RAPID: Collaborative Research: Understanding linkages between nutrient quality and phytoplankton assemblage responses to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders in an urban, estuarine system

RAPID：合作研究：了解城市河口系统中营养质量与浮游植物群落对 COVID-19 居家令的反应之间的联系

• 批准号: 2039867
• 负责人: Dianne Greenfield
• 金额: $ 9.99万
• 依托单位: Research Foundation CUNY - Advanced Science Research Center
• 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: 2020-08-01 至 2023-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2039867&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAPID; Collaborative; Research; Understanding; linkages

In addition to health and safety concerns, the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had significant impacts on human behavior worldwide, from business and school closures to stay-at-home orders. As a consequence there have been unprecedented and precipitous drops in global travel for work, education, recreation, and other daily activities. The associated declines in fossil fuel consumption and pollution emissions have resulted in improved air quality. Reductions in atmospheric contaminants (particularly nitrogen, N) and deposition of pollutants must also be influencing nutrient cycling and impacting terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem processes. The situation has created a completely novel and large-scale "human experiment" in how sudden changes in socio-economic behavior and mobility patterns may influence the environment. To better understand environmental changes associated with the pandemic, this NSF RAPID project will focus on studies of coastal and estuary aquatic habitats, which are known to be particularly biologically productive and diverse. Researchers will measure key biogeochemical (nutrient) and ecological (phytoplankton, bacteria) metrics using water sampling and satellite observations of an urban estuary on the east coast of the US over the COVID-19 shutdown and reopening periods. This project will also train postdoctoral scholars and graduate students, including those from underrepresented groups in science, while enhancing the understanding of connections between societal activity and coastal ecosystems.Steep declines in the concentration, thus deposition, of atmospheric pollution (particularly N), combined with shifts in wastewater effluent distribution associated with the COVID-19 shut-down are expected to influence the biogeochemistry and ecology of adjacent coastal waters. Since the dominant N-form, and stoichiometric ratios relative to other nutrients, shape phytoplankton and bacterial community structure, sudden changes in nutrient amounts, quality, and source distribution in an urban estuary could translate to regime shifts in microbial assemblages and biogeochemical processes. The overarching hypothesis of this study is that the sudden decline in human activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic will exert considerable and measurable effects on coastal biogeochemical and physical water quality parameters as well as phytoplankton and bacterial assemblages. While this hypothesis is broadly applicable to developed coastlines worldwide, this study will focus on Long Island Sound (LIS) because it (i) borders the greater New York City (NYC) metropolitan area, specifically the commuting corridor between NY and Connecticut (CT), (ii) is heavily urbanized, (iii) was especially hard-hit by COVID-19, and (iv) NY and CT were among the first states to mandate stay-at-home restrictions, leading to surrounding communities drastically downscaling transportation activity. The research addresses three questions: 1. Have recent changes in human activity (improved air quality and concurrent changes in wastewater inputs) been associated with shifts in key biogeochemical metrics (C, N, P, Si) and stoichiometric ratios? 2. What are the corresponding responses of phytoplankton and bacterial assemblages? 3. How do these changes relate to shifts in bio-optical properties? To answer these timely ecosystem-scale questions, the team will measure key water quality and biogeochemical parameters, as well as evaluate the abundances and composition of phytoplankton and bacterial assemblages. Work will leverage regional water and air quality monitoring and past and ongoing water sampling in LIS. Satellite ocean color imagery will be used to scale-up observations from point measurements to the larger 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.

除了健康和安全问题外，全球冠状病毒（COVID-19）大流行对全球人类行为产生了重大影响，从企业和学校关闭到呆在家里的命令。因此，全球工作、教育、娱乐和其他日常活动的旅行出现了前所未有的急剧下降。化石燃料消耗和污染排放的相关下降导致空气质量的改善。大气污染物（特别是氮）的减少和污染物的沉积也必然会影响养分循环，并影响陆地和水生生态系统的进程。这种情况创造了一个全新的大规模“人类实验”，研究社会经济行为和流动模式的突然变化如何影响环境。为了更好地了解与大流行病有关的环境变化，NSF RAPID项目将重点研究沿海和河口水生栖息地，这些栖息地被认为特别具有生物生产力和多样性。研究人员将在COVID-19关闭和重新开放期间，使用美国东海岸城市河口的水样和卫星观测来测量关键的地球化学（营养）和生态（浮游植物，细菌）指标。该项目还将培训博士后学者和研究生，包括来自科学界代表性不足群体的学者和研究生，同时提高对社会活动与沿海生态系统之间联系的认识。（特别是N），再加上与COVID-19关闭相关的废水排放分布变化，预计会影响邻近沿海沃茨的地球化学和生态。由于占主导地位的N-形式，化学计量比相对于其他营养物质，形状浮游植物和细菌群落结构，营养物质的数量，质量和源分布在城市河口的突然变化可能会转化为政权的转变微生物组合和生态地球化学过程。本研究的首要假设是，COVID-19大流行导致人类活动突然减少，将对沿海生物地球化学和物理水质参数以及浮游植物和细菌组合产生重大且可测量的影响。虽然这一假设广泛适用于全球发达海岸线，但本研究将重点关注长岛海峡（LIS），因为它（i）与大纽约市（NYC）大都市区接壤，特别是纽约和康涅狄格州（CT）之间的通勤走廊，（ii）高度城市化，（iii）受到COVID-19的严重打击，以及（iv）纽约州和康涅狄格州是首批强制规定居家限制的州之一，导致周边社区大幅缩减交通活动。本研究提出三个问题：1.最近人类活动的变化（空气质量的改善和废水输入的同步变化）是否与关键地球化学指标（C，N，P，Si）和化学计量比的变化有关？2.浮游植物和细菌群落的相应反应是什么？3.这些变化与生物光学特性的变化有什么关系？为了及时回答这些生态系统规模的问题，该团队将测量关键的水质和生物地球化学参数，并评估浮游植物和细菌组合的丰度和组成。工作将利用区域水和空气质量监测以及地雷影响调查中过去和正在进行的水取样。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。

项目成果

The influences of phenology, spatial distribution, and nitrogen form on Long Island Sound phytoplankton biomass and taxonomic composition

物候、空间分布和氮形态对长岛湾浮游植物生物量和分类组成的影响

• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2023.108451
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Coastal and Shelf Science
• 作者: Roldan Ayala, Zabdiel;Arnott, Stephen A.;Ambrosone, Mariapaola;Espinosa, Jessica I.;Humphries, Georgie E.;Tzortziou, Maria;Goes, Joaquim I.;Greenfield, Dianne I.
• 通讯作者: Greenfield, Dianne I.