Workshops to Develop a Research Plan for the Ecosystem Studies of Sub-Arctic Seas Program

亚北极海，包括白令海、巴伦支海、纽芬兰/拉布拉多大陆架和鄂霍次克海，支撑着世界上一些最具生产力的渔业，其中大部分以鳕鱼或狭鳕为基础。 除了鄂霍次克海，这些海洋也与北冰洋交换水，在某些情况下，当它们从北太平洋或北大西洋流向北冰洋时，改变了水和盐。 近年来，很明显，这些季节性冰雪覆盖的亚北极海洋不仅受到年际变化的影响，而且还受到十年尺度和长期气候变化的影响。 因此，有必要评估全球变化可能如何影响这些亚北极海洋的海洋生态系统及其支持生产性渔业的能力。 2002年9月初在加州的拉古纳海滩举行了一次国际讲习班，评估是否有可能制定一项重大的研究计划，重点研究解决这些问题的最有利办法。 讲习班的与会者确定，有必要对亚北极海及其在全球变化背景下支持渔业的能力进行跨学科的比较研究。 我们建议召开两次研讨会，为拉古纳海滩研讨会与会者设想的比较研究方案制定一项科学计划。 这些讲习班的目标是确定全球变化对这些亚北极生态系统的潜在影响方面最重要的研究问题，并确定这些问题的优先次序，并确定回答这些问题的创新办法。 讲习班的一个重要成果是制定一项科学计划，为生态系统动态项目提供基础。 (The亚北极海目前不包括在eGLOBEC项目中。 科学计划还将提供一个框架，将亚北极海洋生态系统研究与北极环境变化研究方案结合起来。

The sub-arctic seas, including the Bering Sea, the Barents Sea, the Newfoundland/Labrador Shelf, and th Sea of Okhotsk, support some of the world's most productive fisheries, most of which are based on cod or pollock. With the exception of the Sea of Okhotsk, these seas also exchange water with the Arctic Ocean and, in some cases, modify water and salts as they flow from the North Pacific Ocean or North Atlantic Ocean to the Arctic Ocean. In recent years, it has become evident that these seasonally ice-covered, sub-arctic seas are subject not only to interannual variation but also to decadal-scale and secular changes in climate. Thus, there is a need to assess how global change may affect the marine ecosystems of these sub-arctic seas and their ability to support productive fisheries. An international workshop to assess the potential for developing a major research initiative that could focus on the most profitable approaches to these questions was held in Laguna Beach, California, in early September 2002. The participants in this workshop identified a need for an interdisciplinary, comparative study of the sub-arctic seas and their ability to support fisheries in the context of global change. We propose to convene two workshops to develop a Science Plan for the comparative studies program envisaged by the participants of the Laguna Beach Workshop. The goal of these workshops is to identify and prioritize the most important research questions concerning the potential effects of global change on these sub-arctic ecosystems, and to identify innovative approaches to answering these questions. An important prodcut of the workshops will be the development of a Science Plan that could provide the basis for a Ecosystem Dynamics (GLOBEC) project. (The sub-arctic seas are not currently included in th eGLOBEC project.) The Science Plan will also provide a framework for integration of sub-arctic marine ecosystem studies with the SEARCH (Study of Arctic Environmental Change) program.