The effects of temperature on ecological processes in a rocky intertidal community: a mechanistic approach

温度影响着生物体的生理、行为、群落相互作用和生态系统功能，但人们对其机制知之甚少。准确预测温度对物种的影响需要了解：当地的气候条件，气候和生物体温之间的关系，以及体温的生理和生态后果。到目前为止，很少有研究同时探索这三个领域。这个项目将详细研究温度对岩石潮间带群落的生物物理、生理和生态影响，这是一个已经成为研究温度生态后果的模式系统的海洋生态系统。它将专注于三个主要物种，代表世界各地的岩石海洋岸上物种：藤壶，腺状藤壶，其捕食者Nucella ostrina，以及为这两个物种提供庇护的岩藻Fucus gardneri。这项研究围绕三个主要目标展开：开发生物物理模型，明确地将当地气候与生物体温联系起来；开发能量平衡模型，将生物体温与个体表现联系起来；通过一系列实验室和野外实验，确定温度对三个物种之间相互作用的影响。这项研究将为理解温度对个体表现和物种相互作用的影响提供一个模型系统。这项研究有助于理解基本的生态学问题，如温度在群落结构中的作用，也将有助于更机械地理解未来气候变化的生态后果。这项研究将至少从四个方面促进科学家、学生和普通公众对温度如何影响生物体和群落的更广泛的理解。首先，研究主题解决了生态学中一个基本但解决不了的问题：温度对生物行为和物种相互作用的影响。这种多尺度、综合的方法有可能改变目前关于环境变化如何影响物种和群落的范式。了解温度在构建群落中的作用与生物海洋学特别重视海洋系统中的生物多样性直接相关。其次，该项目本质上是高度跨学科的，将在三名女性科学家(PI、一名博士后和一名瑞氏机构的合作者)之间建立新的研究伙伴关系，并将为几名研究生和本科生提供新的教育机会。调查人员将在每年夏天继续参与FHL Blinks计划以增强多样性，为代表不足的群体提供本科生研究机会，并预计还将提供几个REU经验(NSF提案正在等待重新提交)。第三，PI将把研究成果和技术融入她在FHL和西雅图大学校园的本科生和研究生课程中。FHL本科课程将公众宣传纳入课程；这些活动是FHL更广泛的科学推广计划的一部分，该计划旨在促进科学教育和环境管理。最后，该项目的成果将被纳入华盛顿大学和星期五港湾实验室在普吉特湾上游地区正在进行的保护和监测工作中。该项目还将加强对气候变化这一重大社会问题的生态后果的理解。

Temperature influences organismal physiology, behavior, community interactions, and ecosystem function; yet rarely are the mechanisms understood. Accurately predicting the consequences of temperature for a species requires knowledge of: local climatic conditions, the relationship between climate and organismal body temperature, and the physiological and ecological consequences of body temperature. Few studies to date have explored all three areas concurrently. This project will examine in detail the biophysical, physiological, and ecological effects of temperature on a rocky intertidal community, a marine ecosystem that has emerged as a model system for studying the ecological consequences of temperature. It will focus on three major species, representative of rocky marine shore species worldwide: the barnacle, Balanus glandula, its predator Nucella ostrina, and the rockweed Fucus gardneri, which provides shelter for both species. The research is centered around three major goals: to develop biophysical models to explicitly link local climate to organismal body temperatures; to develop energy budget models to relate organismal body temperature to individual performance; and to identify the effect of temperature on interactions among the three species through a series of laboratory and field experiments. This research will provide a model system for understanding the effects of temperature on both individual performance and species interactions. It represents a significant contribution to understanding basic ecological questions, such as the role of temperature in structuring communities, and will also contribute to a more mechanistic understanding of the ecological consequences of future climate changes.This research will promote a broader understanding of how temperature affects organisms and communities among scientists, students, and the general public in at least four ways. First, the research themes address a basic, yet poorly resolved, question in ecology: the influence of temperature on organismal performance and species interactions. This multiscale, integrated approach has the potential to transform current paradigms of how environmental change affects species and communities. Understanding the role of temperature in structuring communities is directly relevant to Biological Oceanography's special emphasis on biological diversity in marine systems. Second, the project is highly interdisciplinary by nature, and will forge new research partnerships among three female scientists (the PI, a postdoc, and a collaborator at an RUI institution) and will provide new educational opportunities for several graduate and undergraduate students. The investigators will offer undergraduate research opportunities to underrepresented groups with their continued participation in the FHL Blinks Program to Enhance Diversity each summer, and expect to provide several REU experiences as well (separate NSF proposal resubmission pending). Third, The PI will incorporate research results and techniques into her undergraduate and graduate courses at FHL and the UW Seattle campus. The FHL undergraduate course integrates public outreach into the curriculum; these activities are part of FHL's broader Science Outreach Program that promotes science education and environmental stewardship. Finally, the results of this project will be incorporated into ongoing conservation and monitoring efforts conducted in the upper Puget Sound region by the University of Washington and the Friday Harbor Laboratories. The project will also enhance understanding of the ecological consequences of climate change, a significant societal problem.