COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Penguin Foraging Reveals Phytoplankton Spatial Structure in the Ross Sea

合作研究：企鹅觅食揭示了罗斯海浮游植物的空间结构

• 批准号: 1142074
• 负责人: Grant Ballard
• 金额: $ 10.97万
• 依托单位: Point Reyes Bird Observatory
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-01 至 2015-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1142074&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: COLLABORATIVE; RESEARCH; Penguin; Foraging; Reveals

AbstractThe Ross Sea is believed to contributes a huge portion (~1/3) of the primary productivity of the Southern Ocean and is home to a similar large portion of the top predators (e.g. 38% of Adelie, 28% of Emperor penguins) of the Antarctic sea ice ecosystem. The trophic pathways in this system are complex in both space and time. One scenario for the Ross Sea ecosystem is that diatoms are grazed by krill, which are in turn the preferred food of fish, penguins and other predators. Phaeocystis colonies, on the other hand lead to grazing by pteropods and other organisms that are a non-favoured food source for top predators. Remotely sensed chlorophyll, indicating all phytoplankton, is then suggested to be a relatively poor predictor of penguin foraging efforts. This is also consistent with notion that algal species composition is very important to penguin grazing pressure, mediated by krill, and perhaps resulting in selective depletion. This collaborative research sets out to use an autonomous glider, equipped with a range of sensors, and informed by satellite chlorophyll imagery to be combined with 3-dimenisonal active penguin tracking to their preferred foraging sites. The effect of localized grazing pressure of krill on the appearance and disappearance of algal blooms will also be followed. Overall the objective of the research is to reconcile and explain several years of the study of the foraging habits and strategies of (top predator) penguins at the Cape Crozier site (Ross Island), with the dynamics of krill and their supporting algal food webs. The use of a glider to answer a primarily ecological questions is subject to moderate to high risk, and is potentially transformative.

摘要罗斯海被认为贡献了南大洋初级生产力的很大一部分（~1/3），并且是类似大部分顶级捕食者（例如 38% 的阿德利企鹅、28% 的帝企鹅）的家园。南极海冰生态系统。该系统中的营养途径在空间和时间上都很复杂。罗斯海生态系统的一种情况是磷虾以硅藻为食，而磷虾又是鱼类、企鹅和其他掠食者的首选食物。另一方面，棕囊藻群落导致翼足类动物和其他生物体吃草，而这些生物体是顶级捕食者不喜欢的食物来源。遥感叶绿素（指示所有浮游植物）被认为是企鹅觅食努力的相对较差的预测因子。这也与藻类组成对企鹅吃草压力非常重要（由磷虾介导）的观点相一致，并可能导致选择性消耗。这项合作研究开始使用配备了一系列传感器的自主滑翔机，并通过卫星叶绿素图像提供信息，与 3 维主动企鹅追踪相结合，追踪它们最喜欢的觅食地点。磷虾的局部放牧压力对藻华出现和消失的影响也将被跟踪。总体而言，该研究的目标是协调和解释多年来对克罗泽角（罗斯岛）企鹅（顶级捕食者）觅食习惯和策略的研究，以及磷虾及其支持性藻类食物网的动态。使用滑翔机来回答主要的生态问题存在中度到高度的风险，并且具有潜在的变革性。