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.

在世界各地的海洋中，气候变化和一系列其他人为压力因素正在使海洋栖息地退化。这些变化在珊瑚礁上表现得最为明显，它们正在经历破坏性的热应力事件，频率和强度都在增加。面对这些可怕的威胁，我们迫切需要了解在快速变化的海景中支撑生物多样性持续性的生态过程。一个重要的过程是扩散，这是大多数海洋物种在幼虫阶段进行的。尽管几十年来在描述扩散模式方面取得了进展，但我们对大多数物种的扩散规模仍然缺乏基本的了解。此外，我们对在当前海洋条件下驱动扩散变异性的机制，以及气候引起的个体表型和海景质量的变化如何影响未来的扩散，了解甚少。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、丧失和破碎化）如何影响幼虫的扩散。我们将重点关注加勒比海库拉帕拉奥岛周围珊瑚礁上的微型栖息地专用鱼类。这些是理想的研究物种，因为它们占据无脊椎动物宿主（例如珊瑚，海绵）；因此，它们的生存与它们赖以生存的造礁无脊椎动物的健康密切相关。利用野外生物学、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，我们将利用遗传亲本分析中的创新技术，量化在强环境梯度中的区域分布模式。其次，我们将通过探索栖息地质量如何影响幼虫的扩散表型和成虫的繁殖策略，开始揭示驱动所观察到的扩散模式的生物学机制。第三，我们将把这些独特的经验数据整合到模型中，以预测鱼类种群对旨在减轻持续海景退化的替代保护策略的反应。总的来说，这个研究项目将为面临持续开发和栖息地退化的海洋生物多样性持续性的生态过程提供急需的经验数据。它将对我们理解人类世的幼虫扩散做出重要贡献，并将对世界上最危险的海洋生态系统——珊瑚礁的气候智能保护规划产生直接影响。更一般地说，我们为研究动态珊瑚礁海景上的幼虫扩散而建立的框架可以为其他地区的工作提供信息，包括加拿大——一个被三个海洋包围的国家，都在经历气候变化的影响。这项拨款还将为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的相关问题和保护生物学的应用问题。