Explaining process, pattern and dynamics of marine predator hotspots in the Southern Ocean

解释南大洋海洋捕食者热点的过程、模式和动态

• 批准号: 2890268
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Southampton
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2890268
• 关键词: Explaining; process; pattern; dynamics; marine

Despite being among the largest remaining 'marine wildernesses', the Southern Ocean is impacted by climate change and human activities. Conservation and management of Southern Ocean ecosystems relies on understanding patterns of and processes causing the distribution of marine life, but this is logistically difficult. Recently, the Retrospective Analysis of Antarctic Tracking Data (RAATD) [1] compiled animal tracking data for 17 seabird and marine mammal species to model Areas of Ecological Significance (AES) with the rationale that these areas represent places of high prey abundance, diversity and accessibility [1]. However, the mechanisms and dynamics of these AES have only received superficial attention - what causes these to be important areas for seabirds and marine mammals? This PhD project will thus use the RAATD dataset [2], augmented with additional tracking data, in conjunction with various physical and biological oceanographic datasets to investigate: 1) what oceanographic processes and patterns underly AES in the Southern Ocean; and 2) the extent to which intra- and inter-annual environmental and behavioural variation affects the presence and persistence of AES in the Southern Ocean. The results will be used to assess the possibility of dynamic and/or process-based conservation and management approaches, and to what extent AES can be forecast.

尽管南大洋是现存最大的“海洋荒野”之一，但它仍受到气候变化和人类活动的影响。南大洋生态系统的保护和管理依赖于了解导致海洋生物分布的模式和过程，但这在逻辑上是困难的。最近，南极追踪数据回顾性分析 (RAATD) [1] 汇编了 17 种海鸟和海洋哺乳动物物种的动物追踪数据，以模拟生态意义区域 (AES)，理由是这些区域代表了猎物丰富度、多样性和可及性较高的地区 [1]。然而，这些 AES 的机制和动力学只受到了肤浅的关注——是什么原因导致这些成为海鸟和海洋哺乳动物的重要领域？因此，该博士项目将使用 RAATD 数据集 [2]，并添加额外的跟踪数据，并结合各种物理和生物海洋学数据集来研究：1）南大洋 AES 背后的海洋学过程和模式； 2) 年内和年际环境和行为变化影响南大洋 AES 存在和持久性的程度。结果将用于评估动态和/或基于流程的保护和管理方法的可能性，以及 AES 的预测程度。