RUI: Collaborative Research: The consequences of species loss for food web persistence and functioning in the Gulf of Maine rocky intertidal

RUI：合作研究：物种丧失对缅因湾岩石潮间带食物网持久性和功能的影响

• 批准号: 2049304
• 负责人: Allison Barner
• 金额: $ 45.97万
• 依托单位: Colby College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-03-01 至 2025-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2049304&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Collaborative; Research; consequences; species

Species are going locally extinct in coastal ecosystems at an alarming rate, yet the ability to predict the consequences of these extinctions remains limited. In particular, the loss of one species may trigger additional, and potentially unexpected, losses of species, because species depend on each other for food or habitat. For example, the loss of a prey species might result in predator declines and the loss of important functions and services that the predator provides (e.g., food production). In the Gulf of Maine, rapid warming and overexploitation are thought to have contributed to the near local extinction of the intertidal blue mussel (Mytilus edulis), an important prey species whose loss could have cascading consequences for this ecosystem. The project explores the consequence of blue mussel declines to the food web and to the ecosystem (e.g., through water filtration that improves water quality, and secondary production that supports food for people). The investigators are using theoretical models of species loss from food webs in combination with long-term ecological data and field experiments to investigate the effects of local species extinctions on ecosystem function. This combined approach is generating and testing theoretical predictions of species loss on ecosystem biodiversity and food web structure. Insights from this project are contributing to a better understanding of dynamics of coastal ecosystems worldwide that face similar losses of prey species. The project is fostering a new collaboration between a small liberal arts college (Colby College) and a research-intensive university (University of Colorado Boulder), creating unique training, mentoring, and educational exchange opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students. This project is training a PhD student, a postdoctoral scholar, and undergraduate students, with a focus on engaging underrepresented groups and enhancing computational training for marine ecologists. This project is supporting the development of web-based teaching modules on complex ecological systems in combination with outreach and education efforts in Maine's coastal communities and in Colorado’s inland rural and urban communities. Worldwide changes in local biodiversity are altering the functioning of ecosystems and the ecosystem services on which humans depend. Predicting the consequences of such changes in biodiversity to coastal ecosystem function and structure is complicated by the multiplicity of species interactions that characterize complex food webs. Food web theory predicts that the loss of species like the blue mussel has cascading impacts on the community through secondary losses of consumers that depend on resource species. However, such predictions of food web collapse (termed "robustness") have rarely been empirically tested. Furthermore, previous studies have rarely considered how secondary losses of species might alter coastal ecosystem function. For example, the loss of the abundant filter-feeding M. edulis is likely to affect water filtration, however, M. edulis’ role as a key prey species could impact other ecosystem functions performed by species that consume M. edulis (e.g., secondary production). Thus, to estimate and predict the consequences of local extinctions on coastal ecosystem functioning, requires a research approach that moves beyond a focus on single species, and considers both direct and secondary species losses. This project is integrating food web modeling, field observations, data synthesis, and experimental species removals to quantify the impact of recent species losses on the structure and stability of the Gulf of Maine rocky intertidal food web. Historical and existing species interaction data and field observations are being synthesized to generate a detailed food web with ecosystem functions for the Gulf of Maine rocky intertidal. This food web model is used to predict the cascading impacts of species loss in this community, with particular attention to the impact on key ecosystem functions measured in situ. Finally, the predictions are tested in a multi-year factorial species removal experiment that quantifies how the diversity, structure, and function of the food web is affected by targeted species removal. This novel approach is providing much-needed empirical ground truthing to predictions of food web ecology. It is among the first of such experimental tests in marine systems. This research has the potential to transform the understanding of how marine ecosystem structure and function are altered by species losses, and the predictability of food web changes through empirical testing.This project is jointly funded by Biological Oceanography and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.

沿海生态系统中的物种正以惊人的速度局部灭绝，但预测这些灭绝的后果的能力仍然有限。特别是，一个物种的丧失可能会引发额外的、可能意想不到的物种损失，因为物种之间相互依赖食物或栖息地。例如，一个被捕食物种的丧失可能会导致捕食者数量的减少和捕食者提供的重要功能和服务的丧失(例如，食物生产)。在缅因湾，迅速变暖和过度捕捞被认为是导致潮间带蓝贻贝(Mytilus Edulis)几乎局部灭绝的原因之一，这是一种重要的猎物物种，其丧失可能对该生态系统产生连锁后果。该项目探讨了蓝色贻贝向食物网和生态系统衰退的后果(例如，通过改善水质的水过滤和支持人类食物的二次生产)。研究人员正在使用食物网物种丧失的理论模型，结合长期的生态数据和野外实验，研究当地物种灭绝对生态系统功能的影响。这种综合方法正在产生和检验物种减少对生态系统、生物多样性和食物网络结构的理论预测。该项目的见解有助于更好地了解世界各地面临类似猎物物种损失的沿海生态系统的动态。该项目正在促进一所小型文科学院(科尔比学院)和一所研究密集型大学(科罗拉多博尔德大学)之间的新合作，为研究生和本科生创造独特的培训、指导和教育交流机会。该项目正在培训一名博士生、一名博士后学者和本科生，重点是让代表性不足的群体参与进来，并加强对海洋生态学家的计算培训。该项目正在结合缅因州沿海社区和科罗拉多州内陆农村和城市社区的外联和教育努力，支持开发关于复杂生态系统的网上教学模块。在世界范围内，当地生物多样性的变化正在改变生态系统的功能和人类赖以生存的生态系统服务。预测生物多样性的这种变化对沿海生态系统功能和结构的影响是复杂的，因为复杂的食物网具有多种物种相互作用的特点。食物网理论预测，蓝贻贝等物种的丧失通过依赖资源物种的消费者的二次损失对群落产生级联影响。然而，这种食物网络崩溃的预测(称为“稳健性”)很少得到实证检验。此外，以前的研究很少考虑物种的二次损失如何改变沿海生态系统的功能。例如，大量滤食性水母的丧失可能会影响水的过滤，然而，水母作为关键猎物物种的作用可能会影响食用水母的物种执行的其他生态系统功能(例如，次级生产)。因此，要估计和预测局部灭绝对沿海生态系统功能的影响，需要采取一种研究方法，超越对单一物种的关注，同时考虑直接和次生物种的损失。该项目正在整合食物网建模、实地观察、数据合成和实验物种清除，以量化最近物种丧失对缅因湾岩石潮间带食物网结构和稳定性的影响。正在综合历史和现有物种相互作用数据和实地观察，以生成具有缅因湾岩石潮间带生态系统功能的详细食物网。这个食物网模型被用来预测物种丧失在这个群落中的级联影响，特别是对现场测量的关键生态系统功能的影响。最后，这些预测在一项多年的因子物种去除实验中得到验证，该实验量化了目标物种去除对食物链的多样性、结构和功能的影响。这一新方法为食物网生态的预测提供了亟需的经验依据。这是第一批在海洋系统中进行的此类实验测试之一。这项研究有可能改变人们对海洋生态系统结构和功能如何因物种损失而改变的理解，以及通过实证检验食物网变化的可预测性。该项目由生物海洋学和既定的刺激竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)联合资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。