Collaborative Research: Weddell seals as autonomous sensors of the winter oceanography of the Ross Sea

合作研究：威德尔海豹作为罗斯海冬季海洋学的自主传感器

• 批准号: 0838892
• 负责人: Jennifer Burns
• 金额: $ 19.66万
• 依托单位: University of Alaska Anchorage Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-07-01 至 2013-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0838892&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Weddell; seals; autonomous

Abstract This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Marine mammals of the Southern Ocean have evolved diverse life history patterns and foraging strategies to accommodate extreme fluctuations in the physical and biological environment. In light of ongoing climate change and the dramatic shifts in the extent and persistence of sea ice in the Ross Sea, it is critical to understand how Weddell seals, Leptonychotes weddellii, a key apex predator, select and utilize foraging habitats. Recent advances in satellite-linked animal-borne conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) tags make it possible to simultaneously collect data on seal locations, their diving patterns, and the temperature and salinity profiles of the water columns they utilize. In other ecosystems, such data have revealed that marine predators selectively forage in areas where currents and fronts serve to locally concentrate prey resources, and that these conditions are required to sustain populations. Weddell seals will be studied in McMurdo Sound and at Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea and will provide the first new data on Weddell seal winter diving behavior and habitat use in almost two decades. The relationship between an animal's diving behavior and physical habitat has enormous potential to enhance monitoring studies and to provide insight into how changes in ice conditions (due either to warming or the impact of large icebergs, such as B15) might impact individual time budgets and foraging success. The second thrust of this project is to use the profiles obtained from CTD seal tags to model the physical oceanography of this region. Current mathematical models of physical oceanographic processes in the Southern Ocean are directed at better understanding the role that it plays in global climate processes, and the linkages between physical and biological oceanographic processes. However, these efforts are limited by the scarcity of oceanographic data at high latitudes in the winter months; CTD tags deployed on animals will collect data at sufficient spatial and temporal resolution to improve data density. The project will contribute to two IPY endorsed initiatives: MEOP (Marine Mammals as Explorers of the Ocean Pole to Pole) and CAML (Census of Antarctic Marine Life). In addition, the highly visual nature of the data and analysis lends itself to public and educational display and outreach, particularly as they relate to global climate change, and we have collaborations with undergraduate and graduate training programs, the Seymour Marine Discovery Center, and the ARMADA program to foster these broader impacts.

摘要该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏与再投资法》（公法111-5）资助的。南大洋的海洋哺乳动物已经发展了多种生活史模式和觅食策略，以适应物理和生物环境中极端波动。鉴于持续的气候变化以及在罗斯海的海冰的范围和持久性的急剧变化，至关重要的是要了解Weddell Seals如何使用weddellii Weddellii（钥匙顶点捕食者）如何选择并利用觅食栖息地。卫星连接的动物传导率，温度和深度（CTD）标签的最新进展使得可以同时收集其使用水柱的密封位置，潜水模式以及其温度和盐度轮廓的数据。在其他生态系统中，此类数据表明，海洋捕食者在电流和阵线用于本地集中猎物资源的地区选择性觅食，并且需要这些条件来维持人口。 Weddell Seals将在McMurdo Sound和Ross Sea的Terra Nova Bay进行研究，并将在近二十年来提供有关Weddell Seal冬季潜水行为和栖息地使用的第一个新数据。动物的潜水行为与物理栖息地之间的关系具有增强监测研究的巨大潜力，并洞悉冰条件的变化如何（由于变暖或大型冰山的影响，例如B15）可能会影响个人时间预算和觅食成功。该项目的第二个力量是使用从CTD密封标签获得的轮廓来对该区域的物理海洋学进行建模。当前南大洋物理海洋学过程的数学模型有目的是更好地了解其在全球气候过程中所扮演的作用以及物理和生物海洋学过程之间的联系。但是，这些努力受到冬季高纬度地区海洋数据的稀缺的限制。部署在动物上的CTD标签将以足够的空间和时间分辨率收集数据，以提高数据密度。该项目将有助于两项认可的倡议：Meop（海洋哺乳动物作为海洋杆到杆的探险家）和CAML（南极海洋生物的人口普查）。此外，数据和分析的高度视觉性质为公众和教育展示和宣传提供了自我，特别是当它们与全球气候变化有关时，我们与本科生和研究生培训计划，西摩海洋发现中心以及Armada计划进行了合作，以促进这些更广泛的影响。