A scientific basis for conservation of marine biodiversity

保护海洋生物多样性的科学依据

• 批准号: 194621-2007
• 负责人: Snelgrove, Paul
• 金额: $ 1.54万
• 依托单位: Memorial University of Newfoundland
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2011-01-01 至 2012-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=476726
• 关键词: scientific; basis; conservation; marine; biodiversity

Marine biodiversity has emerged as a hot topic in ecology over the last five years, in part because of concern over biodiversity loss and deterioration of ocean function. Nonetheless, there is currently little scientific basis for marine conservation in cold ocean environments and decisions regarding prioritization are typically made based on static measures rather than on processes. Thus, there is often greater concern for charismatic or economically valuable species and habitats rather then establishing an understanding of processes that underlie persistence of populations, communities, and habitats while developing objective predictive tools that can assist scientists and managers in protecting and managing marine biodiversity. I propose to utilize new technologies - specifically ocean observatories and manipulative laboratory and field experiments - to improve our understanding of key sources of new recruits, the role of habitats needed for some species to flourish, and to establish approaches that will allow us to extrapolate from individual measurements to broader understanding of factors that contribute to health of seafloor environments. Experimental work in field and laboratory settings will examine larval transport and settlement processes and how these variables contribute to population structure and patterns of biodiversity, why some environments are hotspots of biodiversity where others are not, and how living organisms interact with their environment to maintain ocean health and production.

近五年来，海洋生物多样性已成为生态学中的一个热门话题，部分原因是人们对生物多样性丧失和海洋功能恶化的担忧。然而，目前在寒冷海洋环境中进行海洋保护的科学依据很少，有关优先次序的决定通常是根据静态措施而不是过程做出的。因此，人们往往更关心有魅力的或有经济价值的物种和栖息地，而不是在开发能够帮助科学家和管理人员保护和管理海洋生物多样性的客观预测工具的同时，建立对种群、群落和栖息地持久存在的过程的理解。我建议利用新技术——特别是海洋观测站和操作实验室和实地实验——来提高我们对新成员主要来源的理解，对某些物种繁殖地所需的栖息地的作用的理解，并建立方法，使我们能够从个别测量推断出对促进海底环境健康的因素有更广泛的了解。实地和实验室环境中的实验工作将审查幼虫的运输和定居过程，以及这些变量如何对种群结构和生物多样性模式作出贡献，为什么有些环境是生物多样性的热点而另一些环境不是，以及生物有机体如何与其环境相互作用以维持海洋健康和生产。