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: 0838911
• 负责人: Eileen Hofmann
• 金额: $ 24.7万
• 依托单位: Old Dominion University Research Foundation
• 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 2013-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0838911&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 该奖项由 2009 年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法 111-5）资助。南大洋的海洋哺乳动物已经进化出不同的生活史模式和觅食策略，以适应物理和生物环境的极端波动。鉴于持续的气候变化以及罗斯海海冰范围和持久性的巨大变化，了解威德尔海豹（Leptonychotes weddellii）（一种重要的顶级捕食者）如何选择和利用觅食栖息地至关重要。卫星连接的动物传播电导率、温度和深度（CTD）标签的最新进展使得同时收集有关海豹位置、潜水模式以及它们所利用水柱的温度和盐度剖面的数据成为可能。在其他生态系统中，此类数据表明，海洋捕食者有选择地在洋流和锋面聚集猎物资源的地区觅食，而这些条件是维持种群数量所必需的。威德尔海豹将在麦克默多海峡和罗斯海的特拉诺瓦湾进行研究，并将提供近二十年来关于威德尔海豹冬季潜水行为和栖息地利用的第一个新数据。动物的潜水行为和物理栖息地之间的关系具有巨大的潜力，可以加强监测研究，并深入了解冰况的变化（由于变暖或大型冰山的影响，如 B15）可能如何影响个体的时间预算和觅食成功。该项目的第二个目标是使用从 CTD 密封标签获得的剖面来模拟该地区的物理海洋学。目前南大洋物理海洋过程的数学模型旨在更好地理解其在全球气候过程中所发挥的作用，以及物理和生物海洋过程之间的联系。然而，这些努力受到冬季高纬度海洋学数据稀缺的限制；部署在动物身上的 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。该项目将为 IPY 认可的两项举措做出贡献：MEOP（海洋哺乳动物作为海洋极地探险者）和 CAML（南极海洋生物普查）。此外，数据和分析的高度可视化性质适合公共和教育展示和推广，特别是当它们与全球气候变化相关时，我们与本科生和研究生培训项目、西摩海洋探索中心和ARMADA 计划旨在促进这些更广泛的影响