Integration of improved understanding of ecosystem service regulation into ERSEM model system

将加深对生态系统服务调节的理解纳入 ERSEM 模型系统

• 批准号: NE/L003147/1
• 负责人: Jason Holt
• 金额: $ 12.52万
• 依托单位: NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHY CENTRE
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2014 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FL003147%2F1
• 关键词: Integration; improved; understanding; ecosystem; service

SummaryThe world's oceans and seas are home to highly diverse ecosystems and are characterised by the richness and abundance of species. Marine ecosystems provide a range of important services to mankind including food production, climate regulation through the cycling of carbon and other macronutrients, and a range of cultural values (e.g. recreation, tourism). They are in serious decline, primarily as a result of over-harvesting, pollution, and the direct and indirect impacts of climate change. In many locations, pressure from human activity and climatic changes have been associated with dramatic shifts in species composition, known as phase or regime shifts, which are often long lasting and difficult to reverse.Our understanding of the ecosystems of the UK's coastal and shelf seas is limited and many processes are poorly understood. For example changes in the physical and chemical environment (temperature, circulation, light availability, nutrients) mainly affect algal growth and thus impact the foodweb through bottom up control, whilst impacts such as harvesting act on fish which modify the biomass of lower trophic levels thus altering the controls from predation. However the relative roles of these processes and hence the extent to which environmental change cascades through marine food webs and affects ecosystem services requires elucidation. Our challenge is to further develop the existing ERSEM-NEMO modelling framework to better represent biodiversity-relevant processes, flows and feedbacks over a range of spatio-temporal scales, and to be able to model changes in function and the consequences of such changes in the context of ecosystem services. Furthermore these modelling tools need to be suitable for testing the impact of potential management solutions, such as marine conservation zones, on the structure and function of marine food webs across scales, and to explore the efficacy of specific indicators of good environmental status. A big challenge in modelling marine ecosystems is to capture the hierarchical nature of biodiversity and hence to explore a range of scales. This requires a scalable model system, with a traceable hierarchy whereby more complex foodweb structures can be systematically and coherently related to simple foodweb structures. The project will provide new modelling tools which provide estimates of crucial information to help resolve key scientific questions as well as provide a better understanding of the marine ecosystems as they respond to global change and direct anthropogenic pressures. The combination of predictive tools and new knowledge will underpin the development and implementation of marine policy and the implementation of marine forecast systems.

世界海洋是高度多样化生态系统的家园，其特点是物种丰富多彩。海洋生态系统为人类提供一系列重要服务，包括粮食生产、通过碳和其他常量营养素循环调节气候，以及一系列文化价值（如娱乐、旅游）。由于过度捕捞、污染以及气候变化的直接和间接影响，它们的数量正在严重下降。在许多地方，来自人类活动和气候变化的压力与物种组成的急剧变化有关，称为阶段或制度变化，这种变化通常持续很长时间且难以逆转。我们对英国沿海和大陆架海洋生态系统的了解是有限的，许多过程也知之甚少。例如，物理和化学环境（温度、循环、光照、营养）的变化主要影响藻类生长，从而通过自下而上的控制影响食物网，而诸如捕捞等影响作用于鱼类，改变了低营养水平的生物量，从而改变了捕食的控制。然而，这些过程的相对作用以及环境变化通过海洋食物网级联并影响生态系统服务的程度需要阐明。我们面临的挑战是进一步发展现有的ERSEM-NEMO模型框架，以便更好地在一系列时空尺度上代表生物多样性相关的过程、流动和反馈，并能够在生态系统服务的背景下模拟功能变化和这种变化的后果。此外，这些建模工具需要适合于测试潜在的管理解决方案，如海洋保护区，对海洋食物网的结构和功能的影响，以及探索良好环境状况的具体指标的功效。建立海洋生态系统模型的一大挑战是捕捉生物多样性的层次本质，从而探索一系列尺度。这需要一个可扩展的模型系统，具有可追溯的层次结构，使更复杂的食物网结构能够系统地、连贯地与简单的食物网结构相关联。该项目将提供新的建模工具，提供关键信息的估计，以帮助解决关键的科学问题，并更好地了解海洋生态系统对全球变化和直接人为压力的反应。预测工具和新知识的结合将为海洋政策的制定和实施以及海洋预报系统的实施提供基础。