LTER: Ecological Response to "Press-Pulse" Disturbances Along a Rapidly Changing West Antarctic Peninsula

LTER：快速变化的西南极半岛对“压力脉冲”干扰的生态反应

• 批准号: 2224611
• 负责人: Oscar Schofield
• 金额: $ 480.08万
• 依托单位: Rutgers University New Brunswick
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2027-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2224611&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: LTER; Ecological; Response; Press; Pulse

NontechnicalClimate change is predicted to have a significant impact on marine food webs. This is especially true for polar systems where ocean biology and chemistry are strongly tied to the presence or absence of sea ice. The Palmer Long Term Ecological Research program is focused on developing a fundamental understanding of the ecology of the marine food web along the West Antarctic Peninsula. This region is undergoing some of the most rapid changes on the planet, including rapid warming of the atmosphere and ocean, large reductions in sea ice, and major retreats in glaciers. These changes are causing major changes in the food web. The program has been tracking how all parts of the food web, from single celled plants to penguins and whales, have been responding to these changes. Not all parts of the food web have been impacted equally. The changes have broad implications beyond ocean ecology, as polar marine systems play an over-sized role in the global cycling of carbon. The project also anchors an extensive education and outreach program promoting the global significance of Antarctic science and research. Using the recently developed Polar Literacy Principles as a foundation, the project will maintain and expand the virtual schoolyard program via virtual fieldtrips and dissemination of new polar instructional materials for K-12 educators to facilitate their professional development and curricula. The project will also leverage the development of Out of School Time materials for afterschool, 4-H, and summer camp programs; develop and implement an art and science exhibition designed for use in higher education focused on engaging lifelong learners; and produce high-quality science communication resources to build awareness of the National Science Foundation research directly to audiences in the cruise ship industry and indirectly through social media. The project is broadening participation through a coordinated diversity, equity, and inclusion plan leveraging both virtual and traditional Research Experience for Undergraduates programs aimed at underrepresented students.TechnicalSeasonal sea ice-influenced marine ecosystems are characterized by high productivity concentrated in space and time by local, regional, and remote physical forcing. The Palmer Long Term Ecological Research program seeks to build on three decades of long-term research along the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula to gain a new mechanistic and predictive understanding of ecosystem changes in response to disturbances spanning long-term, sub-decadal, and higher-frequency “pulses” driven by a range of processes, including long-term climate warming, natural climate variability, and storms. These disturbances alter food-web composition and ecological interactions across time and space scales that are not well understood. The research is guided by three multidisciplinary, interrelated research questions. 1) How does the near continuum of long-term “press” (climate warming), sub-decadal (interannual changes in sea-ice cover), and shorter-term “pulse” (storms) disturbance drive changes in the food web across the western Antarctic peninsula? 2) How do vertical and alongshore transport and mixing dynamics along the western Antarctic peninsula interact to modulate the distribution and variability of ocean physics, and in turn marine productivity, krill, and krill predators? 3) How will changes in the structure of the food web affect the cycling and export of carbon? Sampling, analyses, and modeling cover multiple time scales–from diel, seasonal, interannual, to decadal intervals, and space scales–from hemispheric scale investigated by remote sensing, regional scale covered by a summer oceanographic cruise along the western Antarctic peninsula, to local scale accessed by daily to biweekly small boat sampling at Palmer Station. Autonomous vehicles and moorings make it possible to expand and bridge time and space scales not covered by vessel-based sampling, thus providing a seasonal to annual context. Process studies that include manipulative experiments conducted during research cruise and at Palmer Station complement observations. An extensive modeling effort will improve the understanding of the mechanistic and dynamic processes driving change. The results of this research will contribute to a fundamental understanding of how population dynamics and biogeochemical processes are responding within a polar marine ecosystem undergoing profound change.An education and outreach program promoting the global significance of Antarctic science and research is an important part of the project. Using the Polar Literacy Principles as a foundation, the project will maintain and expand the virtual schoolyard program via virtual fieldtrips and dissemination of new polar instructional materials for K-12 educators to facilitate their professional development and curricula. The project will also leverage the development of Out of School Time materials for afterschool, 4-H, and summer camp programs; develop and implement an art and science exhibition designed for use in higher education focused on engaging lifelong learners; and produce high-quality science communication resources to build awareness of the long-term research directly to audiences in the cruise ship industry and indirectly through social media. Participation will be broadened through a coordinated diversity, equity, and inclusion plan leveraging both virtual and traditional Research Experience for Undergraduates programs aimed at underrepresented students.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.

