Exploring the sources, sinks and uptake of carbon and nitrogen in the coastal ocean

探索沿海海洋碳和氮的源、汇和吸收

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-06203
• 负责人: Sipler, Rachel
• 金额: $ 1.82万
• 依托单位: Memorial University of Newfoundland
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=680706
• 关键词: Exploring; sources; sinks; uptake; carbon

The ocean plays an important role in the economy and culture of Canada. Rising atmospheric temperatures, changing weather patterns, and alterations in human activities are fueling changes on land that directly impact the chemistry and productivity of ocean ecosystems. Photosynthetic microorganisms called phytoplankton form the base of the ocean food web and are critical to the sequestration of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Shifts in the concentration and composition of elements like carbon and nitrogen, key components of all life on earth, can promote or inhibit phytoplankton growth and thus ocean productivity. Variations in the types of phytoplankton, their abundance and how fast they grow can also have substantial ramifications for aquatic food webs, biogeochemical fluxes, and climate feedbacks. Therefore, research that will lead to a deeper understanding of current processes and enhanced predictive capabilities of future productivity is paramount. *** By coupling in situ ecosystem observations with explicit experimentation the proposed research program will uncover linkages between key environmental change variables, elemental cycles and ocean productivity. This program will investigate the impacts of climate change, variations in microbial physiology and direct human influence (via changes in industry and land-use) on phytoplankton and bacterial growth by identifying the factors and thresholds that impact their ability to use different carbon and nitrogen sources. Specifically, it will assess the physiological capabilities of existent and emergent microorganisms, characterize the composition of land-based chemical inputs, identify regions most at risk to changes in water chemistry, and determine incremental improvements that will achieve the best long-term ecological and economic benefits. This will enable a fundamental understanding critical to predicting future changes in marine ecosystems and connect upstream changes to their down-stream consequences. *** The results will be of interest to climate and ecosystem modelers, industries, and management and governmental agencies. The contribution to the modeling community will be carbon and nitrogen utilization, fixation and regeneration rate measurements required for accurate ecosystem models capable of predicting environmental change effects on ocean productivity and global elemental cycles. This research will contribute economically through its connection to the expanding aquaculture industry. Knowing where not to establish an aquaculture facility will help growers be more productive over the long term. This work will also serve to inform management decisions by identifying and prioritizing critical natural and anthropogenic chemical inputs that need to be reduced or mediated in the future to maintain and improve ecosystem health and productivity.

海洋在加拿大的经济和文化中起着重要作用。大气温度的上升，天气模式的变化以及人类活动的改变正在加剧直接影响海洋生态系统化学和生产力的土地变化。光合微生物称为浮游植物，构成了海洋食品网的基础，对于从大气中隔离二氧化碳至关重要。碳和氮，地球上所有生命的关键组成部分等元素的浓度和组成的变化，可以促进或抑制浮游植物的生长，从而促进海洋生产力。浮游植物类型的变化，丰度以及它们生长的速度的变化也可以对水生食物网，生物地球化学通量和气候反馈产生重大影响。因此，将导致对当前过程和增强未来生产力预测能力的更深入了解的研究至关重要。 ***通过将原位生态系统观测与明确的实验结合起来，提出的研究计划将发现关键环境变化变量，元素周期和海洋生产率之间的联系。该计划将通过识别影响其使用不同碳和氮源的能力来研究气候变化，微生物生理变化以及直接人类影响（通过行业和土地使用的变化）对浮游植物和细菌生长的影响（通过行业和土地利用的变化）的影响。具体而言，它将评估现有和新兴微生物的生理能力，以土地化学输入的组成，确定对水化学变化的风险最大的区域，并确定可以实现最佳的长期生态和经济的增量改善好处。这将使对预测海洋生态系统的未来变化并将上游变化与下游后果联系起来至关重要。 ***气候和生态系统建模者，行业以及管理和政府机构的结果将引起结果。对建模社区的贡献将是碳和氮利用率，固定和再生速率测量，以预测能够预测环境变化对海洋生产力和全球元素周期的影响的精确生态系统模型所需的贡献。这项研究将通过与不断扩大的水产养殖行业的联系而在经济上做出贡献。知道在哪里不建立水产养殖设施将帮助种植者长期提高生产力。这项工作还将通过识别和优先考虑关键的自然和人为化学输入来为管理决策提供信息，这些化学输入将来需要减少或介导，以维持和提高生态系统的健康和生产力。