OPP-PRF: Reconstructing Baleen Whale Movement and Foraging Ecology Using Archived Natural History Collections

须鲸在极地海洋生态系统中扮演着至关重要的角色。它们每年在极地和热带觅食地之间迁徙，将全球的生物、营养、文化和经济联系在一起。尽管须鲸扮演着如此重要的社会环境角色，但由于它们的旅行距离和难以捉摸的性质，在野外定位和研究须鲸是具有挑战性的。由于缺乏对它们迁徙和觅食模式的了解，有效的管理和保护计划受到阻碍。为了解决这些关键的知识空白，该项目测量了被称为稳定同位素的分子化学特征，这些特征记录在博物馆保存的须鲸和搁浅在海滩上的鲸鱼身上。随着须鲸的迁徙和觅食，它们的须鲸记录了多年来关于海洋生态系统的稳定同位素数据。从这项研究中得出的推论将促进对须鲸生活史的理解，帮助野生动物管理者制定保护计划，并告知科学家过去、现在和未来气候变化的影响。该项目涉及地方、国家和国际利益相关者、K-12学生和科学传播组织，使研究成果向公众开放。北大西洋海盆是一个易受全球气候变化影响的动态生态系统。该项目通过将须鲸时间序列的整体稳定同位素值与基于agent的运动模型和全球地理空间等值图相结合，重建了须鲸的迁徙模式。单个氨基酸的化合物特异性同位素将用于验证鲸鱼同位素动态地理空间变化的潜在驱动因素，以重建鲸鱼的觅食行为。这些数据将揭示人类活动对生态系统生物地球化学循环和生产力的影响，从而反映生态系统在群落结构、生物多样性和营养关系方面的变化。本研究产生了关于须鲸运动和觅食生态学的新颖而关键的数据，提供了对生物地球化学过程中生态系统水平变化的见解，并将存档的自然历史样本与先进的建模方法和稳定同位素分析相结合，推进了基础和应用海洋哺乳动物科学。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。

Baleen whales play vital roles in polar marine ecosystems. Their annual migrations between their polar and tropical feeding grounds connect organisms, nutrients, cultures, and economies globally. Despite playing such important socio-environmental roles, baleen whales are challenging to locate and study in the wild due to the distances they travel and their elusive nature. Effective management and conservation plans are hindered by lack of knowledge about their migration and foraging patterns. To address these critical knowledge gaps, this project measures molecular chemical signatures, called stable isotopes, recorded in baleen preserved in museums and from whales that have stranded on beaches. As baleen whales migrate and feed, their baleen records years’ worth of stable isotope data about marine ecosystems. The inferences derived from this study will advance understanding of baleen whale life history, assist wildlife managers with conservation plans, and inform scientists about past, current, and future impacts from climate change. The project engages local, national, and international stakeholders, K-12 students, and science communication organizations to make research findings accessible to the public.The North Atlantic Ocean basin is a dynamic ecosystem susceptible to global climate change. This project reconstructs baleen whale migration patterns by integrating bulk stable isotope values from baleen time series with agent-based movement models and global geospatial isoscape maps. Compound-specific isotopes of individual amino acids will be used to validate the underlying drivers of geospatial variation in whale isotope dynamics to reconstruct whale foraging behavior. These data will shed light on the effects of anthropogenic activities on ecosystem biogeochemical cycling and productivity, which in turn reflect ecosystem-level changes in community structure, biodiversity, and trophic relationships. This research generates novel and critical data on baleen whale movement and foraging ecology, provides insight on ecosystem-level changes in biogeochemical processes, and integrates archived natural history samples with advanced modelling approaches and stable isotope analysis, advancing both fundamental and applied marine mammal science.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.