COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Mesozooplankton-Microbial Food Web Interactions in Western Arctic Shelf and Basin Regions

大陆架-盆地相互作用计划的一个中心目标是了解影响北极大陆架和盆地生态系统内部和之间的碳转化和通量的过程，以及气候变化可能如何影响这些过程。北极大陆架和盆地生境中碳的循环取决于微型和中型浮游动物的结构和功能，这些浮游动物是初级生产的重要消费者。初级生产力在留在水柱中或积累到海底(可从大陆架出口的有机物较少)各部分之间的分配，可能会受到微型浮游动物与中游动物草食动物的相对放牧率的很大影响。微型浮游生物放牧抑制了出口通量，而中游动物放牧则增强了出口通量。该项目的主要重点是分析微型浮游动物和中游动物食草动物对加拿大盆地海洋水域和楚科奇/博福特海陆架水域内碳的通量和交换的影响。这项研究将明确讨论以前在北极这一地区未曾探索过的营养联系。假设是，气候变化导致的生态系统结构变化将改变这些营养相互作用在北极大陆架和盆地系统碳利用和循环中的作用。该项目将提供微型浮游动物和中游动物放牧和繁殖的速率测量，这些参数是履行机构项目季节性进程巡航的高度优先事项。

A central goal of the Shelf-Basin Interactions (SBI) program is to understand the processes affecting carbon transformations and fluxes within and between Arctic shelf and basin ecosystems, and how climate change might impact these processes. The cycling of carbon in Arctic shelf and basin habitats depends on the structure and functioning of both micro- and meso- zooplankton acting as significant consumers of primary production. The partitioning of primary production between the fractions remaining in the water column or accumulating to the seafloor (where organic matter is less available for export from the shelf) can be greatly affected by the relative grazing rates of microzooplankton versus mesozooplankton herbivores. Microplankton grazing dampens export flux, while mesozooplankton grazing enhances it. The primary focus of this project is an analysis of the impact of microzooplankton and mesozooplankton grazers on the fluxes and exchanges of carbon within the oceanic waters of the Canada Basin and the shelf waters of the Chukchi/Beaufort Seas. This study will explicitly address trophic linkages previously unexplored in this region of the Arctic. The hypothesize is that changing ecosystem structure resulting from climate change will alter the role of these trophic interactions in the utilization and cycling of carbon in arctic shelves and basin systems. This project will provide rate measurements for microzooplankton and mesozooplankton grazing and reproduction, parameters that are a high priority for the seasonal process cruises in the SBI project.