Fundamental macroecology and energy pathways in the mesopelagic zooplankton and micronekton communities

海洋科学家目前面临的最大挑战是预测海洋生态系统和食物网对气候变化和污染影响的反应的能力。当发现变化时，这些都是可能的，但除非它们转化为政策和管理行动，否则毫无意义。曙暮光层或中层（200-1000米深）占地球海洋体积的20%。这是一个巨大的，目前开发不足，在很大程度上仍然没有得到充分研究。然而，它在粮食供应（粮食安全）、营养保健品（如精油）、气候调节（减缓气候变化）和生物多样性（地球系统复原力）方面具有巨大的生态系统服务潜力。中层在控制海洋生产力和封存人为二氧化碳方面都很重要。生物过程（浮游生物营养动力学、垂直迁移、分解速率）对海气相互作用具有重要意义。拟议研究的一个长期目标是广泛了解推动海洋中层浮游生物和微浮游生物组成、多样性、密度和稳定性的基本生态原则。第一，我们要确定两极、温带和热带地区中层区结构和碳循环的差异/相似性;第二，建立一个生态系统模型（未来的合作努力），提供上层-中层-深海区之间的机械联系。拟议在中层进行的研究的短期目标将：（a）有助于确定中层浮游生物和微浮游生物的组成和垂直结构;（B）将中层食物网的结构、密度和多样性与上层生产力以及氧浓度和酸度联系起来;（c）量化中层区在向上层营养层转移能量方面的作用，包括渔业生产和碳固存，特别是不同微浮游生物群体从表层向中层的碳主动运输，以及负责从中层向上层逆向碳运输的“隐蔽食物网”;及（d）评估我们预测中层海洋过程对整体海洋生产力及未来渔业生产力的影响的能力。通过提供有关中层水食物网的新信息，该提案将为制定跨学科的多国举措奠定基础，以了解中层生态系统、其在海洋碳循环中的作用、其应对气候变化和污染挑战的能力，以及在公海开展基于生态系统的管理。

Greatest challenge marine scientists presently facing is concomitant with the ability of predicting oceanic ecosystem and food web responses to climate change and pollution impacts. These are both possible when changes are detected but meaningless unless they translated into policies and management actions. The twilight or mesopelagic zone (200-1000 m depth) comprises 20% of the Earth oceans volume. It is vast, currently underexploited and remains largely understudied. However, it holds a great ecosystem service potential for the food provision (food security), nutraceuticals (e.g. essential oils), climate regulation (climate change mitigation) and biodiversity (Earth system resilience). Mesopelagic layer is important in both controlling marine productivity and sequestering anthropogenic carbon dioxide. Biological processes (plankton trophic dynamics, vertical migrations, decomposing rates) are highly significant to air-sea interactions. A long-term goal of the proposed research is to develop a broad understanding of foundational ecological principles driving the composition, diversity, density and stability of the oceanic mesopelagic plankton and micronekton. First, we would like to identify the diss-/similarities in the structure and carbon cycling of mesopelagic zones in polar, temperate and tropical regions; second, to build an ecosystem model (future collaborative effort) that provides mechanistic links between epipelagic-mesopelagic-bathypelagic realms. Short term goals of the proposed study in the mesopelagic zone will (a) contribute to a characterization of the composition and vertical structure of mesopelagic plankton and micronekton; (b) link structure, density and diversity of mesopelagic food webs to overlaying productivity, as well as to oxygen concentrations and acidity; (c) quantify the role of the mesopelagic zone in transferring energy to upper trophic levels, including fisheries production, as well as carbon sequestration, particularly carbon active transport from surface layers into midwaters by different groups of micronekton, and the “cryptic food web” responsible for the reverse carbon transport from mesopelagic to epipelagic layers; and (d) assess our abilities in predicting effects of mesopelagic processes on overall ocean productivity as well as future fisheries productivity. By providing novel information on midwater food webs, this proposal will lay foundation for the development of an interdisciplinary, multinational initiative to understand the mesopelagic ecosystem, its role in the marine carbon cycle, its ability to react to climate change and pollution challenges as well to develop ecosystem-based management in the open ocean.