Collaborative Research: Community Based Phytoplankton Observatory for Northwestern Alaska Coastal Waters

随着微生物种群的变化，北极变暖的速度是地球其他地区的两倍多。Kotzebue的沿海社区位于北极圈以北30英里处的Kotzebue Sound的东岸，Kotzebue Sound是阿拉斯加西北部楚科奇海东南部的一个海湾。Kotzebue Sound对该社区具有重要的商业价值，该社区平均收获23万条鲑鱼，Sound的鱼类和海洋哺乳动物提供了高达70%的年度食物收获。但是，就像Sound对当地社区的重要性一样，对浮游植物--构成Sound食物网络基础的微生物--的全面研究很少。因此，关于浮游植物种群的知识，包括可能影响粮食安全的有害藻华的知识，对生活在这里的人来说也是迫在眉睫的。这项建议启动了一项全年长期观测计划，对Kotzebue周围水域的浮游植物种群、相关物理特征和营养物质浓度进行观测。该项目将在无冰季节使用船只测量六个地点的水柱水文、营养物质浓度和浮游植物种群，并在冬季测量两个地点的冰层。此外，还将部署YSI ExO2探测仪，在不结冰季节每10分钟进行一次测量。这里生产的河口系统的年际和年度变化信息目前无法通过分布式生物观测站等大型项目或在邻近楚科奇海进行的离岸研究项目获得，因此该项目填补了一个重要的科学和社会相关空白。这个建立持续观察计划的项目是与Kotzebue土著村庄的环境项目主任Copi Whiting共同构思和共同设计的。鉴于有关浮游植物种群和蓝藻毒素变化的知识对粮食安全的重要性，该项目的成果将以多种方式向社区展示，包括：向部落议会提交报告、电台采访、向居民发布时事通讯、在社区中心的晚间演讲、在初中和高中的演讲以及Facebook和Instagram页面等社交媒体。研究结果还将提交给阿拉斯加有害藻华网络，该网络通过阿拉斯加海洋观测系统运行。Kotzebue将为初中生和高中生提供一个平台检验镜，教师将接受培训，为Kotzebue周围的水域采样，让学生了解当地的浮游生物。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。

The Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate as the rest of the planet with subsequent changes to the microbial population. The coastal community of Kotzebue is located 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle on the eastern shore of Kotzebue Sound, an embayment of the southeast Chukchi Sea, in northwest Alaska. Kotzebue Sound is commercially important to the community, which harvests on average 230,000 chum salmon, and the fish and marine mammals from the Sound provide up to 70% by weight of their annual food harvest. But, as important as the Sound is to the local community, there have been few comprehensive studies of phytoplankton - the microbes that make up the base of the food web in the Sound. Thus, knowledge of phytoplankton populations including that of Harmful Algal Blooms that could impact food security is also of immediate importance to the people who live here. This proposal initiates a year-round long-term observational program of phytoplankton populations, relevant physical characteristics, and nutrient concentrations in the waters around Kotzebue. This project will measure water column hydrography, nutrient concentrations, and phytoplankton populations at six sites using boats during the ice-free season and at two locations through the ice in the winter. In addition, a YSI Exo 2 sonde will be deployed to make measurements every 10 minutes during the ice-free season. Information about interannual and annual changes in an estuarine system produced here is not currently available through large scale programs like the Distributed Biological Observatory or the offshore research projects occurring in the adjacent Chukchi Sea and thus this project fills an important scientific and societally relevant gap. This project to set up a sustained observation program has been co-conceived and co-designed with coPI Whiting, the Environmental Program Director for the Native Village of Kotzebue. Given the importance of knowledge about changes in phytoplankton populations and cyanotoxins to food security, findings from this project will be presented to the community in a variety of ways including: reports to the Tribal Council, radio interviews, newsletters delivered to residents, evening presentations at the community center, presentations at the middle and high school, as well as social media such as Facebook and Instagram pages. Findings will also be presented to Alaska Harmful Algae Bloom Network run through the Alaska Ocean Observing System. Kotzebue middle and high school students will be provided a Planktoscope and the teachers will be trained to set up class projects for sampling waters around Kotzebue for the students to learn about local plankton.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.