Collaborative Research: Quantifying the trophic roles of epipelagic ctenophores

栉水母是遍布世界各大洋的凝胶状捕食者，它们的捕食影响可对浮游生物群落产生深远影响。 海洋科学家采用的各种方法已经汇聚在一起，以证明这些动物在确定沿海系统的浮游生物组成和能量流动方面发挥的关键作用。然而，关于海洋栉水母的作用的文献仍然很少。海洋栉水母的特点是身体较脆弱，呈凝胶状，通常无法被传统的渔网捕获，从无壁的海洋环境转移到船上的瓶子和容器中时，也无法自然发挥作用。由于很难对海洋物种的摄食情况进行定量测量，限制了了解这些生物在海洋系统中的作用的能力。 这一项目将通过实地研究，转变对海洋栉水母关键过程进行量化的能力。然而，栉水母并不是唯一能从开发先进的原位方法中受益的脆弱海洋动物。 类似的技术和方法也可应用于刺胞管水母、远洋软体动物、海洋雪和放射虫等大型原生生物等其他群体。 此外，潜水员成功应用这些方法将为遥控潜水器（ROV）和其他潜水器的应用开辟道路，可以大大扩展技术的深度和范围。 新科学家的培训将包括博士后、研究生和本科生。 调查人员将利用与参与公众教育的媒体和水族馆的联系，向广大公众传播新的发现，从而扩大公众科学宣传，该项目将通过调整实验室开发的方法并在实地使用这些方法，应对获取有关中上层海洋栉水母的作用和活动的信息的挑战。 研究人员已经采用了高速，高分辨率成像和流体力学方法来适应动物的原位环境。 这些方法特别适用于难以控制的实验室研究，必须在原地进行研究的动物，如海洋栉水母的实地测量。 本项目的目标是应用高速、现场粒子图像测速仪和明场成像系统，研究一组具有不同形态、可能具有不同营养作用的海洋栉水母，以量化：a）它们的流动和摄食机制; B）它们的摄食率和猎物选择; c）它们的营养影响。 该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Ctenophores are gelatinous predators found throughout the world's oceans, and their predatory impacts can profoundly affect planktonic communities. A variety of methods employed by marine scientists have converged to demonstrate the key roles these animals play in determining planktonic composition and energy flows in coastal systems. The role of oceanic ctenophores, however, is still sparsely documented. Oceanic ctenophores are characterized by more delicate gelatinous bodies that usually do not survive capture by conventional nets and do not perform naturally when transferred from their wall-less oceanic environment to shipboard bottles and containers. The difficulty in obtaining quantitative measurements on feeding by oceanic species has limited the ability to understand the role of these organisms in oceanic systems. This project will transform the capabilities to quantify key processes of oceanic ctenophores with in situ studies. However, ctenophores are not the only delicate oceanic animals that will benefit from developing advanced in situ methods. Similar techniques and approaches can be applied to other groups such as cnidarian siphonophores, pelagic molluscs, marine snow and large protists such as radiolarians. Additionally, successful application of these methods by divers will open the path for applications on Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) and other submersibles that can greatly extend the depth and range of the techniques. Training of new scientists will involve postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduates. The investigators will broaden public science outreach by using contacts with media and aquariums involved in public education to communicate new findings to a wide public audience.This project will address the challenge of obtaining information about the role and activity of pelagic oceanic ctenophores by adapting methods developed in the laboratory and employing them in a field setting. The investigators have adapted high-speed, high-resolution imaging and fluid-mechanics methods to the animal's in situ environment. These methods are particularly appropriate for field measurements of animals that are intractable for controlled laboratory studies and must be studied in situ, such as oceanic ctenophores. The goal in this project will be to apply high-speed, in situ particle image velocimetry (PIV) and bright field imaging systems to study a suite of oceanic ctenophores possessing distinct morphologies with potentially variable trophic roles to quantify: a) their flow and feeding mechanics; b) their ingestion rates and prey selection; and c) their trophic impacts. The results will enable inclusion of about the activities of these widespread and important animals in models of epipelagic food web dynamics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.