Advection and Food Webs in the Western Arctic: Retrospective Sample and Data Analysis and Modelling

本项目将启动一项大型桡足类动物从北极深海盆向大陆架平流的研究，这是大陆架浮游生态系统的重要碳源。如果没有这种碳源，浮游生物群的食物供应就会很少，底栖动物群就会主宰食物网。这种将碳从盆地转移到大陆架上层水域的基本过程尚未在北极生态系统中得到研究。这个过程非常重要，因为桡足类动物可能在深盆地越冬，当它们在短暂的北极夏季平流到大陆架时，它们可以作为浮游动物和鱼类的年度食物来源。研究人员将对在楚科奇海和波弗特海收集的数据进行回顾性分析，以建立一个桡足类平流的生物学模型，以检验有关浮游生物迁移的假设，以及海洋环流对这一过程的影响。该模型将允许测试全球变化对货架上这种重要食物来源的可用性的影响。该项目的结果将为规划2002年在同一地理区域的陆架盆地相互作用项目的大型第2阶段实地方案提供投入。

ABSTRACTOPP-9815682SMITH, SHARONMIAMI UNIVERSITY This project will initiate a study of the advection of large copepods onto continental shelves from the deep Arctic basin as a vital source of carbon for the planktonic ecosystem on the shelf. Without this source of carbon, the planktonic biota would have little food supply and the benthic fauna would dominate the food web. This fundamental process of transferring carbon from basin to upper waters of the shelf has not been studied in the Arctic ecosystem. The process is very important due to the possible overwintering of the copepods in the deep basin where they can serve as an annual source of food for zooplankton and fish when advected to the shelf during the short Arctic summer. The investigator will use retrospective analysis of data collected in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas to develop a biological model of the advection of copepods to test hypotheses about the migration of plankton as well as the effects of ocean circulation on the process. The model will allow testing of global change impacts on the availability of this important food source on the shelf. The results of this project will provide input for planning a large Phase 2 field program of the Shelf Basin Interactions project in 2002 in the same geographic area.