From Pattern to Process: Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning

生态学家直观地感觉到物种很重要，但渔业以外的其他方面证明生物多样性重要的证据是有限的，特别是在海洋生态系统中。该计划涉及两个相互关联的目标，以解决海洋沉积物中活动物的这一差距，海洋沉积物是地球上分布最广的栖息地。我们的研究小组结合了实验室和野外实验，以了解生物多样性的模式，以及最近生物多样性与海洋保持健康的关键方面之间的关系，如沉积物的氧化、新生物质的生产和营养物质的再生。我们还研究了幼虫的供应、行为和物种之间的相互作用，以阐明为什么自然界中的模式会发生变化，以及为什么文蛤和龙虾等物种只出现在某些环境中。但这种模式对海洋健康的重要性是什么呢？从历史上看，沉积物化学阻碍了重大进展，因为它对操作和测量提出了挑战。我们的团队准备利用测量关键沉积物变量的微型传感器、允许我们探索海洋深度的机器人水下机器人，以及允许我们“看到”并实时采样海底的海洋观测站(如金星)的新进展。这些工具有助于在以下方面取得重大进展：了解哪些海底环境在履行关键职能方面最重要，评估生物多样性和不同生物群在发挥关键职能方面的作用，以及评估自然(甲烷渗漏、山体滑坡)和人为(氧气减少、拖网捕鱼、漏油)干扰造成的物种损失的影响。海洋直接影响到所有三个海岸的加拿大人的经济和社会福祉，并间接影响到每一个加拿大人(气候调节、粮食供应安全)。加拿大拥有世界上最长的海岸线，但只有一个很小的科学社区。这些障碍挑战了加拿大履行我国《海洋法》中关于可持续海洋的重大承诺和对《生物多样性公约》的承诺的能力。尽管海洋资源的压力不可避免地增加，但我们仍然缺乏可持续利用海洋的科学基础。这里提出的工作将有助于最大限度地减少这些不同压力的影响，并为明智的海洋政策提供建议。

Ecologists intuitively sense that species matter but other than fisheries collapses evidence that biodiversity matters is limited, particularly in marine ecosystems. This program addresses two interrelated objectives that address this gap for living fauna in marine sediments, the most widespread habitat on Earth. Our research group combines laboratory and field experiments to understand biodiversity patterns, and more recently the relationship between biodiversity and key aspects of how oceans stay healthy, such as oxygenation of sediments, production of new biomass, and nutrient regeneration. We also study larval supply, behavior, and species interactions to elucidate why pattern varies in nature and why species such as clams and lobsters occur only in some environments. But what is the importance of this pattern for ocean health? Historically, sediment chemistry has hindered significant advances because it challenges manipulation and measurement. Our group is positioned to utilize new advances in tiny sensors that measure key sediment variables, robotic underwater vehicles that allow us to explore the ocean depths, and ocean observatories such as VENUS that allow us to "see" and sample the seafloor in real time. These tools allow significant advances in understanding which seafloor environments are most important in delivering key functions, in evaluating the role of biodiversity and different groups of organisms in this delivery, and in assessing impacts of species loss associated with natural (methane seeps, landslides) and human induced (reduced oxygen, trawling, oil spill) disturbances. Oceans directly affect the economic and social well-being of Canadians on all three coasts and indirectly affect every Canadian (climate regulation, secure food supply). Canada has the longest coastline in the world, but a small science community. These obstacles challenge Canada's capacity to fulfill major commitments on sustainable oceans in our Oceans Act and commitments to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Despite inevitable increase in pressure on ocean resources, we still lack scientific grounding for sustainable ocean use. The work proposed here will help to minimize the impacts of those diverse pressures and to advise wise ocean policies.