Ecology of coastal invertebrates in a changing ocean

包括气候变化在内的人类影响正在对加拿大和世界各地的海洋生态系统产生负面影响。人为排放的二氧化碳导致了海洋温度模式的变化和海水酸化（pH值和碳酸盐饱和度降低），预计这些影响将在未来增加。拟议的研究计划的长期目标是增加我们对气候变化对沿海海洋生态系统影响的理解。这个研究项目建立在我以前对沉积物酸化和潮下生物多样性模式的研究基础上。由于这些系统中海水pH值和温度的大量自然变化，理解气候变化对沿海水域的影响变得更加复杂。此外，由于微生物分解，生活在沉积物中的生物暴露在更酸性的条件下，导致现在的碳酸盐饱和度低到足以溶解双壳类贝壳。我实验室的研究表明，幼蛤会通过减少挖洞和增加扩散来应对酸化的沉积物。拟议的研究将通过检查酸化变异性与持续酸化处理相比的影响，并通过评估生活在沉积物中的生物是受水酸化的影响更大，还是受沉积物酸化的影响更大，来解决我们对沿海酸化知识的空白。我提出的第二个气候变化研究领域将量化和预测潮下鹅卵石栖息地中十足类甲壳类动物（螃蟹、虾、龙虾）和鱼类的丰度和分布模式的变化，这些变化是对海洋温度变化的响应。通过与研究人员合作，使用鹅卵石填充收集器来测量龙虾的招募情况，我的研究实验室一直在研究潮下鹅卵石栖息地的生物多样性。十足类和鱼类数据将在加拿大海洋3个地区的浅海岸区收集，这些地区的海洋条件不同。分布模式和丰度的变化，例如芬迪湾的Quoddy地区最近鱼类数量的增加，将与海洋气候和物种特征的变化进行比较。总的来说，拟议的研究将有助于更好地了解气候变化对浅海海洋栖息地的影响，这些生态系统具有极高的生产力，但人们对这些生态系统的了解很少，研究也不够充分

Human impacts including climate change are negatively affecting marine ecosystems in Canada and around the world. Anthropogenic emissions of CO2 have resulted in both changes in patterns of ocean temperatures and acidification (decreased pH and carbonate saturation) of seawater and these impacts are projected to increase in future. The long-term objective of the proposed research program is to increase our understanding of the influence of climate change on coastal marine ecosystems. This research program builds on my previous research on sediment acidification and patterns of subtidal biodiversity. Understanding the effects of climate change in coastal waters is complicated by the large amount of natural variability in seawater pH and temperature in these systems. In addition, organisms living within sediment are exposed to more acidic conditions due to microbial decomposition, resulting in present-day carbonate saturation states low enough to dissolve bivalve shells. Research in my lab has demonstrated that juvenile clams will respond to acidified sediment by decreased burrowing and increased dispersal. The proposed research will address gaps in our knowledge of coastal acidification by examining the effects of variability in acidification compared to constant acidification treatments and by assessing whether organisms that live within the sediment are affected more by acidification of the water or by acidification of the sediment. The second area of climate change research which I propose will quantify and forecast changes in patterns of abundance and distribution of decapod crustaceans (crabs, shrimp, lobster) and fish in subtidal cobble habitat that are occurring in response to changes in ocean temperature. Through collaboration with researchers using cobble-filled collectors to measure lobster recruitment, my research lab has been examining biodiversity in subtidal cobble habitats. Decapod and fish data will be collected in shallow coastal areas in 3 regions of the Canadian Maritimes which differ in oceanographic conditions. Changes in patterns of distribution and abundance, such as the recent increase in cunner in the Quoddy region of the Bay of Fundy, will be examined in comparison to changes in ocean climate and species traits. Overall, the proposed research will contribute to a greater understanding of the effects of climate change in shallow coastal marine habitats, ecosystems which are extremely productive, but poorly understood and insufficiently studied.***