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

由于旅行限制和遏制COVID-19大流行的措施，人类对生物圈的影响程度发生了大规模变化。对自然区域的访问次数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。以前的研究表明，人类可以通过恐吓动物和改变它们的行为来影响整个生态系统。COVID-19隔离在全球水肺潜水目的地的海洋中创造了一个“自然实验”，暂停了潜水旅游，并暂时消除了潜水员引起的恐惧对珊瑚礁鱼类群落的影响。在加拉帕戈斯群岛，2020年3月，厄瓜多尔政府叫停潜水旅游，水肺潜水者的数量从每年1.8万人降至零。这项研究正在测量珊瑚礁鱼类行为，种群和物种之间的生态相互作用的变化，以了解潜水活动如何影响这个海洋生态系统的功能。通过将隔离期间和之后的珊瑚礁鱼类群落与COVID-19之前的长期基线研究进行比较，正在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的公众和高中生介绍情况。正在制作一个关于加拉帕戈斯海洋保护区潜水活动生态影响的YouTube视频，并向公众提供。从这个项目的见解是人类如何影响潮下带海洋生态系统，这是帮助海洋保护区的努力，在加拉帕戈斯和其他地方的认识。该研究的智力贡献在于它的能力，以测试假设人类的作用，影响消费和非消费的相互作用，在塑造海洋生态系统的结构，复杂性和功能。虽然人们知道，珊瑚礁鱼类对人类的反应是潜在的捕食者，但对捕食的恐惧，一种主要的非消耗性相互作用，如何影响潮下带海洋群落，特别是在与保护有关的大空间尺度上，却知之甚少。一项综合的观察-实验研究计划正在通过将当前条件与现有的COVID-19前数据进行比较，来解决加拉帕戈斯海洋保护区的这一知识缺口。与大流行溢出效应相关的四个假设或预测正在接受检验：1）潜水员干扰导致珊瑚鱼行为变化; 2）潜水员减少了珊瑚鱼的丰度和多样性，目前这种影响正在减少; 3）先前警惕的草食性和/或捕食性鱼类的出现或数量增加导致在COVID-19期间和之后立即消耗更多的底栖生物;和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的复杂性（攻击性和积极的相互作用）。这些假设正在三次研究旅行的过程中在14个地点进行测试，使用水下观察和实验，包括鱼类计数，摄像机部署以记录鱼类行为，摄食率，物种之间的相互作用以及潜水旅游船的水下船只噪音。该项目对理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，同时也为人类大流行病的生态后果提供了独特的见解。该奖项反映了NSF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。

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.