Biocomplexity: Victoria Land, Antarctica, Coastal Biome -- Marine-Terrestrial Interaction Across a High Latitudinal Environmental Gradient

地球周围沿海地区的海洋和陆地生态系统特别容易受到来自自然和人为来源的局部和全球影响。南极海岸带虽然被人类利用的程度有限，但在明确评估全球环境变化方面，它是地球上最原始的地区之一。拟议讲习班的主要目标涉及沿维多利亚陆地海岸生物群的纬度环境梯度(罗斯海西部从S~72度到S~78度)解释南极陆地-海洋生物复杂性，作为全球气候晴雨表。研讨会将在伯德极地研究中心项目资助后六个月内举行。与会者将包括来自生态系统、环境、计算、教育和社会科学学科的20名美国科学家和4名外国科学家。讲习班的优先事项如下：(1)汇编关于陆地和海洋生态系统和环境的组成、动态和年表的现有资料--自20世纪初以来，对其进行了大量综合研究；(2)评估与季节性至千年时间尺度的海冰覆盖和区域水文学有关的海洋-陆地生态系统的耦合；(3)评估与维多利亚陆地沿岸生物群的环境梯度和过渡带有关的海洋-陆地生态系统动态，以反映全球气候动态；(4)查明将为预测当地人类影响和全球环境变化(如气温升高和紫外线辐射反馈)提供“哨兵”的潜在紧急现象。预计每个参与者都将带来数据、地图、照片、出版物和其他研究产品，这些数据、地图、照片、出版物和其他研究产品与沿着维多利亚陆地沿海生物群纬度梯度综合环境和生态系统生物复杂性有关。总体而言，研究这种高纬度梯度的跨学科维度将有助于我们理解全球环境变化和科学在我们社会中的作用。

Marine and terrestrial ecosystems in coastal zones around the Earth are particularly vulnerable to local and global impacts from natural and anthropogenic sources. The Antarctic coastal zone, while utilized by humans to a limited extent, is among the most pristine regions on the planet for unambiguously assessing global environmental changes. The primary objectives for the proposed workshop are related to the interpretation of Antarctic terrestrial-marine biocomplexity along the latitudinal environmental gradient of the Victoria Land Coastal Biome (from ~72 degrees S to ~78 degrees S in the western Ross Sea) as a global climate barometer. The workshop will be convened within six months of project funding at the Byrd Polar Research Center. Participants will include 20 United States and 4 foreign scientists from ecosystem, environmental, computational, educational and social science disciplines. Workshop priorities are as follows: (1) compiling existing information regarding the components, dynamics and chronologies of terrestrial and marine ecosystems and environments - which have been studied largely with integration since the beginning of the 20th century; (2) assessing marine-terrestrial ecosystem coupling related to sea-ice coverage and regional hydrology over seasonal to millennial time scales; (3) assessing marine-terrestrial ecosystem dynamics associated with environmental gradients and transition zones across the Victoria Land Coastal Biome which reflect global climate dynamics; and (4) identifying potential emergent phenomena that would provide 'sentinels' for predicting local human impacts and global environmental changes (such as increased temperature and ultraviolet radiation feedbacks). Each participant will be expected to bring data, maps, photographs, publications and other research products that are relevant to integrating environmental and ecosystem biocomplexity along the latitudinal gradient of the Victoria Land Coastal Biome. Overall, the interdisciplinary dimensions of studying this high latitude gradient will contribute to our understanding of global environmental changes and the role of science in our society.