Collaborative Research: Analysis of Continental Shelf Ecosystems: Food Web Structure and Functional Relations

合作研究：大陆架生态系统分析：食物网结构和功能关系

• 批准号: 1258667
• 负责人: Kenneth Brink
• 金额: $ 41.21万
• 依托单位: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-03-01 至 2017-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1258667&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Analysis; Continental; Shelf

Marine ecosystems are characterized by complex interactions among biological components and within the physical setting. The complexity of these systems makes them difficult to understand or interpret based on either observations or models, both of which suffer from incomplete knowledge of the natural system. Of interest to many scientific questions and to management is the utility of broad, simplifying concepts about how such systems operate and how they change over time. Among these concepts are bottom-up control (the idea that nutrient sources and lower trophic levels govern the ecosystem), top-down control (the idea that organisms at the highest trophic levels govern), and regime shifts (major restructuring of the system due to natural or anthropogenic, or combined, forcing).A basic tenet of biological oceanography is the coupling between physical processes and population dynamics. The study of these connections has been based on certain simplifications, particularly the emphasis on one, or very few, trophic components. The parallel development of trophic network models (e.g., ECOPATH) represents an effort to study the relationships between a more complete spectrum of trophic groups from an energy transfer and predator-prey perspective. Yet, ecosystem structure, function, and behavior depend on the physical context: mixing, advection, water residence time, and seasonality, especially for shelf ecosystems. These terms define production, recycling, and export rates and set the scope of benthic-pelagic coupling, but they are rarely incorporated into trophic network models. There is clear need to develop portable methods of analysis that can illuminate physical-biological interactions across a wide range of ecosystems and demonstrate their effects on system productivity and resilience at all trophic levels. However, there is a simultaneous risk of such models becoming so complex that untangling the mechanisms and artifacts of model dynamics quickly becomes intractable.A portable, coupled bio-physical model framework of intermediate trophic and physical resolution is a potential solution that will be developed in this project. The goal is to produce models simple enough to understand, but complex enough to be realistic. Thus, about 5 physical boxes and about 20 ecological compartments are expected to be included. The models will be developed for four contrasting, data-rich continental shelf ecosystems. This project will use the range of food webs and physical forcing characteristic of these four systems to do the following. 1. Assess the merits and disadvantages of studying community dynamics in terms of aggregated functional groups as the appropriate level of trophic resolution. 2. Compare the relative roles of physical processes and trophic network structure in determining system productivity, variability, and resilience across all trophic levels, including both pelagic and benthic food webs. 3. Test the applicability of broad concepts of ecosystem behavior such as bottom-up vs. top-down control of community dynamics, or of sudden regime shifts.The project will contribute to the education of future scientists through participation in active research. The public will be informed about ocean ecosystem issues through development of a museum exhibit. Model code will be provided to the community for further use and development. Collaboration with NOAA scientists will foster application of project results to practical management issues.

海洋生态系统的特征是生物组成部分之间和物理环境之间的复杂相互作用。这些系统的复杂性使它们难以根据观察结果或模型来理解或解释，这两者都遭受了对自然系统的不完整知识。许多科学问题和管理感兴趣的是广泛的，简化有关此类系统如何运行以及它们如何随着时间变化的概念的实用性。 这些概念包括自下而上的控制（营养源和较低的营养水平控制生态系统），自上而下的控制（最高营养水平控制的有机体控制的观念）和政权的变化（由于自然或人类学或组合的自然或人类学而进行的重大重组）是生物学上的基本进程和种类范围的基本过程。对这些连接的研究基于某些简化，尤其是对一个或很少的营养成分的重点。营养网络模型的平行发展（例如，ecopath）代表了从能量转移和捕食者捕集的角度研究更完整的营养基团之间的关系的努力。然而，生态系统的结构，功能和行为取决于物理背景：混合，对流，水位停留时间和季节性，尤其是对于货架生态系统。这些术语定义了生产，回收和出口速率，并设定了底栖 - 彼得耦合的范围，但很少将它们纳入营养网络模型中。显然需要开发可移植的分析方法，这些方法可以阐明各种生态系统的物理生物学相互作用，并在所有营养水平上证明它们对系统生产力和韧性的影响。但是，这种模型的同时风险变得如此复杂，以至于使模型动态的机制和伪像迅速变得棘手。一种可移植的，耦合的生物物理模型模型框架的中间营养和物理分辨率是该项目中可以开发的一种潜在解决方案。目的是制作足够简单的模型，以理解，但要复杂以至于现实。因此，预计将包括大约5个物理盒和大约20个生态隔室。这些模型将针对四个对比鲜明的大陆架生态系统开发。该项目将利用这四个系统的食物网和物理强迫特征来执行以下操作。 1。评估以综合官能团为合适的营养分辨率水平来研究社区动态的优点和缺点。 2。比较物理过程和营养网络结构在确定所有营养水平的系统生产率，可变性和韧性（包括全叶胶和底栖食品网）中的相对作用。 3.测试生态系统行为的广泛概念的适用性，例如自下而上的社区动态控制或突然的政权转变。该项目将通过参与积极研究的方式为未来科学家的教育做出贡献。通过开发博物馆展览，将向公众了解海洋生态系统问题。将向社区提供模型代码以供进一步使用和开发。 与NOAA科学家的合作将促进将项目结果应用于实践管理问题。