Role of the early benthic phase in regulating the distribution and abundance of marine invertebrate populations.

底栖（即生活在海底的）海洋无脊椎动物，如牡蛎、藤壶、龙虾和海星的丰度，随着时间（每年）和空间（从一个地方到另一个地方）的变化高达400%。这些显著的丰度变化对自然群落的稳定性和商业捕捞物种的可用性产生了负面影响，但这些变化的原因尚不清楚。越来越多的证据表明，这些变化至少部分是由于底栖动物生命最初几天或几周（即底栖动物早期阶段）的低（0-40%）和可变的存活率造成的，当时这些动物仍处于幼虫或早期幼年形态。然而，种群丰度的变化在多大程度上是由底栖动物早期生存期的变化引起的，目前尚不清楚。拟议的项目将大大促进我们对这一早期底栖生物阶段在控制种群丰度方面的作用的理解。潮间带藤壶Balanus glandula将被用作实验中的模式生物，量化底栖动物早期死亡的两个后果：它对底栖动物早期阶段到成熟期后种群丰度的影响，以及物种在栖息地定居的能力。这项研究还将研究7种潮间带动物，包括藤壶、贻贝、寄居蟹和蜗牛，对一系列气候条件的反应。它将确定这些潮间带动物种群在忍受温度升高和海洋盐度降低的能力上的差异程度，以及气候条件变化对它们数量的影响。这项研究将为我们预测种群丰度和这些物种可以定居的栖息地类型的能力提供突破，帮助我们理解为什么早期底栖动物的存活率如此之低和多变，并导致预测气候变化对早期存活率和沿海无脊椎动物物种的持久性的影响。

The abundance of benthic (i.e. bottom-dwelling) marine invertebrates, such as oysters, barnacles, lobsters and seastars, varies by as much as 400% over time (year to year) and space (from one location to another). These remarkable variations in abundance have negative effects on the stability of natural communities and on the availability of species that are commercially harvested, yet the causes of these variations are not well understood. Increasing evidence suggests these variations are at least partly caused by low (0-40%) and variable levels of survivorship through the first few days or weeks of benthic life (i.e. the early benthic phase), when these animals are still in the larval or early juvenile forms. It is not known, however, to what extent variation in population abundance is caused by variation in survivorship through the early benthic phase. The proposed project will significantly advance our understanding of the role of this early benthic phase in controlling population abundance. The intertidal barnacle Balanus glandula will be used as a model organism in experiments that quantify two consequences of early benthic mortality: its influence on the abundance of the cohort after the early benthic phase up to maturity, and also on the ability of species to colonize habitats. This study will also examine the responses of 7 species of intertidal animals, including barnacles, mussels, hermit crabs and snails, to a range of climate conditions. It will determine the extent to which populations of these intertidal animals differ in their ability to tolerate warmer temperatures and reduced ocean salinities, and the impacts of changing climate conditions on their abundance. The study will provide breakthroughs in our ability to predict population abundance and the type of habitats these species can colonize, helping us understand why early benthic survivorship is so low and variable, and leading to predictions of the impacts of climate change on early survivorship and the persistence of coastal invertebrate species.