Quantifying the effect of variability in food quality on energy transfer and secondary production in a coastal marine food web

量化食品质量变异对沿海海洋食物网能量转移和二次生产的影响

• 批准号: 403547-2011
• 负责人: Dower, John
• 金额: $ 1.56万
• 依托单位: University of Victoria
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Ship Time
• 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=488371
• 关键词: Quantifying; effect; variability; food; quality

Zooplankton represent the key link between production at the base of marine food webs and production at higher trophic levels (e.g. fish). However, to date, oceanographers have been unable to routinely quantify zooplankton growth and production under natural conditions in the field. Moreover, the factors that cause zooplankton production to vary in space and time remain poorly understood. Although it has long been held that variations in the amount food available to zooplankton should regulate their production, field evidence supporting this claim remains surprisingly weak. More recently, studies have demonstrated that variations in food quality may be as important as (or even more important than) variations in total food abundance when it comes to zooplankton production. However, such studies have generally been conducted under laboratory conditions, and thus the potential for such effects to occur in the field remain poorly explored.

浮游动物是海洋食物网底部的生产和较高营养水平(例如鱼类)的生产之间的关键联系。然而，到目前为止，海洋学家还无法对野外自然条件下浮游动物的生长和产量进行常规量化。此外，导致浮游动物产量在空间和时间上变化的因素仍然知之甚少。尽管长期以来，人们一直认为浮游动物可获得的食物数量的变化应该控制它们的生产，但支持这一说法的现场证据仍然令人惊讶地薄弱。最近，研究表明，在浮游动物生产方面，食物质量的变化可能与总食物丰度的变化一样重要(甚至更重要)。然而，这类研究通常是在实验室条件下进行的，因此在实地发生这种影响的可能性仍然很少被探索。