RAPID: Illuminating the effects of a COVID-19 elimination of diver disturbance on reef fish behavior, distribution and ecosystem functioning in the Galapagos Marine Reserve

RAPID：阐明消除 COVID-19 潜水员干扰对加拉帕戈斯海洋保护区珊瑚礁鱼类行为、分布和生态系统功能的影响

• 批准号: 2035354
• 负责人: Jon Witman
• 金额: $ 20万
• 依托单位: Brown University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-07-01 至 2022-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2035354&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAPID; Illuminating; effects; COVID; 19

Large-scale changes in the magnitude of human influence on the biosphere have occurred due to travel restrictions and quarantines to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The reduction in the number of visits to natural areas is providing an unprecedented opportunity to study the effects of people on wildlife and ecosystems. Previous studies indicate that humans can impact the entire ecosystem by frightening animals and altering their behaviors. The COVID-19 quarantine has created a "natural experiment" in the ocean at scuba-diving destinations worldwide by suspending dive tourism and temporarily eliminating the effects of diver-induced fear in reef fish communities. In the Galapagos Islands, the number of scuba divers dropped from 18,000 divers a year to zero in March 2020 when the government of Ecuador halted dive tourism. This study is measuring the changes reef fish behavior, populations and ecological interactions between species to gain an understanding of how dive activity affects the functioning of this marine ecosystem. The effects of changes in diver disturbance are being determined by comparing reef fish communities during and after the quarantine to those from a long-term pre-COVID-19 baseline study. Broader impacts include training opportunities for undergraduate students through participation in field research and senior thesis projects. Public outreach is focused on presentations to the general public and high school students in the US and in the Galapagos. A YouTube video on the ecological effects of diving activity in the Galapagos Marine Reserve is being produced and made publicly available. Insights from this project is increasing awareness of how humans impact subtidal marine ecosystems, which is aiding marine conservation efforts of marine protected areas in the Galapagos and elsewhere.The intellectual contribution of the research lies in its ability to test hypotheses about the role of humans in influencing consumptive and non-consumptive interactions in shaping the structure, complexity and functioning of marine ecosystems. While it is known that reef fish react to humans as potential predators, less is known about how the fear of predation, a major type of non-consumptive interaction, affects subtidal marine communities, particularly on large spatial scales relevant to conservation. An integrated, observational - experimental research program is addressing this knowledge gap in the Galapagos Marine Reserve by comparing current conditions with existing pre-COVID-19 data. Four hypotheses or predictions related to pandemic spillover effects are being tested: 1) diver disturbance results in behavioral shifts in reef fishes; 2) divers decrease the abundance and diversity of reef fishes and this effect is currently reduced; 3) emergence or increased abundance of previously wary herbivorous and /or predatory fish results in greater consumption of benthic organisms during and immediately after the COVID-19 period; and 4) decreased diver disturbance associated with the pandemic changes the complexity of behavioral networks (aggressive and positive interactions) among reef fish, sharks and sea lions. The hypotheses are being tested at 14 sites over the course of three research trips using underwater observations and experiments involving fish counts, video camera deployments to record fish behaviors, feeding rates, interactions between species and underwater boat noise from dive tour boats. This project has implications for understanding how fish communities in the Galapagos Marine Reserve ecosystem will respond to future perturbations, while also providing unique insight into the ecological ramifications of a human pandemic.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.

由于旅行限制和遏制 COVID-19 大流行的隔离措施，人类对生物圈的影响程度发生了大规模变化。参观自然区域次数的减少为研究人类对野生动物和生态系统的影响提供了前所未有的机会。先前的研究表明，人类可以通过吓唬动物并改变它们的行为来影响整个生态系统。 COVID-19检疫暂停了潜水旅游并暂时消除了潜水员对珊瑚礁鱼类群落造成的恐惧的影响，从而在世界各地水肺潜水目的地的海洋中进行了一场“自然实验”。 2020 年 3 月，厄瓜多尔政府停止潜水旅游业，加拉帕戈斯群岛的水肺潜水员人数从每年 18,000 名潜水员降至零。这项研究正在测量珊瑚鱼行为、种群和物种之间生态相互作用的变化，以了解潜水活动如何影响该海洋生态系统的功能。通过将隔离期间和隔离后的珊瑚鱼群落与 COVID-19 之前的长期基线研究中的珊瑚鱼群落进行比较，可以确定潜水员干扰变化的影响。更广泛的影响包括通过参与实地研究和高级论文项目为本科生提供培训机会。公共宣传的重点是向美国和加拉帕戈斯群岛的公众和高中生进行演示。关于加拉帕戈斯海洋保护区潜水活动对生态影响的 YouTube 视频正在制作并公开发布。该项目的见解正在提高人们对人类如何影响潮下海洋生态系统的认识，这有助于加拉帕戈斯群岛和其他地方海洋保护区的海洋保护工作。该研究的智力贡献在于它能够检验有关人类在影响消费性和非消费性相互作用以塑造海洋生态系统的结构、复杂性和功能方面的作用的假设。虽然众所周知，珊瑚鱼会将人类视为潜在的捕食者，但对捕食的恐惧（一种主要的非消耗性相互作用）如何影响潮下海洋群落，特别是在与保护相关的大空间尺度上，人们知之甚少。一项综合观察实验研究计划正在通过将当前状况与 COVID-19 之前的现有数据进行比较来解决加拉帕戈斯海洋保护区的这一知识差距。正在测试与大流行溢出效应相关的四种假设或预测：1）潜水员干扰导致珊瑚礁鱼类的行为变化； 2) 潜水员减少了珊瑚礁鱼类的丰度和多样性，目前这种影响已经减弱； 3) 先前警惕的草食性和/或掠食性鱼类的出现或数量增加导致在 COVID-19 期间和之后对底栖生物的消耗量增加； 4）与大流行相关的潜水员干扰减少，改变了珊瑚鱼、鲨鱼和海狮之间行为网络（攻击性和积极相互作用）的复杂性。在 3 次研究旅行的过程中，这些假设正在 14 个地点进行测试，使用水下观察和实验，包括鱼类数量、部署摄像机记录鱼类行为、进食率、物种之间的相互作用以及潜水游船的水下船只噪音。该项目对于了解加拉帕戈斯海洋保护区生态系统中的鱼类群落如何应对未来的扰动具有重要意义，同时还提供了对人类流行病的生态影响的独特见解。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。