THE LORN PELAGIC OBSERVATORY, THE PLANKTON INDEX, AND THE MARINE STRATEGY FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE: A KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE PROPOSAL

《海洋战略框架指令》(MSFD)要求在欧洲咸水中保持良好的环境状况(GES)，即允许海洋生态系统“充分发挥作用，并保持其对人类引起的环境变化的适应能力”。要确定英国海域的生态系统是功能齐全且有弹性的，或者，如果不是的话，需要采取什么措施才能确定恢复全球环境系统的指令所称的“措施计划”？海洋生态系统在很大程度上已经看不见了，它们的生物地球化学循环和食物网的运行方式，仍然是生态海洋学家们难以理解的。尽管如此，40年来NERC的沿海海洋学已经绘制了英国大陆架上方海洋的物理特征图，并揭示了物理学和生物学之间的联系。这项研究为以科学为基础监测“中上层栖息地”作为环境状况的一个组成部分提供了依据。“远洋栖息地”指的是水柱环境和浮游生物--生活在这里的漂流动物和微小藻类。Defra是英国政府部门，负责在全国范围内实施MSFD，并向欧盟委员会报告环境状况。就浮游生物栖息地而言，Defra确定了一组不同物理状态的监测站；其中一个监测点位于欧班附近的罗恩湾，苏格兰海洋科学协会自2000年以来一直在那里定期对浮游植物进行采样。1970年，SAMS的前身SMBA首次在这里进行了观测。SAMS已经同意向Defra计划输入当前的微藻数据，Defra可能会资助一些额外的浮游动物工作。本项目的两个主要目的之一是评估罗恩湾站相对于旧数据和研究报告的现状。第二个主要目的是关于数据分析和报告所用的方法。仔细检查含有浮游微藻的水样，或含有浮游动物的拖网样本，通常会得出一长串物种名单。MSFD监测计划要求每年至少采集12次样本，以跟踪浮游生物物种的季节性演替。简化这份清单的一种方法是将物种归类为浮游生物的功能单位--“生命形式”。然后将生命形式成对分组，并将每对生命形式的丰富度沿着图表的水平或垂直轴绘制出来。一年的样本结果是在这张图上有12个(或更多)点。在生成的点云上绘制了一个“参考信封”。超出这一范围的观测数据所占的比例就是这对生命和年份的浮游生物指数的值。该指数的变化可用于跟踪生态系统状况的变化。它的计算已经计算机化，但到目前为止，这种方法一直被用于研究，而不是常规监测。因此，该项目的第二个目的是以Lorn Firth数据作为测试案例，协助Defra初步应用该方法。虽然Defra有监督，但抽样、分析和解释工作是由专门的公共机构执行的，包括向英国权力下放的行政机构报告的机构。其中一个机构是贝尔法斯特的农业-食品和生物科学研究所，它领导了负责制定监测远洋栖息地战略的财团。虽然这个项目的最终利益落在公共利益上，指定的受益者是Defra，但AFBI将是SAMS在拟议的“知识交流”中的直接合作伙伴。

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires 'Good Environmental Status' (GES) in European salt waters, defined as allowing marine ecosystems "to function fully and to maintain their resilience to human-induced environmental change". What measurements are needed to establish that ecosystems in UK seas are fully-functional and resilient, or, if not, to direct what the Directive calls "programmes of measures" to restore GES? Marine ecosystems are largely out of sight, and their biogeochemical cycles and food webs operate in ways that ecological oceanographers are still struggling to understand. Nevertheless, 4 decades of NERC coastal oceanography has mapped the physical features of the seas that overly the UK continental shelf and shone light on the links between physics and biology. This research provides the basis for science-based monitoring of the 'pelagic habitat' as a component of Environmental Status. 'Pelagic habitat' refers to the water column environment and the plankton - the drifting animals and microscopic algae that live here. Defra is the UK government department responsible for the national implementation of the MSFD, and for reporting environmental status to the European Commission. In the case of the pelagic habitat Defra has identified a set of monitoring stations in different physical regimes; one of these sites, in the Firth of Lorn near Oban, is where phytoplankton has been regularly sampled by the Scottish Association for Marine Science since 2000. Observations were first made here in 1970 by SAMS' precursor SMBA. SAMS has already agreed to input current micro-algal data to the Defra programme, and Defra may fund some additional zooplankton work. One of the two main purposes of the present project is to to evaluate, for the purposes of MSFD reporting, the present condition of the Firth of Lorn station in relation to older data and research studies.The second main purpose relates to the methods used for data analysis and reporting. Scrutiny of a water sample containing planktonic micro-algae, or a tow-net sample containing planktonic animals, usually results in a long list of species. The MSFD monitoring programme requires samples to be taken at least 12 times a year, in order to keep track of the seasonal succession of plankton species. One way to simplify this list is to group species into the 'lifeforms' that are the functional units of the plankton. Lifeforms are then grouped in pairs, and the abundance of each of the pair's lifeforms plotted against the horizontal or vertical axis of a graph. A year's worth of samples results in 12 (or more) points on this graph. Over the resulting cloud of points is drawn a 'reference envelope'. The proportion of observations falling outside this envelope is the value of the 'Plankton index' for this lifeform pair and year. Changes in the index can be used to track change in ecosystem condition. Its calculation has been computerized, but the method has so far been used for research rather than routine monitoring. The second purpose of the project is, thus, to assist Defra in the initial application of the method, using the Firth of Lorn data as a test case. While Defra has oversight, the work of sampling, analysis and interpretation is performed by specialized public bodies including those reporting to the devolved administrations in the UK. One of these bodies is AFBI, the 'Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute' in Belfast, which led the consortium charged with designing the strategy for monitoring the pelagic habitat. Although the ultimate benefit of this project falls to the public good, and the designated benficiary is Defra, AFBI will be the immediate partner for SAMS in the proposed 'knowledge exchange'.