The ecology of rocky subtidal ecosystems of Newfoundland and Labrador

海洋沿海生态系统受到物种引进速度加快、资源退化、污染和栖息地丧失的影响。这种主要由人类活动引起的力量改变了海洋生物的丰富程度及其与环境的相互作用，使人们越来越难以理解、管理和预测这些具有重要生态和经济意义的生态系统的结构和功能的变化。纽芬兰和拉布拉多广泛的浅层岩石潮下生态系统确实如此，人们对其动力学知之甚少，但可能受到高度物理严酷的调节，并被最近的物种引入所改变。我的总体目标是确定调节这些独特生态系统结构和功能的生物和非生物相互作用。特别是，我将研究波浪作用、水温和光线等环境因素的变化如何影响优势无脊椎动物、海藻和鱼类（原生和入侵）之间的生存、行为和相互作用（捕食、竞争和促进），以及这些因素如何调节种群、群落和生态系统模式。我的方法将结合实验室和实地生物实验，以及从海底（水肺潜水）和海面上方（遥感）对种群和群落进行实地调查。我已经展示了利用先进的遥感和地理信息系统绘制加拿大东部大片海底浅层底栖生物的地图。我将进行进一步的研究，以提高这些方法的准确性和空间范围，在比目前可能的更广泛的时空尺度上研究潮下生态系统。拟议的研究计划将提供对NL潮下岩石生态系统中底栖生物模式和过程的原因和后果的第一次和最详细的研究之一，同时增加我们对亚北极海洋生态系统的全球知识。通过建立大规模潮下底栖生物生态学的程序，我还将为科学家和管理人员提供获取新的生态数据的能力，这些数据有助于了解海洋生态系统的功能和保护本地生物多样性。

Marine coastal ecosystems are impacted by accelerating rates of species introductions, degradation of resources, pollution, and losses of habitats. Such forces, largely caused by human activity, alter the abundance of marine organisms and their interactions with the environment which makes it increasingly difficult to understand, manage, and predict changes in the structure and function of these ecologically and economically important ecosystems. This is true of the extensive shallow rocky subtidal ecosystems of Newfoundland and Labrador for which dynamics are poorly understood, yet presumably regulated by high physical harshness and altered by recent species introductions. My overall objective is to identify biotic and abiotic interactions that regulate the structure and function of these unique ecosystems. In particular, I will investigate how changes in environmental factors such as wave action, water temperature, and light affect the survival, behavior, and interactions (predation, competition, and facilitation) between dominant invertebrates, seaweeds, and fish (both native and invasive), and how these regulate population, community, and ecosystem patterns. My approach will combine laboratory and field experiments with organisms, as well as field surveys of populations and communities from below (scuba diving) and above (remote sensing) the sea surface. I have shown the utility of advanced remote sensing and GIS to map eastern Canada's shallow benthic species over large tracts of seabed. I will conduct further research to increase the accuracy and spatial scope of these methodologies to study subtidal ecosystems at broader spatial and temporal scales than is currently possible. The proposed research program will provide one of the first and most detailed studies of the causes and consequences of benthic patterns and processes in NL's subtidal rocky ecosystems, while increasing our global knowledge of subarctic marine ecosystems. By establishing procedures for broad scale ecology of subtidal benthos, I will also provide scientists and managers with the capacity to acquire novel ecological data that aid in understanding marine ecosystem functioning and conserving native biodiversity.