底海藻森林在南极半岛西部中部和北部海岸的浅水中占主导地位，为许多海洋生物提供了重要的结构性栖息地和碳资源（食物）。大多数海藻具有化学防御作用，不受食草动物的侵害，但却支持非常高密度的食草类虾类食草动物（甲壳类动物，主要是片脚类动物），这些食草动物通过消耗丝状和微小的藻类，极大地造福了它们的宿主，否则海藻就会过度生长。片脚类动物受益于与具有化学防御作用的海藻的联系，从而获得了一个免受鱼类捕食的联合避难所。该项目建立在最近的研究基础上，该研究表明，当长期暴露于代表未来海洋的海水酸度增加（pH值降低）和温度升高时，与海藻相关的甲壳类动物组合的关键成员——几种片脚类动物会严重死亡。通过在南极洲帕尔默站的实验室模拟这些环境条件，研究人员将测试海洋酸化和海洋变暖将在与海藻相关的甲壳类动物组合结构中发挥重要作用的总体假设。更广泛的影响包括通过关注地球上特别易受气候变化影响的地理区域，扩大对全球气候变化影响的基本知识。该项目还将进一步实现国家科学基金会培养新一代科学家和使科学发现向公众开放的目标。这包括培训研究生和早期职业科学家，强调多样性，向K-12团体和公众进行演讲，以及各种基于社交媒体的外展计划。该项目将比较自然（环境）、富含二氧化碳和温度升高的海水对海藻相关甲壳类食草动物种群和种群的影响。根据先前的结果，在变化的条件下，一些物种可能会成为相对的“赢家”，而另一些物种可能会成为相对的“输家”。然后，该项目将针对两个关键的片脚类“赢家”和两个关键的片脚类“输家”进行生长、钙化、矿物学、蜕皮发生率、生化和能量身体组成的测量。这些测量将有助于评估在海洋酸化和海面变暖的条件下，是什么因素导致特定物种的性能增强或减弱。该项目将扩大对南极底栖海洋甲壳类动物变化条件的潜在影响的了解，这一分类群体面临着蜕皮的额外生理压力。该项目可能会对构成南极海底森林的海藻的间接调节提供额外的见解，这些海洋森林为沿海海洋生态系统提供了关键的建筑组成部分。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。