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: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=744876
• 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，气候变化和其他人为压力源正在使海洋栖息地降解。这些变化比珊瑚礁更为急切，而珊瑚礁则在增加频率和强度时经历了毁灭性的热应力事件。面对这种可怕的威胁，迫切需要了解基于生物多样性持续存在的生态过程。一个基本的过程是扩散，尽管数十年来描述分散模式的进步，但我们仍然缺乏有关大多数物种扩散规模的基本知识。此外，我们对在当前海洋条件下推动分散变异性的机制以及气候引起的各个表型的变化和海景质量如何影响分散体的机制有差的理解。在接下来的五年中，我的实验室将研究海景异质性（即栖息地质量，损失和分散）如何影响幼虫分散。我们将专注于在加勒比海库拉岛周围的珊瑚礁上的微栖息地专家鱼类。这些是理想的研究物种，因为它们占据了无脊椎动物宿主（例如珊瑚，海绵）。因此，他们的毅力与他们所生活的无脊椎动物的健康无关。利用现场生物学，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，我们将使用遗传亲属分析中的创新技术来量化强大环境梯度的分散区域模式。其次，我们将通过探索栖息地质量如何影响幼体分散表型和成人复制策略来探索推动观察到的分散模式的生物学机制。第三，我们将将这些独特的经验数据整合到模型中，以预测鱼类种群将如何响应旨在减轻持续海景降解的替代保护策略。总的来说，该研究计划将提供急需的经验数据，这些数据是在面对持续剥削和栖息地退化的海洋生物多样性持久性基础的生态过程的基础。它将为我们对人类世的幼虫分散的理解做出重要贡献，并将对气候智能保护计划对珊瑚礁（世界上最危险的海洋生态系统）产生直接影响。更一般而言，我们为研究动态礁海景的幼虫分散的框架可以为其他地区的工作提供信息，包括加拿大一个国家，周围环绕着三个海洋，这些海洋都经历了气候变化的影响。该赠款还将为五名研究生和10名本科生提供培训，他们将仅解决海洋生态学和保护生物学中的应用问题。