Developing a Metabolic Scaling and Biodiversity Framework to estimate Ecosystem Adaptive Capacity

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* * 0* 0* 1* 344* 1967* UBC* 16* 4* 2307* 14.0* * * * *** * Normal* 0* * * * * false* false* false* * EN-US* JA* X-NONE* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *** **** /* Style Definitions */*table.MsoNormalTable* {mso-style-name:"Table Normal";* mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;* mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;* mso-style-noshow:yes;* mso-style-priority:99;* mso-style-parent:"";* mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;* mso-para-margin-top:0in;* mso-para-margin-right:0in;* mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;* mso-para-margin-left:0in;* mso-pagination:widow-orphan;* font-size:12.0pt;* font-family:Cambria;* mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;* mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;* mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;* mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;* mso-fareast-language:JA;}****For centuries, students of nature have pondered*relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem function. Now, rapid*environmental change from local to global scales, accompanied by biodiversity gains and losses, impart a sense of*urgency to this question. This proposal outlines a plan to answer the questions:*How do temperature change and biodiversity change affect ecosystem adaptive*capacity? My research team will answer this question through a series of*experiments and*syntheses to test hypotheses and advance theory. The specific objectives of*this proposal are 1) to extend my research on metabolic scaling of population*and community processes to an Ecosystem*Adaptive Capacity (EAC)*framework by conducting experiments and critical tests in aquatic communities,*2) to extend my BEF research to determine the role of spatial processes in*sustaining EAC in warming environments, and 3) to apply the EAC framework to*seagrass ecosystems to develop approaches for identifying conservation*priorities in changing seascapes.***The*research plan extends an EAC framework to include effects of warming on basic*biological processes present in all ecosystems, and to then determine how these*biological processes might depend on biodiversity processes in landscapes. To*build this framework, we will conduct eight experiments in freshwater and*coastal marine ecosystems, explicitly testing how temperature and biodiversity change interact to determine ecosystem functions in a changing environment and along human impact gradients. The research will involve*cross-disciplinary collaboration among labs at UBC, and advanced skill*development and career networking for undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral*trainees. Trainees can leave this project competitive for jobs in academia,*education, government science or positions requiring knowledge of mitigation*options for ecological effects of climate change in Canada.***The projects span multiple*scales of organization - from genes*to ecosystems. The mathematical frameworks used to design and interpret*the careful experimental tests will allow us to apply the framework more broadly to understand environmental change in coastal biodiversity in seagrass ecosystems. This valuable ecosystem is*vulnerable to climate change and destruction by shoreline development. We aim to produce decision-relevant science to help find conservation solutions that maximize ecosystem adaptive capacity*along Canadian coastlines.