Development of a Whole Organism Micro-Respirometry System to Enhance Environmental Toxicology Studies in Coastal Ecosystems at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL)

奖9977441切萨皮克生物实验室(CBL)开发了一套完整的生物微呼吸测量系统，以加强沿海生态系统的毒理学研究。(主要调查人员：Tenore、Miller、Rowe、Paynter、Houde)CBL环境科学中的渔业、环境化学、毒理学和生态学正在进行的研究跨越了生物组织的生态系统层面。这种跨学科的方法吸引了来访的科学家与CBL教师合作，并确保教育项目的研究生在环境研究的广泛科学问题和方法论方面有良好的研究机会。获得能够极其准确地测量单个水生动物氧气和二氧化碳变化的整体生物微呼吸测量系统，将加强将细胞与生态系统生物学过程与生物能量效应联系起来的研究能力，并为研究生提供培训和可用性，以便在规划他们的论文研究项目时规划此类研究。环境研究的一个前沿是结合生态学和毒理学方法，将应激的亚致命效应与最终影响生物群落组成/生存和生态系统生产的种群效应联系起来。这些亚致死效应可由极端的环境因素引起，如水温或食物质量/数量或暴露在污染物中。如果要预测这种亚致命压力对种群动态、生存和生产的影响，就有必要了解、量化和预测暴露在压力和生物能量学之间的因果联系以及由此对种群动态的影响。这类研究可以用来研究鱼类和无脊椎动物的胚胎、幼体和幼体生命阶段的能量收支。生命的早期阶段往往是对亚致命压力最敏感的阶段。记录早期生命阶段繁殖的代谢成本和身体躯体生长之间的能量分配变化，以及成虫产生卵子和精子的生殖努力，将为理解以下方面提供关键信息：幼虫生存和生长的种群水平变化(补充成功)；物种生存；以及种群和系统生产对海洋环境中的变异性、周期和富营养化事件的反应。

Award Abstract 9977441Development of a whole organism micro-respirometry system to enhance toxicology studies in coastal ecosystems at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL). (Principle Investigators: Tenore, Miller, Rowe, Paynter, Houde)Ongoing research in fisheries, environmental chemistry, toxicology, and ecology in the environmental sciences at CBL span cellular through ecosystem levels of biological organization. This transdisciplinary approach attracts visiting scientists to work with CBL faculty and insures graduate students in the education program a sound exposure to research across the broad spectrum of scientific questions and methodologies of environmental research. The acquisition of a whole organism micro-respirometry system that enables extremely accurate measurements of changes in oxygen and carbon dioxide of individual aquatic animals will strengthen research abilities in linking cellular to ecosystem biological processes to bioenergetic effects and provide graduate students access to training and availability for planning such research in planning their dissertation research project.One frontier of environmental research is combining ecological and toxicological approaches in linking sub-lethal effects of stress to population effects that ultimately affect biotic community composition/survival and ecosystem production. These sub-lethal effects can be caused by extremes in environmental factors such as water temperature or food quality/quantity or exposure to contaminants. If the effects of such sub-lethal stress on population dynamics, survival, and production are to be predicted, it is necessary to understand, quantify, and predict the causal link between exposure to stress and organismal bioenergetics and resultant effects on population dynamics. Such studies can be used to examine energy budgets during embryonic, larval, and juvenile life stages of fish and invertebrates. The early life stages are frequently the most sensitive stages to sub-lethal stresses. Documenting changes in energy allocation between the metabolic costs of reproduction and body somatic growth in the early life stages, as well as reproductive effort of adults in producing egg and sperm will provide critical information for understanding: population level changes in larval survival and growth (recruitment success); species survival; and population and system production in response to variability, cycles, and eutrophication events in marine environments.