Collaborative Research: Determining the Field Metabolic Rate of Marine Predators: Integrating Accelerometry and Respirometry to Bridge the Gap Between the Laboratory and the Field

合作研究：确定海洋捕食者的野外代谢率：集成加速度测量法和呼吸测量法以弥合实验室和现场之间的差距

• 批准号: 1156145
• 负责人: Samuel Gruber
• 金额: $ 12.76万
• 依托单位: University of Miami
• 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: 2012-04-01 至 2015-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1156145&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Determining; Field; Metabolic

Energetics is a central theme in ecology, and metabolism may be the primary factor determining the structure of biological systems as a whole. Despite the importance of top level predators in marine ecosystems and the need to understand the impact of their global population declines, surprisingly little is known about energy flow in upper trophic levels. This gap in knowledge is due to the difficulty of assessing the metabolic rate of marine predators and our inability to link experimentally derived metabolic rates to those of free-ranging animals in their natural habitat. Novel accelerometry technology is now making this link possible for the first time. Because Overall Dynamic Body Acceleration (ODBA) has been shown to correlate closely with oxygen consumption in numerous vertebrate taxa, we can use this potentially transformational technique to derive time-energy budgets for free-ranging marine predators.Intellectual Merit: This study will integrate the use of respirometry and accelerometry technology to bridge the gap between laboratory- and field-based metabolic rates for three species of sharks with different behaviors. The PIs will conduct respirometry experiments on accelerometer-equipped animals in the laboratory to determine the relationship between metabolic rate and ODBA for each species over a range of swim speeds and water temperatures. Using these relationships, the PIs will then conduct field experiments using accelerometry to calculate the absolute energetic expenditure of sharks in their natural habitat over several days. Because accelerometers also provide data with which specific shark behaviors can be quantified, the PIs will be able to partition between standard and active metabolic rate and determine how the relationship changes at varying temperatures. This aspect will have implications for predicting how seasonal or long-term changes in sea surface temperatures are likely to affect the impact of ectothermic predators on their prey.Broader Impacts: This work will provide data and a new methodology for estimating energy demands of sharks in their natural environments following natural patterns of behavior. This is an important step in calculating the trophic effects of sharks on other components of ecosystems, and thereby also calculating the consequences of shark declines. This work will be the basis of student intern projects through the Mote Marine Laboratory's (MML's) ongoing NSF-REU Program, which provides research experiences to U.S. college students with a special focus on minority groups underrepresented in science and engineering. The PIs are involved in a unique collaboration with Untamed Science to film their work and use it to illustrate science concepts for chapter-specific films which will allow their work to reach millions of K-12 students nationwide. This project will also fund a creative way of connecting with the general public through a new exhibit at MML's public aquarium (with approximately 400,000 visitors per year). This capitalizes on the broad public interest in sharks and allows visitors to control a digital shark using an accelerometer-based videogame controller. Shark energy level will be depleted by excessive tailbeats and replenished by feeding events, and visitors will have to balance the value of feeding success against the cost of higher ODBA and rapid energy depletion.

能量学是生态学的中心主题，新陈代谢可能是决定整个生物系统结构的主要因素。尽管顶级捕食者在海洋生态系统中非常重要，并且需要了解其全球种群数量下降的影响，但令人惊讶的是，人们对上层营养层的能量流知之甚少。这种知识差距是由于难以评估海洋捕食者的代谢率，以及我们无法将实验得出的代谢率与自然栖息地的自由放养动物的代谢率联系起来。新颖的加速测量技术首次使这种链接成为可能。由于整体动态身体加速度 (ODBA) 已被证明与许多脊椎动物类群的耗氧量密切相关，因此我们可以使用这种潜在的变革技术来推导自由活动的海洋捕食者的时间-能量预算。 智力优点：这项研究将整合使用呼吸测量和加速测量技术来缩小具有不同行为的三种鲨鱼的实验室和现场代谢率之间的差距。 PI 将在实验室中对配备加速计的动物进行呼吸测量实验，以确定每个物种在一定游泳速度和水温范围内代谢率与 ODBA 之间的关系。利用这些关系，PI 将使用加速测量法进行现场实验，以计算鲨鱼在自然栖息地几天内的绝对能量消耗。由于加速度计还提供可以量化特定鲨鱼行为的数据，因此 PI 将能够区分标准代谢率和活跃代谢率，并确定这种关系在不同温度下如何变化。这方面将对预测海洋表面温度的季节性或长期变化可能如何影响变温捕食者对其猎物的影响产生影响。更广泛的影响：这项工作将为估计鲨鱼的能量需求提供数据和新方法。他们的自然环境遵循自然的行为模式。 这是计算鲨鱼对生态系统其他组成部分的营养影响的重要一步，从而也可以计算鲨鱼数量减少的后果。 这项工作将成为莫特海洋实验室 (MML) 正在进行的 NSF-REU 项目学生实习项目的基础，该项目为美国大学生提供研究经验，特别关注科学和工程领域代表性不足的少数群体。 PI 参与了与 Untamed Science 的独特合作，拍摄他们的作品，并用它来阐释特定章节电影的科学概念，这将使他们的作品惠及全国数百万 K-12 学生。该项目还将资助通过在 MML 公共水族馆（每年约有 400,000 名游客）举办的新展览，以一种创造性的方式与公众联系。这利用了公众对鲨鱼的广泛兴趣，并允许游客使用基于加速计的视频游戏控制器来控制数字鲨鱼。鲨鱼的能量水平会因过度的尾巴敲击而耗尽，并通过喂食活动来补充，游客必须在喂食成功的价值与较高的 ODBA 和快速能量消耗的成本之间取得平衡。