Trophic interactions and contaminant exposures under climate-driven species redistribution

气候驱动的物种重新分布下的营养相互作用和污染物暴露

• 批准号: RGPIN-2019-05330
• 负责人: Mckinney, Melissa
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: McGill University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=685110
• 关键词: Trophic; interactions; contaminant; exposures; under

Global change-induced shifts in species interactions, such as resource competition and predation, may have profound but unpredictable impacts on wildlife populations and whole ecosystems. Ecological theory suggests that key species may act as “biotic multipliers” of climate change and that these species are likely to take the form of top predators. Top predators are highly sensitive to global change and cause top-down impacts on prey populations. Given their apex trophic position, such predators also accrue effects occurring throughout the food web, e.g., trophic magnification of chemical pollutants. Thus, through studies on apex predators in a rapidly transforming Arctic, I will address the long-term objective of this research program, which is to answer the question: what are the key interspecific interactions of native and northward-redistributing non-native species and how do these interactions shape exposures to, and effects of, environmental stressors, particularly pollutants, pathogens, and parasites? In the next five years, my research group will work towards answering this question by focussing on competition, pollutant exposures, and predation in two key apex predators in the Arctic through three short-term objectives, respectively: (1) determine feeding niche breadth and overlap between the native Arctic marine top predator and the redistributing sub-Arctic marine top predator; (2) assess the comparative influence of novel trophic interactions on pollutant exposure, i.e., biomagnification, in these two predators; and (3) develop and implement quantitative models to estimate composition of native and non-native prey species in the diets of the native and new apex predator of Arctic marine ecosystems. Understanding changing species relationships and stressor exposures will inform robust models of population and community projections under future global change. As mitigation of impacts relies on ability to predict future outcomes, results will contribute to improved sustainability of living marine natural resources in Canada and beyond. Results will also support federal monitoring requirements for United Nations agreements on pollutants. Lastly, findings will improve knowledge on the security and safety of traditional marine foods by evaluating shifting country food baskets and contaminant loads, and thus the health benefits of wild foods for Northern communities.

全球变化引起的物种相互作用的变化，如资源竞争和捕食，可能对野生动物种群和整个生态系统产生深远但不可预测的影响。生态学理论表明，关键物种可能是气候变化的“生物倍增器”，这些物种可能以顶级捕食者的形式出现。顶级捕食者对全球变化高度敏感，并对猎物种群造成自上而下的影响。考虑到它们的顶端营养位置，这些捕食者也会在整个食物网中产生影响，例如，化学污染物的营养放大。因此，通过研究在一个迅速转变的北极的顶级捕食者，我将解决这个研究计划的长期目标，这是回答这个问题：什么是本地和北重新分配的非本地物种的关键种间相互作用，以及这些相互作用如何塑造暴露，和环境压力的影响，特别是污染物，病原体和寄生虫？在未来的五年里，我的研究小组将致力于回答这个问题，通过三个短期目标，分别关注北极两个关键顶端捕食者的竞争，污染物暴露和捕食：（1）确定北极本地海洋顶端捕食者和重新分配的亚北极海洋顶端捕食者之间的摄食生态位宽度和重叠;（2）评估新型营养相互作用对污染物暴露的比较影响，即，生物放大，在这两个掠食者;（3）开发和实施定量模型，以估计本地和非本地的猎物物种在北极海洋生态系统的本地和新的顶级捕食者的饮食组成。了解不断变化的物种关系和压力暴露将为未来全球变化下的人口和社区预测提供可靠的模型。由于减轻影响取决于预测未来结果的能力，因此结果将有助于改善加拿大及其他地区海洋生物自然资源的可持续性。调查结果还将支持联合国污染物协定的联邦监测要求。最后，研究结果将通过评估不断变化的国家食物篮子和污染物负荷，从而提高对传统海洋食品的安全性和安全性的认识，从而提高野生食品对北方社区的健康益处。