Trophic dynamics, growth and survival of juvenile salmon in coastal lake and marine ecosystems

太平洋鲑鱼是加拿大和太平洋沿岸国家的重要渔业资源，与区域和国家经济以及沿海社区和原住民的社会和文化遗产有着重要联系。近几十年来，太平洋鲑鱼的产量一直在下降，有几个种群几乎消失。虽然其内在机制尚不清楚，但人们越来越感到，这种下降可能与沿海海洋和淡水生态系统中的温度、营养物质、浮游动物、饲料鱼和捕食者群体的数量和质量的变化有关。目前，在预测和预报每年成年鲑鱼的回归方面存在很大的不确定性，这可能导致沿海社区的商业严重损失和不利的社会经济后果。我建议了解和模拟的大规模的变化，在喂养，食物网和资源生态的幼鲑在沿海太平洋生态系统的BC的规模。这对于提高加拿大的能力，更有信心地预测和预测太平洋鲑鱼的生长、存活和相关的成年鲑鱼返回至关重要。我还建议确定的主要过程，确定大小和年龄分布的红鱼苗在10-12个红鱼苗湖，并测试如何其他同居食虫动物（如棘鱼和糠虾）改变食物网和资源分区的红鱼苗。我们假设，可变的湖泊或海洋条件，通过猎物的质量和数量的变化可能会影响食物网动态，营养相互作用和饮食重叠内和物种之间的大小的函数，并最终导致变量的增长和存活的少年太平洋鲑鱼。这项研究计划预计将产生新的见解和更好地了解食物网动态和营养相互作用的少年太平洋鲑鱼，这将导致更好的管理策略，加拿大的宝贵的自然资源之一。

Pacific salmon are an important fisheries resource for Canada and the Pacific rim countries, with significant links to both regional and national economies, and social and cultural heritage of costal communities and First Nations. In recent decades the productivity of Pacific salmon has been declining, with several stocks all but disappearing. Although the underlying mechanisms are still unclear, there is a growing sense that such declines may be linked to the variability in temperature, nutrients, the quantity and quality of zooplankton, forage fish and predator assemblages in coastal marine and freshwater ecosystems. Currently there are significant uncertainties in the prediction and forecast of annual adult salmon returns, which can lead to significant loss of business and negative socio-economic consequences for coastal communities. I propose to understand and model the large-scale variability in feeding, foodweb and resource ecology of juvenile salmon at the scale of coastal Pacific ecosystems of BC. It is critical to improving Canada's ability to forecast and predict the growth, survival and associated adult returns of Pacific salmon with greater confidence. I also propose to identify the major processes that determine size- and age-distribution of sockeye fry in 10-12 sockeye lakes, and test how other cohabiting zooplanktivores (e.g. stickleback and Mysis) alter foodwebs and resource partitioning by sockeye fry. We hypothesized that variable lake or ocean conditions through shifts in the quality and quantity of prey may affect foodweb dynamics, trophic interactions and diet overlaps within and among species as a function of size, and eventually leading to variable growth and survival of juvenile Pacific salmon. This research program is expected to produce new insights and better understanding of foodweb dynamics and trophic interactions of juvenile Pacific salmon, which will lead to better management strategies for one of Canada's precious natural resources.