非技术性气候变化预计将对海洋食物网产生重大影响。对于极地系统来说尤其如此，在极地系统中，海洋生物和化学与海冰的存在或不存在密切相关。帕尔默长期生态研究计划的重点是发展对西南极半岛沿线海洋食物网生态的基本了解。这一地区正在经历地球上一些最迅速的变化，包括大气和海洋的迅速变暖，海冰的大幅减少，以及冰川的重大退缩。这些变化正在导致食物链的重大变化。该项目一直在跟踪食物链的所有部分，从单细胞植物到企鹅和鲸鱼，都对这些变化做出了反应。并不是食物链的所有部分都受到了同样的影响。这些变化的影响超出了海洋生态，因为极地海洋系统在全球碳循环中扮演着超大的角色。该项目还支持一项广泛的教育和推广计划，以促进南极科学和研究的全球意义。该项目将以最近制定的极地扫盲原则为基础，通过虚拟实地考察和为K-12教育工作者传播新的极地教材来维持和扩大虚拟校园方案，以促进他们的专业发展和课程。该项目还将利用为课外、4-H和夏令营计划编写的课外时间材料；开发和实施一个专为高等教育而设计的艺术和科学展览，重点是吸引终身学习者；以及制作高质量的科学传播资源，以提高对国家科学基金会研究的认识，直接和间接地通过社交媒体向邮轮行业的受众传播。该项目正在通过一个协调的多样性、公平性和包容性计划扩大参与范围，利用针对代表性不足的本科生的虚拟和传统研究经验计划。技术上，受季节性海冰影响的海洋生态系统的特点是高生产力，集中在空间和时间上，受到当地、区域和远程物理强迫的影响。帕尔默长期生态研究计划寻求建立在南极半岛西侧30年长期研究的基础上，以获得对生态系统变化的新的机械性和预测性的理解，以应对由一系列过程驱动的跨越长期、亚十年和更高频率的“脉冲”，包括长期气候变暖、自然气候变异性和风暴。这些干扰改变了食物网的组成和跨越时间和空间尺度的生态相互作用，而这些并不是很好地理解。这项研究以三个相互关联的多学科研究问题为指导。1)近连续的长期“压力”(气候变暖)、近十年(海冰覆盖的年际变化)和短期“脉冲”(风暴)扰动如何驱动整个南极半岛西部食物网的变化？2)沿南极半岛西部垂直和沿岸的输送和混合动力如何相互作用来调节海洋物理的分布和变异性，进而调节海洋生产力、磷虾和磷虾捕食者？3)食物网结构的变化将如何影响碳的循环和输出？采样、分析和建模涵盖多个时间尺度--从日尺度、季节尺度、年际尺度、十年间隔尺度和空间尺度--从遥感调查的半球尺度、南极半岛西部夏季海洋巡航所覆盖的区域尺度，到帕尔默站每日获取的局部尺度以及每两周一次的帕尔默站小船取样。自动车辆和系泊设备使基于船舶的抽样无法覆盖的时间和空间尺度得以扩展和连接，从而提供了从季节到年度的背景。在研究巡航期间和在帕尔默空间站进行的包括操纵实验在内的过程研究是对观测的补充。广泛的建模工作将提高对驱动变化的机械和动态过程的理解。这项研究的结果将有助于从根本上理解正在经历深刻变化的极地海洋生态系统中的种群动态和生物地球化学过程是如何响应的。促进南极科学和研究的全球意义的教育和推广计划是该项目的重要组成部分。该项目将以极地扫盲原则为基础，通过虚拟实地考察和为K-12教育工作者传播新的极地教材来维持和扩大虚拟校园方案，以促进他们的专业发展和课程设置。该项目还将利用为课外、4-H和夏令营计划编写的课外时间材料；开发和实施一个专为高等教育而设计的艺术和科学展览，重点是吸引终身学习者；以及制作高质量的科学传播资源，以直接和间接地通过社交媒体向邮轮行业的受众培养对长期研究的认识。将通过一个协调的多样性、公平性和包容性计划扩大参与范围，利用针对代表不足的学生的本科生项目的虚拟和传统研究经验。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。