Environmental signal analysis: Monitoring the impacts of climate change on rocky intertidal ecosystem across a cascade of scales

岩石潮间带是评估天气、气候和气候变化对自然生态系统影响的模式生态系统，因为生活在该栖息地的动植物经常生活在非常接近它们的热耐力极限的地方。此外，暴露在相同物理环境中的两种生物在生态位水平上可能会经历截然不同的条件。在大空间和时间尺度上测量的环境信号必须转化为生物生态位的水平，以事后预测、即时预测和预测气候和天气对生物的生存、繁殖和生态相互作用的影响。这位研究人员已经为几种潮间带生物开发了模型和传感器，特别是贻贝和捕食性的海滨黄鱼。自1999年以来，在北美西海岸的一系列9个地点几乎连续收集了与贻贝有关的数据，这些数据表明，生理应激的模式可能比基于栖息地水平的测量(即通过浮标或卫星)预测的模式复杂得多。在过去5年中观察到的体温上升并没有通过陆上或近海的水温或气温测量反映出来，而是多种环境参数之间复杂相互作用的结果。此外，初步结果表明，捕食者和猎物在空间和时间上可能经历明显不同的温度模式。这一结果对我们何时何地寻找气候变化影响的证据具有重大影响。调查人员将继续监测潮间带温度，这是目前唯一的长期监测系列，并将扩大研究范围，通过使用热匹配传感器将捕食性海星Pisaster包括在内。他将使用这些数据来测试一系列与极端高温和低温风险模式相关的假设。数据还将作为美国各地实验室进行的生理、生态和生物地理研究的重要信息来源。研究人员将创建一个可搜索的、可公开访问的数据库，研究人员可以在其中下载个人温度记录，并将其应用于生理和生态研究。该项目发展了生物科学系和计算机科学系和工程系之间的合作，以开发一个数据库和用户友好的基于网络的界面，使多个最终用户能够访问数据。它还将融入为K-12学生制定课程计划的现有外联工作中，将数据作为课程计划的一部分，并开展其他活动，向学生传授气候变化对沿海生物的影响。

The rocky intertidal zone is a model ecosystem for evaluating the impacts of weather, climate, and climate change on natural ecosystems, as animals and plants living in this habitat frequently live very close to their thermal tolerance limits. Moreover, two organisms exposed to identical physical environments can experience radically different conditions at the level of the niche. Environmental signals measured at large spatial and temporal scales must be translated to the level of an organism's niche to hindcast, nowcast, and forecast the effects of climate and weather on the survival, reproduction and ecological interactions of organisms. The investigator has developed models and sensors for several species of intertidal organisms, specifically the mussel Mytilus californianus and the predatory seastar Pisaster ochraceus. Data relevant to mussels has been collected nearly continuously at a series of 9 sites along the west coast of North America since 1999, and these data show that patterns of physiological stress are likely to be far more complex than those predicted based on measurements at the habitat level (i.e. by buoy or satellite). Increases in body temperature have been observed over the last 5 years that are not reflected by onshore or offshore water or air temperature measurements, but instead are the result of complex interactions between multiple environmental parameters. Moreover, preliminary results suggest that predator and prey may experience markedly different patterns of temperature in space and in time. This result has significant implications for where and when we look for evidence of the impacts of climate change. The investigator will continue monitoring intertidal temperatures, currently the only long-terms series of its kind, and will expand the study to include the predatory seastar Pisaster through the use of thermally-matched sensors. He will use these data to test a series of hypotheses relating to patterns of risk of high and low temperature extremes. Data will also serve as an important source of information for physiological, ecological and biogeographic studies conducted by labs throughout the US. The investigator will produce a searchable, publicly-accessible database where individual temperature records can be downloaded by researchers and applied to physiological and ecological studies. This project develops a collaboration between departments of Biological Science and Computer Science and Engineering to develop a database and user-friendly web-based interface that will provide access to data by multiple end-users. It will also feed into existing outreach efforts that make lesson plans for K-12 students, using data as part of lesson plans and other activities to teach students about the effects of climate change on coastal organisms.