Future global ocean Carbon storage: Quantifying warming impacts on zooplankton (C-QWIZ)

未来全球海洋碳储存：量化变暖对浮游动物的影响（C-QWIZ）

• 批准号: NE/X008622/1
• 负责人: Daniel Mayor
• 金额: $ 23.07万
• 依托单位: NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHY CENTRE
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FX008622%2F1
• 关键词: Future; global; ocean; Carbon; storage

Microscopic organisms in the ocean called phytoplankton use the sun's energy to convert carbon dioxide (CO2), nutrients and water into organic matter, just as plants do on land. This organic matter is grazed upon by tiny animals called zooplankton that are found throughout the global ocean. Marine zooplankton are so abundant that the total weight of their global population greatly exceeds that of the ~8 billion humans alive on Earth today. Like all animals, zooplankton produce vast quantities of faecal matter that they eject into the surrounding environment. Some of this waste sinks down into the abyss, carrying with it carbon that was once in the atmosphere as CO2. Any faecal carbon that reaches the deep ocean may be locked away down there for 100's or even 1000's of years. The process of exporting carbon in this way occurs on such a scale that it plays a fundamental role in global climate regulation, keeping our planet cool by slowing the rate at which CO2 accumulates in our atmosphere. Zooplankton are cold-blooded, and as such, their physiological rates increase as their environment warms. By contrast, the body size of zooplankton decreases with warming, although the mechanism underlying this phenomenon remains uncertain. Indeed, there are many gaps in our understanding of how temperature affects zooplankton physiology. For example, does the rate at which they can capture food increase at the same rate at which their demand for energy increases with warming? If it does, perhaps they will simply eat their way out of the climate crisis? But what if it doesn't? Continued ocean warming may then result in zooplankton having to use more and more of their food to meet the temperature-driven increase in their energy demands, leaving less and less for growth and reproduction. Does this situation get worse if the amount of food available to zooplankton decreases with ocean warming? And do different sized individuals respond differently to temperature? Our incomplete understanding of the interplay between temperature, food supply and zooplankton body size means that we cannot reliably predict their response to ocean warming. Indeed, most global models of the ocean ecosystem that are used to help predict future climate assume that these aspects of zooplankton physiology are fixed, with no sensitivity to warming. We therefore have only limited confidence in our ability to forecast how the zooplankton contribution to global climate regulation via ocean carbon storage will change as the ocean warms throughout the 21st century.Our project, C-QWIZ, will determine how zooplankton of different sizes respond to increasing temperatures at different levels of food. In doing so, we will fill many of the knowledge gaps in our fundamental understanding of their physiological response to climate change. The C-QWIZ team is uniquely placed to translate this new understanding into existing mathematical models of the global ocean ecosystem; we will be the first to mechanistically assess how global warming affects zooplankton-mediated ocean carbon storage throughout the 21st century. Our chosen model is used by scientists around the world to forecast how Earth's future climate will change. These forecasts are used by politicians and policy makers to decide on how best to manage the future of our planet. Improving these models therefore ensures that our science delivers real and lasting change for the benefit of all society.

像植物一样，称为浮游植物的海洋中的微观生物使用太阳的能量将二氧化碳（CO2），养分和水转化为有机物。在全球海洋中发现的称为浮游动物的小动物对这种有机物进行了放牧。海洋浮游生物如此丰富，以至于其全球人口的总重量大大超过了当今人类活着的约80亿人群。像所有动物一样，浮游动物会产生大量的粪便物质，它们会弹出到周围环境中。其中一些废物沉入了深渊，并带有曾经在大气中以二氧化碳的碳。到达深海的任何粪便碳都可能被锁定在那里100年甚至1000年。以这种方式出口碳的过程以这样的规模发生，以至于它在全球气候调节中起着基本作用，从而通过减慢二氧化碳在我们的大气中积累的速度来使我们的星球保持凉爽。浮游动物是冷血的，因此，它们的生理速率随着环境的变暖而增加。相比之下，尽管这种现象仍然不确定，但浮游动物的身体大小随变暖而减小。确实，我们对温度如何影响浮游动物生理的理解存在很多差距。例如，他们可以以相同的速度捕获食物的速率增加了对能量随着变暖的需求增加的速度吗？如果这样做，也许他们会简单地摆脱气候危机？但是，如果没有怎么办？持续的海洋变暖可能会导致浮游动物不得不使用越来越多的食物来满足温度驱动的能源需求的增加，从而越来越少地生长和繁殖。如果可浮游生物随着海洋变暖而减少的食物量减少，这种情况会变得更糟吗？并且不同大小的个体对温度的反应有所不同吗？我们对温度，粮食供应和浮游动物体型之间相互作用的不完全理解意味着我们无法可靠地预测它们对海洋变暖的反应。确实，用于预测未来气候的大多数全球海洋生态系统模型都认为，浮游动物的这些方面是固定的，对变暖没有敏感性。因此，我们对预测浮游动物的能力的信心有限在不同水平的食物下的温度升高。通过这样做，我们将填补我们对他们对气候变化的生理反应的基本理解中的许多知识差距。 C-Qwiz团队的独特之处在于将这种新的理解转化为全球海洋生态系统的现有数学模型。我们将是第一个从机械学上评估全球变暖如何影响浮游动物介导的海洋碳存储的人。我们选择的模型被世界各地的科学家使用，以预测地球未来气候将如何变化。政客和政策制定者使用这些预测来决定如何最好地管理我们地球的未来。因此，改进这些模型可确保我们的科学能够为所有社会的利益带来实际和持久的变化。