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

早期底栖阶段在调节海洋无脊椎动物种群分布和丰度中的作用。

• 批准号: RGPIN-2020-04935
• 负责人: Gosselin, Louis
• 金额: $ 2.04万
• 依托单位: Thompson Rivers University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=717048
• 关键词: Role; early; benthic; phase; regulating

The abundance of benthic (i.e. bottom-dwelling) marine invertebrates, such as barnacles, snails, oysters, crabs 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 understood. There is increasing evidence that these variations are at least partly caused by low (0-40%) and variable levels of survivorship through the first few days or weeks of life on the ocean bottom (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 variations in population abundance are caused by differences in survivorship through the early benthic phase. This research program, building on more than 2 decades of research by my laboratory on early benthic phase ecology, will focus on the causes and consequences of early benthic phase mortality, and will transform our understanding of the role of the early benthic phase in controlling population abundance in benthic marine invertebrates. The program will study animals living in the intertidal zone, including barnacles, snails, mussels and crabs. The first two parts of the program will directly explore the consequences of early benthic phase mortality for population abundance: the influence of early benthic phase mortality on the subsequent abundance of the cohort up to maturity, and also its effect on the ability of species to colonize new habitats. The third part of the program will determine how low energy reserves influence early benthic phase mortality, either directly by starvation or indirectly by reducing the individual's ability to tolerate and survive stressful environmental conditions. Finally, the program will establish the influence of climate-related conditions, such as elevated temperature and desiccation stress; the program will examine the effects of these conditions at the time of juvenile recruitment on subsequent cohort abundance, and also the extent to which populations of benthic invertebrates around Vancouver Island have responded to localized climate conditions by evolving distinct early benthic phase tolerance thresholds. The study will provide breakthroughs in our ability to predict population abundance and the type of habitats these species can colonize, help us understand why early benthic survivorship is so low and variable, and lead to predictions of the impacts of climate change on early survivorship and the persistence of coastal invertebrate species.

随着时间的时间（从一个地点到另一个位置，山地尾，牡蛎，螃蟹，螃蟹和seastars），底栖底栖植物的丰富（即底部居住）无脊椎动物（例如藤壶，蜗牛，牡蛎，螃蟹和seastars）的含量高达400％（从一个位置到另一个位置）。这些丰度的显着差异对自然社区的稳定性以及商业收获的物种的可用性具有负面影响，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低（0-40％）和在海底生命的前几天或几周（即底栖早期阶段）的生存水平的变化引起的，当时这些动物仍处于幼虫或早期的幼年形式。但是，尚不清楚人口丰度的差异在多大程度上是由于底栖早期生存阶段的差异引起的。这项研究计划基于我的实验室关于底栖生物早期生态学的20多年研究，将重点关注早期底栖阶段死亡率的原因和后果，并将改变我们对底栖早期阶段在控制底栖海洋无脊椎动物中人口丰度的作用的理解。该计划将研究生活在潮间带的动物，包括藤壶，蜗牛，贻贝和螃蟹。该计划的前两个部分将直接探讨底栖早期死亡率对人口丰度的后果：早期底栖阶段死亡率对随后的人群到成熟的丰度的影响，以及其对物种殖民新栖息地的影响。该计划的第三部分将通过饥饿或间接地通过降低个人的耐受能力和生存压力的环境条件来决定低能储量的影响早期底栖阶段死亡率。最后，该计划将建立与气候相关条件的影响，例如温度升高和干燥应激；该计划将在少年招募时检查这些条件对随后的队列丰度的影响，以及温哥华岛周围底栖无脊椎动物的种群在多大程度上通过发展出不同的早期底栖相位耐受性阈值来响应局部气候条件。这项研究将为我们预测人口丰度的能力以及这些物种可以定殖的栖息地的类型提供突破，帮助我们理解为什么早期的底栖生存是如此之低和可变，并导致对气候变化对早期生存的影响的预测以及沿海无危险物种的持续性。