Larval dispersal in a changing ocean: patterns, causes, and consequences

不断变化的海洋中幼虫的扩散：模式、原因和后果

• 批准号: RGPIN-2020-04112
• 负责人: DAloia, Cassidy
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=739670
• 关键词: Larval; dispersal; changing; ocean; patterns

Throughout the world's oceans, climate change and a suite of other anthropogenic stressors are degrading marine habitats. Nowhere are these changes more acute than on coral reefs, which are experiencing devastating thermal stress events at increasing frequencies and intensities. In the face of such dire threats, there is an urgent need to understand the ecological processes that underpin biodiversity persistence in rapidly changing seascapes. One essential process is dispersal, which the majority of marine species undertake during a larval phase. Despite decades of progress towards describing dispersal patterns, we still lack fundamental knowledge about the scale of dispersal for most species. Moreover, we have a poor understanding of the mechanisms driving dispersal variability under present oceanic conditions, as well as how climate-induced changes to individual phenotypes and seascape quality will affect dispersal in the future.      Over the next five years, my lab will investigate how seascape heterogeneity (i.e. habitat quality, loss, and fragmentation) influences larval dispersal. We will focus on microhabitat specialist fishes on reefs surrounding the Caribbean island of Curaçao. These are ideal study species because they occupy invertebrate hosts (e.g. corals, sponges); thus, their persistence is tightly linked to the health of the reef-building invertebrates they live on. Drawing on techniques from field biology, molecular ecology, conservation biology, and seascape ecology, we will address three major objectives. First, we will quantify regional patterns of dispersal across a strong environmental gradient using innovative techniques in genetic parentage analysis. Second, we will begin to unravel the biological mechanisms driving the observed dispersal patterns by exploring how habitat quality affects larval dispersal phenotypes and adult reproductive tactics. Third, we will integrate these unique empirical data into models that predict how fish populations will respond to alternative conservation strategies aimed at mitigating ongoing seascape degradation.      Collectively, this research program will provide much-needed empirical data on ecological processes that underlie marine biodiversity persistence in the face of continued exploitation and habitat degradation. It will make important contributions to our understanding of larval dispersal in the Anthropocene and will have direct implications for climate-smart conservation planning on coral reefs-the world's most imperiled marine ecosystem. More generally, the framework we establish for studying larval dispersal on dynamic reef seascapes can inform work in other regions, including Canada-a country surrounded by three oceans that are all experiencing the effects of climate change. This grant will also provide training to five graduate and 10 undergraduate students, who will simultaneously address consequential questions in marine ecology and applied issues in conservation biology.

在全世界的海洋中，气候变化和一系列其他人为压力因素正在使海洋生境退化。这些变化在珊瑚礁上最为剧烈，珊瑚礁正在经历越来越频繁和强度的毁灭性热应力事件。面对这种可怕的威胁，迫切需要了解在迅速变化的海洋景观中支撑生物多样性持久性的生态过程。一个基本的过程是扩散，大多数海洋物种在幼虫阶段都进行这一过程。尽管几十年来在描述扩散模式方面取得了进展，但我们仍然缺乏关于大多数物种扩散规模的基本知识。此外，我们有一个贫穷的理解机制驱动分散的变化在目前的海洋条件下，以及如何气候引起的变化，个人的表型和海景质量将影响分散在未来。 在接下来的五年里，我的实验室将研究海景异质性（即栖息地质量，损失和碎片化）如何影响幼虫扩散。我们将重点关注加勒比库拉索岛周围珊瑚礁上的微生境专家鱼类。它们是理想的研究物种，因为它们占据了无脊椎动物的宿主（例如珊瑚，海绵）;因此，它们的持久性与它们所生活的造礁无脊椎动物的健康密切相关。借鉴野外生物学，分子生态学，保护生物学和海景生态学的技术，我们将解决三个主要目标。首先，我们将使用遗传亲子分析中的创新技术来量化跨越强环境梯度的区域扩散模式。其次，我们将开始解开生物学机制驱动观察到的扩散模式，通过探索栖息地质量如何影响幼虫的扩散表型和成人的生殖策略。第三，我们将把这些独特的经验数据整合到模型中，预测鱼类种群将如何应对旨在减轻持续的海景退化的替代保护策略。 总的来说，这项研究计划将提供急需的经验数据的生态过程，海洋生物多样性的持久性，面对持续开发和栖息地退化。它将为我们理解人类世的幼虫扩散做出重要贡献，并将对珊瑚礁-世界上最危险的海洋生态系统-的气候智能保护规划产生直接影响。更一般地说，我们建立的框架，研究动态珊瑚礁海景的幼虫扩散可以通知工作在其他地区，包括加拿大-一个国家包围的三个海洋都在经历气候变化的影响。这笔赠款还将为5名研究生和10名本科生提供培训，他们将同时解决海洋生态学和保护生物学应用问题的相应问题。