Linking productivity and energy allocation to Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

从海洋返回产卵的大西洋鲑鱼为河流提供了来自海洋的营养物质。在过去的一个世纪里，加拿大大西洋鲑鱼的数量急剧下降，导致淡水生态系统的生态功能丧失。加拿大公园（PC）正在着手一项为期五年的项目，旨在恢复大西洋鲑鱼、生态功能和加拿大大西洋沿岸五个国家公园（芬迪、库奇布瓜克、布雷顿角高地、格罗斯莫恩和特拉诺瓦）的营养供应。与PC合作提供了一个独特的机会来研究生态保护，而没有许多在公园边界以外的河流中常见的干扰因素。在接下来的五年里，我将进行实地研究，并利用生物标志物来研究海洋资源在大西洋河流生态功能和能量分配中的作用。该提案是正在进行的大西洋河流、鱼类、河流生产、栖息地以及人类活动对这些生态系统影响的研究中合乎逻辑的下一步，也是PC的主要研究目标。第一个项目将侧重于通过重新引入大西洋鲑鱼来恢复淡水生态系统。我们将比较五个国家公园鲑鱼丰度的自然梯度的常见生产措施，从极度濒危到健康，将幼鲑鱼密度与生态完整性指标联系起来，包括初级生产、无脊椎动物生产和生态系统功能。建模方法将应用于基于河内参数的最佳预测幼年鲑鱼产量。第二个项目将把幼鱼产量映射到每个流域的时空栖息地地图上。绘制地图将检查幼鲑鱼产量如何与栖息地和生物相互作用（即河流流量、温度、生态功能）联系起来，这是第一个项目的成果。第三个项目将侧重于评估淡水生产力如何促进个人能源分配。我们将研究横跨五个国家公园的幼年和成年大西洋鲑鱼的营养分配和营养调节，以确定对状况和生存的可测量影响。脂肪酸（FA）分析将用于评估不同生境和地区之间食物供应和能量分配的差异。第四个项目侧重于评估海洋生产力对大西洋鲑鱼状况的影响。我们将使用稳定同位素分析来确定海洋觅食生态和支持成年大西洋鲑鱼的食物网如何在区域上有所不同。单个脂肪酸的复合特定同位素分析将用于估计大西洋鲑鱼的营养生态，并使用FA分析来评估状况。该项目是对第三个项目的补充，并完成了生命史循环，以了解海洋生产力和海洋鲑鱼的状况如何影响下一代。

Atlantic salmon returning from the ocean to spawn subsidize rivers with marine-derived nutrients. Atlantic salmon populations throughout Canada have undergone precipitous declines over the past century, leading to the loss of ecological function freshwater ecosystems. Parks Canada (PC) is embarking on a five-year project to restore Atlantic salmon, ecological function, and nutrient availability across five National Parks in Atlantic Canada (Fundy, Kouchibouguac, Cape Breton Highlands, Gros Morne, and Terra Nova). Partnering with PC provides a unique opportunity to study ecological conservation without many of the confounding factors commonly found in rivers outside Park boundaries. Over the next five years, I will conduct field-based research and use biomarkers to examine the roles marine resources play in ecological function and energy allocation in Atlantic rivers. This proposal is a logical next step in the ongoing research of Atlantic rivers, their fish, riverine production, habitats, and impacts of human activities on these ecosystems and is a primary research goal of PC. The first project will focus on restoration of freshwater ecosystems through reintroductions of Atlantic salmon. We will compare common production measures across the natural gradient of salmon abundances across five National Parks, from critically endangered to healthy, to link juvenile salmon densities to metrics of ecological integrity that include primary production, invertebrate production, and ecosystem function. Modelling approaches will be applied to best predict juvenile salmon production based on the in-river parameters. The second project will map juvenile production onto the spatial and temporal habitat maps for each river basin. This mapping will examine how juvenile salmon production is linked to habitat and biotic interactions (i.e., river flows, temperature, ecological function) which are the outcomes of the first project. The third project will focus on assessing how freshwater productivity contributes to individual energy allocation. We will examine nutrient allocation and nutrient regulation in juvenile and adult Atlantic salmon across the five National Parks to identify measurable implications for condition and survival. Fatty acid (FA) analysis will be used to assess how food availability and energy allocation differs between habitats and regions. The fourth project focuses on assessing how marine productivity contributes to condition of Atlantic salmon. We will use stable isotope analysis to identify how marine foraging ecology and the food webs which support adult Atlantic salmon differ regionally. Compound specific isotope analysis of individual fatty acids will be used to estimate trophic ecology of Atlantic salmon, with FA analysis used to assess condition. This project compliments the third project and completes the life-history loop to understand how marine productivity and the condition of salmon at sea influence the next generation.