Linking productivity and energy allocation to Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

大西洋鲑鱼从海洋返回产卵，用来自海洋的营养物质补贴河流。在过去的一个世纪里，整个加拿大的大西洋鲑鱼数量急剧下降，导致淡水生态系统生态功能的丧失。加拿大国家公园(PC)正在开展一项为期五年的项目，以恢复大西洋加拿大五个国家公园(Fundy、KouchiBouguac、布雷顿角高地、Gros Morne和Terra Nova)的大西洋鲑鱼、生态功能和营养供应。与PC合作为研究生态保护提供了一个独特的机会，避免了公园边界以外的河流中常见的许多混杂因素。在接下来的五年里，我将进行实地研究，并使用生物标志物来研究海洋资源在大西洋河流的生态功能和能源分配中所起的作用。这一建议是正在进行的大西洋河流及其鱼类、河流生产、栖息地和人类活动对这些生态系统的影响研究的合乎逻辑的下一步，也是PC的主要研究目标。第一个项目将侧重于通过重新引入大西洋鲑鱼来恢复淡水生态系统。我们将比较五个国家公园从极度濒危到健康的鲑鱼丰度自然梯度上的常见生产指标，将幼鱼密度与生态完整性指标联系起来，包括初级生产量、无脊椎动物生产量和生态系统功能。建模方法将被应用于根据河流中的参数最好地预测幼鲑鱼产量。第二个项目将在每个流域的空间和时间栖息地地图上绘制幼鱼生产情况图。这份地图将研究幼鲑鱼产量如何与栖息地和生物相互作用(即河流流量、温度、生态功能)联系在一起，这是第一个项目的结果。第三个项目将侧重于评估淡水生产力对个人能源分配的贡献。我们将研究五个国家公园的幼年和成年大西洋鲑鱼的营养分配和营养调控，以确定对条件和生存的可测量的影响。脂肪酸(FA)分析将被用来评估食物供应和能量分配在生境和地区之间的差异。第四个项目的重点是评估海洋生产力对大西洋鲑鱼状况的影响。我们将使用稳定同位素分析来确定海洋觅食生态和支持成年大西洋鲑鱼的食物网在地区上的不同之处。单个脂肪酸的复合特定同位素分析将用于评估大西洋鲑鱼的营养生态，FA分析将用于评估状况。这个项目是对第三个项目的补充，并完成了生命历史环路，以了解海洋生产力和海洋鲑鱼的状况如何影响下一代。

Atlantic salmon returning from the ocean to spawn subsidize rivers with marine-derived nutrients. Atlantic salmon populations throughout Canada have undergone precipitous declines over the past century, leading to the loss of ecological function freshwater ecosystems. Parks Canada (PC) is embarking on a five-year project to restore Atlantic salmon, ecological function, and nutrient availability across five National Parks in Atlantic Canada (Fundy, Kouchibouguac, Cape Breton Highlands, Gros Morne, and Terra Nova). Partnering with PC provides a unique opportunity to study ecological conservation without many of the confounding factors commonly found in rivers outside Park boundaries. Over the next five years, I will conduct field-based research and use biomarkers to examine the roles marine resources play in ecological function and energy allocation in Atlantic rivers. This proposal is a logical next step in the ongoing research of Atlantic rivers, their fish, riverine production, habitats, and impacts of human activities on these ecosystems and is a primary research goal of PC. The first project will focus on restoration of freshwater ecosystems through reintroductions of Atlantic salmon. We will compare common production measures across the natural gradient of salmon abundances across five National Parks, from critically endangered to healthy, to link juvenile salmon densities to metrics of ecological integrity that include primary production, invertebrate production, and ecosystem function. Modelling approaches will be applied to best predict juvenile salmon production based on the in-river parameters. The second project will map juvenile production onto the spatial and temporal habitat maps for each river basin. This mapping will examine how juvenile salmon production is linked to habitat and biotic interactions (i.e., river flows, temperature, ecological function) which are the outcomes of the first project. The third project will focus on assessing how freshwater productivity contributes to individual energy allocation. We will examine nutrient allocation and nutrient regulation in juvenile and adult Atlantic salmon across the five National Parks to identify measurable implications for condition and survival. Fatty acid (FA) analysis will be used to assess how food availability and energy allocation differs between habitats and regions. The fourth project focuses on assessing how marine productivity contributes to condition of Atlantic salmon. We will use stable isotope analysis to identify how marine foraging ecology and the food webs which support adult Atlantic salmon differ regionally. Compound specific isotope analysis of individual fatty acids will be used to estimate trophic ecology of Atlantic salmon, with FA analysis used to assess condition. This project compliments the third project and completes the life-history loop to understand how marine productivity and the condition of salmon at sea influence the next generation.