Collaborative Research: Assessing the causes of the pyrosome invasion and persistence in the California Current Ecosystem

合作研究：评估加州海流生态系统中火体入侵和持续存在的原因

• 批准号: 2329560
• 负责人: Christopher Edwards
• 金额: $ 30.86万
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Cruz
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-07-01 至 2027-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2329560&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Assessing; causes; pyrosome

A key component of the ocean food web is comprised of floating animals, or zooplankton, that transfer energy from phytoplankton to fish, whales, and birds. Zooplankton include many different types of organisms that can be broadly categorized as crustacean or gelatinous, with most fish and whales preferring crustaceans as a fat-rich food source over gelatinous animals, which are higher in water content. Historically, the California Current ecosystem off the U.S. West Coast has been dominated by crustacean zooplankton, such as krill and copepods, but in 2014 there were huge abundances of a type of colonial, gelatinous zooplankton known as pyrosomes, which caused widespread damage to fisheries by fouling fishing gear and dominating catch. Although the arrival of pyrosomes coincided with an extensive marine heatwave, lower abundances have since persisted despite a return to cooler ocean temperatures. Analysis of time series data from the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) indicate that pyrosomes were also observed in the California Current many decades ago when the ocean was not particularly warm. This study combines analysis of past samples from CalCOFI, ocean circulation models, and biological models to understand the causes of these quickly growing pyrosome populations in the California Current. It supports training for undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, the project is reaching K-12 students through a unique partnership with the San Diego County Office of Education that is developing Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-aligned resources for middle and high school science teachers in California. The educational resources are being disseminated through the California Science Project and California Environmental Literacy Initiative. Public outreach in San Diego (CA) is through the Enhancing Your Horizons San Diego conference and the San Diego Regional Competition of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl, and in Santa Cruz (CA) through the Seymour Marine Discovery Center.Predicting how ecosystems respond to accelerating climate change is a major challenge. The recent appearance of the pyrosome Pyrosoma atlanticum in the California Current is a major perturbation to the ecosystem, and the cause remains unknown. Both ocean physics and plankton food-web dynamics are key determinants of variability in pelagic community composition in this ecosystem, yet unraveling the degree to which variability in physics (through warming and advection) combines with shifting biological interactions (through nutrient cycling and altered food-web dynamics) to determine composition and function is complicated. This project combines the analysis of past historical samples from seven decades of the CalCOFI time series, data-assimilative and non-data assimilative ocean circulation models, and biological population models to determine the role ocean physics and biological interactions have played in shaping pyrosome abundance, trophic dynamics, and population growth and mortality in the California Current. This novel framework is providing mechanistic understanding that is required to predict how plankton communities respond to climate change.The Physical Oceanography Program contributed funding for this award.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

海洋食物网的一个关键组成部分由漂浮动物或浮游动物组成，它们将浮游植物的能量传递给鱼类、鲸鱼和鸟类。浮游动物包括许多不同类型的生物，可大致分为甲壳类或凝胶状动物，大多数鱼类和鲸鱼更喜欢甲壳类动物作为富含脂肪的食物来源，而不是含水量较高的凝胶状动物。从历史上看，美国西海岸附近的加州洋流生态系统一直以甲壳类浮游动物为主，例如磷虾和桡足类动物，但在 2014 年，存在大量被称为火体虫的殖民胶状浮游动物，这对渔业造成了广泛的损害。污染渔具并控制渔获量。尽管火体虫的到来恰逢大范围的海洋热浪，但尽管海洋温度恢复到较低水平，但其丰度仍然较低。对加州海洋渔业合作调查组织 (CalCOFI) 时间序列数据的分析表明，几十年前，当海洋还不是特别温暖时，在加州海流中也观察到了火体。这项研究结合了对 CalCOFI 过去样本、海洋环流模型和生物模型的分析，以了解加州海流中这些火体种群快速增长的原因。 它支持本科生和研究生的培训。此外，该项目还通过与圣地亚哥县教育办公室的独特合作关系惠及 K-12 学生，该办公室正在为加州初中和高中科学教师开发符合下一代科学标准 (NGSS) 的资源。教育资源正在通过加州科学项目和加州环境素养倡议传播。圣地亚哥（加利福尼亚州）通过增强您的视野圣地亚哥会议和国家海洋科学碗圣地亚哥地区竞赛进行公共宣传，而在圣克鲁斯（加利福尼亚州）则通过西摩海洋探索中心进行公共宣传。预测生态系统如何应对加速气候变化是一个重大挑战。最近在加州洋流中出现的大西洋火体火虫对生态系统造成了重大扰动，但其原因仍不清楚。海洋物理学和浮游生物食物网动力学都是该生态系统中上层群落组成变异性的关键决定因素，但揭示了物理变异性（通过变暖和平流）与不断变化的生物相互作用（通过营养循环和食物链改变）相结合的程度。网络动力学）来确定组成和功能很复杂。该项目结合了对 CalCOFI 时间序列七个十年的过去历史样本的分析、数据同化和非数据同化海洋环流模型以及生物种群模型，以确定海洋物理和生物相互作用在塑造火体丰度方面所发挥的作用，加州洋流的营养动态、人口增长和死亡率。这个新颖的框架提供了预测浮游生物群落如何应对气候变化所需的机制理解。物理海洋学计划为该奖项提供了资金。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值进行评估，被认为值得支持以及更广泛的影响审查标准。