Collaborative Research: Community Based Phytoplankton Observatory for Northwestern Alaska Coastal Waters

北极的变暖速度是地球其他地区的两倍多，随之而来的是微生物种群的变化。科策布埃的沿海社区位于北极圈以北30英里处，位于阿拉斯加西北部楚科奇海东南部的海湾科策布埃海峡的东海岸。 Kotzebue Sound在商业上对社区很重要，平均收获230，000条鲑鱼，来自Sound的鱼类和海洋哺乳动物提供了高达70%的年度食物收获。但是，尽管海湾对当地社区很重要，但对浮游植物的全面研究却很少。浮游植物是构成海湾食物网基础的微生物。因此，对浮游植物种群的了解，包括可能影响粮食安全的有害藻类水华，对生活在这里的人们也具有直接的重要性。该提案启动了一项全年长期观测计划，对科策布周围沃茨的浮游植物种群、相关物理特征和营养物浓度进行观测。 该项目将在无冰季节使用船只测量六个地点的水柱水文、营养盐浓度和浮游植物种群，并在冬季通过冰层测量两个地点的水柱水文、营养盐浓度和浮游植物种群。此外，还将部署一个YSI Exo 2探空仪，在无冰季节每10分钟进行一次测量。关于这里产生的河口系统年际和年度变化的信息目前还不能通过分布式生物观测站或邻近楚科奇海的近海研究项目等大型项目获得，因此该项目填补了重要的科学和社会相关空白。这个建立持续观测项目的项目是与科策布土著村环境项目主任coPI Whiting共同构思和设计的。鉴于浮游植物种群变化和蓝藻毒素对粮食安全的重要性，该项目的研究结果将以各种方式向社区展示，包括：向部落理事会提交报告，电台采访，向居民发送通讯，在社区中心进行晚间演讲，在初中和高中进行演讲，以及Facebook和Instagram页面等社交媒体。调查结果还将提交给阿拉斯加海洋观测系统运行的阿拉斯加有害藻类水华网络。Kotzebue的初中和高中学生将获得一个浮游生物镜，教师将接受培训，以建立在Kotzebue周围沃茨采样的课堂项目，让学生了解当地的浮游生物。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate as the rest of the planet with subsequent changes to the microbial population. The coastal community of Kotzebue is located 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle on the eastern shore of Kotzebue Sound, an embayment of the southeast Chukchi Sea, in northwest Alaska. Kotzebue Sound is commercially important to the community, which harvests on average 230,000 chum salmon, and the fish and marine mammals from the Sound provide up to 70% by weight of their annual food harvest. But, as important as the Sound is to the local community, there have been few comprehensive studies of phytoplankton - the microbes that make up the base of the food web in the Sound. Thus, knowledge of phytoplankton populations including that of Harmful Algal Blooms that could impact food security is also of immediate importance to the people who live here. This proposal initiates a year-round long-term observational program of phytoplankton populations, relevant physical characteristics, and nutrient concentrations in the waters around Kotzebue. This project will measure water column hydrography, nutrient concentrations, and phytoplankton populations at six sites using boats during the ice-free season and at two locations through the ice in the winter. In addition, a YSI Exo 2 sonde will be deployed to make measurements every 10 minutes during the ice-free season. Information about interannual and annual changes in an estuarine system produced here is not currently available through large scale programs like the Distributed Biological Observatory or the offshore research projects occurring in the adjacent Chukchi Sea and thus this project fills an important scientific and societally relevant gap. This project to set up a sustained observation program has been co-conceived and co-designed with coPI Whiting, the Environmental Program Director for the Native Village of Kotzebue. Given the importance of knowledge about changes in phytoplankton populations and cyanotoxins to food security, findings from this project will be presented to the community in a variety of ways including: reports to the Tribal Council, radio interviews, newsletters delivered to residents, evening presentations at the community center, presentations at the middle and high school, as well as social media such as Facebook and Instagram pages. Findings will also be presented to Alaska Harmful Algae Bloom Network run through the Alaska Ocean Observing System. Kotzebue middle and high school students will be provided a Planktoscope and the teachers will be trained to set up class projects for sampling waters around Kotzebue for the students to learn about local plankton.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.