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: 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=740298
• 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.

底栖(即海底栖息)海洋无脊椎动物的数量，如藤壶、蜗牛、牡蛎、螃蟹和海星，随着时间(年复一年)和空间(从一个地点到另一个地点)变化高达400%。这些显著的丰度变化对自然群落的稳定性和商业捕捞物种的可获得性产生了负面影响，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在海底生命的头几天或几周(即早期底栖生物阶段)，当这些动物仍处于幼体或早期幼体形式时，低(0-40%)和不同水平的生存水平造成的。然而，还不知道种群丰度的变化在多大程度上是由早期底栖生物阶段生存能力的差异造成的。这项研究计划建立在我的实验室对早期底栖阶段生态学20多年研究的基础上，将重点放在早期底栖阶段死亡的原因和后果上，并将改变我们对早期底栖阶段在控制底栖海洋无脊椎动物种群丰度方面的作用的理解。该项目将研究生活在潮间带的动物，包括藤壶、蜗牛、贻贝和螃蟹。该计划的前两部分将直接探讨早期底栖生物阶段死亡对种群丰度的影响：早期底栖生物阶段死亡对随后的种群丰富度的影响，以及它对物种在新栖息地定居能力的影响。该计划的第三部分将确定低能量储备如何直接通过饥饿或间接通过降低个体对压力环境条件的容忍和生存能力来影响早期底栖生物阶段的死亡。最后，该计划将确定与气候有关的条件的影响，如高温和干燥压力；该计划将检查这些条件在幼体招募时对随后的队列丰度的影响，以及温哥华岛周围的底栖无脊椎动物种群通过进化出不同的早期底栖阶段耐受阈值来对局部气候条件做出反应的程度。这项研究将为我们预测种群丰度和这些物种可以定居的栖息地类型的能力提供突破，帮助我们理解为什么早期底栖动物的存活率如此之低和可变，并导致对气候变化对沿海无脊椎动物物种早期存活率和持久性的影响的预测。