Ecological linkages between salt marshes and mudflats in Maritime Canada

这笔赠款将支持我们对加拿大海岸带盐沼和泥滩生态的研究。它们是动态的、具有生物生产力的栖息地，具有提供多种生态系统服务的价值(例如储存碳、过滤污染、为各种生物创造苗圃栖息地，以及保护海岸免受海平面上升或风暴活动的影响)。盐沼的特点是坚韧、耐盐的草能够在有规律地被潮水覆盖的沉积物上生长。泥滩通常位于盐沼向海的一侧；特别是在芬迪湾，泥滩的范围可能很大，沿海岸绵延数公里，退潮时宽达一公里以上。泥滩支持着极其丰富的无脊椎动物，每年夏天，它们都成为数百万迁徙的滨鸟的重要觅食场所。我们的研究项目致力于了解盐沼和泥滩生态系统的结构和内部工作原理。作为一项长期研究策略，我们的做法是进行一系列精心规划的研究，每一项研究都旨在解决一个具体的问题，以启发我们的整体理解。在这笔赠款支持下，我们将进行具体研究，重点放在两个相邻生态系统之间存在的生态联系上。例如，我们将研究有机物质从盐沼流向泥滩对生产力水平的影响。我们研究的一个总体特点是，我们描述了生活在盐沼和泥滩中的动植物物种的种群和群落动态，我们研究了两个地区的多个地点，这些地区经历了非常不同的潮汐环境。诺森伯兰海峡只遭遇小潮，海水清澈，水温季节性变化强烈，而芬迪湾则受到大潮的影响，海水浑浊，水温全年变化小得多。对地理位置接近的这些不同地点进行比较，是确定生态机制和解释观察到的模式的有力研究策略。研究不同的潮汐环境还将增进我们对软质沉积物海岸线如何受到海平面或潮汐幅度变化的影响的理解。我们研究的另一个方面是，我们将调查冬季压力和与冰有关的扰动对海岸线栖息地的影响。我们尤其会研究泥滩和盐沼之间的界面，以评估导致滨海沼泽边缘进退的过程。我们将考虑冬季冰的重要性(它似乎破坏了沼泽边缘并使其处于不断修复的状态)，以及带肋贻贝的盛行(众所周知，肋贝可以稳定南部沼泽的沼泽边缘，使草类更容易扩展到泥滩)。

This grant will support our study of the ecology of salt marshes and mudflats in Maritime Canada. These are dynamic and biologically-productive habitats, valued for providing several ecosystem services (such as storing carbon, filtering pollution, creating nursery habitat for a diversity of organisms, and sheltering coasts from sea level rise or storm activity). Salt marshes are characterized by tough, salt-tolerant grasses able to grow on sediments regularly covered by tidal water. Mudflats are typically found on the seaward side of salt marshes; in the Bay of Fundy, in particular, the mudflats can be vast in extent, extending for several kilometres along the coast and being over a kilometre wide at low tide. The mudflats support an extraordinary abundance of invertebrates, and every summer they become essential feeding grounds for millions of migrating shorebirds. Our research program is dedicated to understanding the structure and inner-workings of salt marsh and mudflat ecosystems. As a long-term research strategy, our approach is to undertake a series of carefully-planned studies, with each study designed to address a specific question that will enlighten our overall understanding. With this grant support, we will undertake specific studies that will focus on the ecological connections that exist between the two neighbouring ecosystems. For instance, we will investigate how productivity levels are affected by the flow of organic matter from salt marshes to mudflats. A general feature of our studies is that we characterize the population and community dynamics of animal and plant species living in the salt marshes and mudflats, and we study multiple sites in two regions that experience very different tidal environments. The Northumberland Strait encounters only small tides, with clear water and strong seasonal changes in water temperature, while the Bay of Fundy is subject to huge tides, with turbid water and much smaller variation in water temperature year-round. The comparison of such distinctive sites in geographically close locations is a powerful research strategy for identifying ecological mechanisms and interpreting observed patterns. Studying the different tidal environments will also improve our understanding of how soft-sediment shorelines may be affected by changes in sea level or tidal amplitudes. Another aspect of our research is that we will investigate the impact of winter stresses and ice-related disturbances on the shoreline habitats. In particular, we will study the interface between the mudflat and salt marsh, to assess processes leading to the advancement or regression of the seaward marsh edge. We will consider the importance of winter ice (which seems to damage the marsh edge and leave it in a constant state of repair) and the prevalence of ribbed mussels (known to stabilize marsh edges in southern marshes, enabling grasses to more easily expand out onto the mudflat).