OCEAN ACIDIFICATION - COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: OMEGAS II - Linking ecological and organismal responses to the ocean acidification seascape in the California Current System

该项目是对现有海洋酸化(OA)赠款的更新，该赠款支持一个拥有海洋学、生态学、生物地球化学、分子生理学和分子遗传学专业知识的跨学科研究团队(称为omegas)。到目前为止，研究已经记录了加州海流系统(CCS)内陆架上的动态海洋镶嵌，它跨越1200多公里，在当地到洋盆的空间尺度上在潮汐、昼夜、事件和季节性时间尺度上变化。在OMEGA II中，该项目试图更好地了解这种惊人的时空变异性的驱动因素，并将OA海景与这一生态系统的关键成员--贻贝--的生理和生态表现联系起来。此外，研究人员还将探索这种海洋镶嵌对物种相互作用和群落组织的影响。作为主要的生境形成物种、强大的相互作用者和主要的空间占有者，加州拟甲藻可以说是上升流主导的CCS沿线岩石潮间带生态系统的核心组成部分。利用一种跨学科的、空间上广泛的方法，将内陆架海洋学与生态学、生理学和生态力学相结合，跨学科小组将研究贝类幼体对OA的反应。这些研究跨越了生物组织的各个层面，从而可以评估在田间条件下形成贝壳的成本可能如何影响生理性能和对捕食的抵抗力。这项研究将包括与CCS内外更大尺度的生态系统和海洋动力学相联系的建模。omegas I的结果表明，贻贝幼体的生长、存活和贝壳强度受到二氧化碳浓度升高的强烈负面影响，成体贻贝的生长因区域内和区域之间的不同而不同。关于海水条件下自然变异性的新数据将使人们能够更深入地探索加州管圆线虫的生物反应，以及特征的生态后果，如减少贝壳厚度和强度。本项目将扩大和加强现有的海洋学网络，以增加我们对沿海开放式获取制度的了解，并为生态和生理研究提供环境背景。具体地说，这个项目将(1)进行野外和实验室实验，研究OA对从横跨1,400公里海岸线的10个地点收集的贻贝幼体生长、贝壳生长和抗捕食性的影响；(2)通过生态建模将OA传感器海洋“主干”连接到现有的群落结构数据库，以评估OA对海岸群落组织变化的影响；(3)确定在野外部署和普通园艺条件下幼贝的生理反应，以评估不同地点贻贝所观察到的反应的机械基础，(4)探索实验室中围隔生态系统中贻贝对野外记录的二氧化碳变异性的生理和转录响应，以及(5)使用改进的ROMS模型，评估盆地尺度海洋学和大陆架内海洋学局部尺度变异性之间的联系，以评估大到局部尺度因素对海洋变异性的相对影响。这项研究旨在了解沿海生态系统将如何应对开放存取，从而发展我们预测开放存取对海岸生态系统未来影响的能力。该项目将利用补充资金用于研究、培训和推广，并吸引本科生、研究生和博士后研究人员以及个人投资。总体目标的一部分是提高政策制定者和公众对开放式获取科学的可见度和熟悉度。将通过与COMPASS(科学与海洋传播伙伴关系)、公开讲座、网站以及电影和电视等多媒体渠道的广泛联系来促进外联工作。每个校园都参与了从地方到全国的办公自动化展示。

This project is a renewal of an existing ocean acidification (OA) grant supporting an interdisciplinary research team (called OMEGAS) with expertise in oceanography, ecology, biogeochemistry, molecular physiology, and molecular genetics. Research to date has documented a dynamic oceanographic mosaic in the inner shelf of the California Current System (CCS) that spans 1,200+ km and varies at tidal, diurnal, event, and seasonal temporal scales at local to ocean basin spatial scales. In OMEGAS II, the project seeks to better understand the drivers of this striking time-space variability, and to link the OA seascape to the physiological and ecological performance of a key member of this ecosystem, the mussel Mytilus californianus. In addition, the investigators will explore the influence of this oceanographic mosaic on species interactions and community organization. As a dominant habitat-forming species, strong interactor, and major space occupant, M. californianus is arguably the core component of the rocky intertidal ecosystem along the upwelling-dominated CCS. Using an interdisciplinary, spatially extensive approach integrating inner shelf oceanography with ecology, physiology, and eco-mechanics, the interdisciplinary team will study the response of juvenile mussels M. californianus to OA. The studies span levels of biological organization, thereby allowing assessment of how the cost of forming a shell under field conditions might influence physiological performance and resistance to predation. This investigation will include modeling to link to larger-scale ecosystem and oceanographic dynamics in the CCS and beyond.Results from OMEGAS I show that the growth, survival, and shell strength of mussel larvae are strongly negatively affected by elevated pCO2, and that growth of adult mussels varied among sites within regions and between regions. Emerging data on natural variability in seawater conditions will allow a deeper exploration of the organismal response of M. californianus, and the ecological consequences of traits, such as reduced shell thickness and strength. The present project will expand and strengthen the existing oceanographic network to increase our understanding of the coastal OA regime, and provide the environmental context for ecological and physiological research. Specifically, this project will (1) conduct field and laboratory experiments on the influence of OA on the growth, shell accretion, and resistance to predation of juvenile mussels collected from 10 sites spanning 1,400 km of coastline, (2) link the OA-sensor oceanographic "backbone" to an existing database of community structure via ecological modeling to assess the influence of OA on coastal variation in community organization, (3) determine the physiological responses of juvenile mussels following field deployments and culture under common garden conditions to evaluate mechanistic underpinnings to the responses observed in mussels from different sites, (4) explore the physiological and transcriptomic response of mussels in lab mesocosms to field-documented variability in pCO2, and (5) using modified ROMS models, evaluate the linkage between basin-scale oceanography and local-scale variation in inner-shelf oceanography to evaluate the relative influences of large-to-local scale factors on OA variability. This research aims to understand how coastal ecosystems will respond to OA, and thus to develop our capacity to predict the future impact of OA on coastal ecosystems.Broader Impacts. This project will leverage complementary funding for research, training and outreach, and engage undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers, as well as PIs. Part of an overall goal is to increase the visibility and familiarity of OA science for policy makers and the general public. Outreach will be facilitated through extensive ties to COMPASS (Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea), public lectures, websites, and multimedia outlets, such as films and television. Each campus is engaged in local-to-national displays on OA.