Long-term winter ecology and sea ice phenology in subarctic, high-use coastal ecosystems

亚北极高利用沿海生态系统的长期冬季生态和海冰物候学

• 批准号: RGPIN-2021-02635
• 负责人: SaulnierTalbot, Émilie
• 金额: $ 2.19万
• 依托单位: Université Laval
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=742121
• 关键词: Long; term; winter; ecology; sea

The disrupting effects of global change on the structure and function of north-temperate coastal ecosystems, which are widespread throughout Canada, are likely to be manifold. For example, it is expected that the consequences of warming temperatures will be felt rapidly on the dynamics of seasonal sea ice, destabilizing its margins, which are an important habitat for many cold-adapted organisms, and reducing its coverage, thickness, and seasonal duration. These drastic changes could trigger cascading effects like enhancing the strength and duration of stratification of the water column, stimulating eutrophication. Diminishing ice-cover also leaves coastlines more vulnerable to erosion and can boost the intensity of winter maritime activities. This combination of changing environmental conditions and increasing human use of northern coastal regions could negatively impact food webs and enhance infrastructure vulnerability, endangering livelihoods. Furthermore, where port, industrial, and maritime activities occur, pollution can exacerbate these effects. If ecosystem services and livelihoods are to be maintained, policies addressing the sustainable management of these socio-economic activities must rely on a solid scientific understanding of their impacts on the health of coastal environments. Yet baseline and long-term data from which to interpret current environmental conditions and inform science-based management are lacking for northern ports, making it a major challenge to understand the impacts of current global change. There is, therefore, a pressing need to acquire long-term data for this ecosystem type. During the next five years, my research program will focus on developing knowledge about the winter ecology and changing seasonality of sea ice in north-temperate, high-use coasts. Using a novel, multiproxy approach to study the natural archives preserved in coastal sediments, my team and I will generate new, long-term environmental knowledge of broad application to northern ports in Canada and internationally. The region of Sept-Iles, in the Gulf of St-Lawrence, has the second largest deep-water seaport in Canada by yearly tonnage and is home to many heavy industries, including the largest primary aluminum smelter in the Americas. It is an ideal model for testing hypotheses about the functioning of northern port ecosystems and developing innovative methods for their quantitative understanding and management. My research program will therefore initially focus on this region, with the following objectives : 1) To reconstruct past natural variability of winter climatic drivers and their impact on northern coastal ecosystems, and 2) To assess how recent winter-time ecosystem dynamics at the base of the coastal food web are affected by human activities in the context of rapid global change. Ultimately, my team's research will benefit sound, science-based management of high-use coastal ecosystems in Canada and around the circumpolar North.

全球变化对整个加拿大北部沿海生态系统的结构和功能的破坏影响很可能是多种多样的。例如，预计温暖温度的后果将在季节性海冰的动态上迅速感受到，破坏其边缘的稳定，这对于许多冷适应的生物来说是一个重要的栖息地，并降低了其覆盖范围，厚度，厚度和季节性耐用。这些急剧变化可能会触发级联效应，例如增强水柱分层的强度和持续时间，刺激富营养化。减少的冰覆盖也使海岸线更容易受到侵蚀的影响，并可以提高冬季海上活动的强度。不断变化的环境条件和人类对北部沿海地区使用的使用的结合可能会对食品网和增强基础设施脆弱性产生负面影响，危害生计。此外，在发生港口，工业和海上活动的地方，污染可能加剧这些影响。如果要维护生态系统服务和生计，那么解决这些社会经济活动的可持续管理的政策必须依赖于对它们对沿海环境健康的影响的牢固的科学理解。然而，基线和长期数据可以解释当前的环境状况和北部港口的基于科学的管理，这是了解当前全球变化的影响的主要挑战。因此，迫切需要为此生态系统类型获取长期数据。在接下来的五年中，我的研究计划将着重于发展有关冬季生态学的知识，并改变了北温泉，高使用海岸的海冰季节性。我和我的团队将使用一种新颖的多Xy方法来研究保存在沿海沉积物中的自然档案，我将对加拿大北部港口和国际港口的广泛应用产生新的，长期的环境知识。 Supt-les地区在St-Lavencer湾，每年都有加拿大的第二大深水海港，并且是许多重型产业的家园，包括美洲最大的主要铝冶炼厂。它是测试有关北部港口生态系统功能和开发创新方法的理想假设的理想模型。因此，我的研究计划最初将关注该地区，并具有以下目标：1）重建冬季气候驱动因素的过去自然变异性及其对北部沿海生态系统的影响，以及2）评估基础近期冬季生态系统动态如何在全球快速变化的背景下，沿海食品网的影响受人类活动的影响。最终，我的团队的研究将使加拿大及其北极北部周围的高使用沿海生态系统的高使用沿海生态系统受益。