RAPID: Coastal consequences of engineered water control systems: the role of freshwater discharges in Florida's ongoing harmful algal bloom crises

自2017年10月以来，佛罗里达州墨西哥湾沿岸已有数百吨海洋生物因暴露于被称为“红潮”的藻类水华而死亡。这些水华的强度被认为与奥基乔比湖淡水释放的营养物质有关，奥基乔比湖是佛罗里达州中南部的一个大型内陆湖泊，负责防洪管理。然而，缺乏强有力的科学证据来支持红潮与奥基乔比湖的水释放之间的联系。该项目的目标是在主要淡水释放之前和整个过程中收集、分析和模拟水质数据。这些数据将提供对淡水排放和藻类水华之间的因果关系的洞察。这项研究的发现将直接为管理层提供信息，帮助管理部门制定全国最复杂的淡水防洪系统之一，并支持应对赤潮造成的生态紧急情况的努力。拟议工作的中心目标是确定人类管理的淡水控制制度对沿海藻类大量繁殖的规模和持续时间的影响，并通过教育和外联活动将从这项研究中获得的知识传授给公众和决策者。我们将使用跨学科的、数据密集的、多尺度的和综合的淡水-海洋系统方法来调查奥基乔比湖的排放和沿海短吻卡列尼亚藻类水华之间的联系。这项工作需要迅速动员起来，沿着通过运河与奥基乔比湖相连的Caloosahatchee河和河口收集营养物质和藻类负载的目标数据。该项目有以下目标：(1)量化佛罗里达州西南部淡水-海洋梯度13个地点的水柱状况(水化学和浮游植物群落)在奥基乔比湖排放之前、期间和之后的空间变异性，以及(2)解释作为物理、化学和生物因素的函数的水柱状况的时空变异性。持续不断的红潮和即将到来的奥基乔比湖淡水排放为研究淡水排放和沿海藻类水华之间的因果关系创造了一个独特的环境。据我们所知，这项研究将是第一次结合多尺度观测(即现场观测、连续监测数据和卫星图像产品)来分析淡水排放和海洋赤潮之间的关系。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Several hundred tons of marine life have died along the Gulf shores of Florida since October 2017 from exposure to algal blooms known as a "red tide". The intensity of these blooms is believed to be related to nutrients in freshwater releases from Lake Okeechobee, a large inland lake in south-central Florida that is managed for flood prevention. However, strong scientific evidence to support the connection between the red tide and Lake Okeechobee water releases is lacking. The objective of this project is to collect, analyze, and model water quality data prior to and throughout major freshwater releases. These data will provide insight into cause-and-effect relationships between freshwater releases, and algal blooms. Findings from this study will directly inform management of one of the nation's most elaborate freshwater flood prevention systems, and support efforts to address the ecological emergency caused by red tide. The central goals of the proposed work are to define the effects of human-managed freshwater control regimes on the magnitude and duration of coastal algal blooms, and transfer knowledge gained from this study to the public and decision-makers through education and outreach activities. We will investigate connections between Lake Okeechobee releases and coastal algal blooms of the species Karenia brevis using an interdisciplinary, data-intensive, multi-scale, and integrated fresh-marine systems approach. This effort necessitates rapid mobilization to collect targeted data on nutrient and algal loads along the Caloosahatchee River and Estuary that connects to Lake Okeechobee via canals. The project has the following objectives: (1) quantify spatial variability in water column conditions (water chemistry and phytoplankton community) across 13 sites from a fresh-marine gradient in southwest Florida prior to, during, and after Lake Okeechobee discharges, and (2) explain spatiotemporal variability in water column conditions as a function of physical, chemical, and biological factors. The combination of an ongoing red tide and imminent freshwater discharges from Lake Okeechobee creates a unique setting for investigating causal relationships between freshwater discharges and coastal algal blooms. To our knowledge, this study will be the first to couple multi-scale observations (i.e., in situ point observations, continuous monitoring data, and satellite imagery products) to analyze connections between freshwater discharges and marine red tides.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.