SO GLOBEC Synthesis and Integration NSF-Funded
Projects (2006)
“Collaborative Research: U.S. SO GLOBEC Synthesis and Modeling – Habitat Utilization
and Predator-Prey interactions In Western
Antarctic Peninsula”
Principal
Investigators:
JENNIFER
BURNS,
University of Alaska-Anchorage
DANIEL
COSTA,
University of California-Santa Cruz
PATRICK
HALPIN,
Duke University
JOHN
HILDEBRAND,
University of California-San Diego, Scripps Institute of Oceanography
JOSEPH
TORRES,
University
of South
Florida
This collaborative
study between the University of California, Santa Cruz, Duke University, the
University of South Florida, the University of Alaska-Anchorage, and the
University of California, San Diego will examine the identification of
biological and physical features associated with the abundance and distribution
of individual Antarctic predators; the identification and characterization of
biological ‘hot spots’ within the Western Antarctic Peninsula; and the
development of temporally and spatially explicit models of krill consumption
within the WAP by vertebrate predators. It is one of several data synthesis and
modeling components that use the data obtained in the course of the field work
of the Southern Ocean Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics (SO GLOBEC) experiment.
SO GLOBEC is a multidisciplinary effort focused on understanding the physical
and biological factors that influence growth, reproduction, recruitment and
survival of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba). The program uses a multi-trophic
level approach that includes the predators and competitors of Antarctic krill,
represented by other zooplankton, fish, penguins, seals, and cetaceans. It is
currently in a synthesis and modeling phase. This collaborative project is
concerned with understanding how predators utilize ‘hot spots’, i.e. locally
intense areas of biological productivity, and how 'hot spots' might temporally
and spatially structure krill predation rates, and will be integrated with
other synthesis and modeling studies that deal with the hydrography,
primary production, and krill dynamics.
“Collaborative Research: U.S. SO GLOBEC Synthesis and Modeling: Understanding
Interactions Between Climate Warming, Gyre Dynamics
and Western Antarctic
Peninsula Ecosystem Response”
Principal
Investigators:
WILLIAM
FRASER,
Polar Oceans Research Group
EILEEN
HOFMANN,
Old Dominion University
CHRISTINE
RIBIC,
University of Wisconsin-Madison
This collaborative
study between the Polar Oceans Research Group, Old Dominion University, and the University
of Wisconsin-Madison will identify and investigate the causal mechanisms
through which changes in sea ice and variability in the western Antarctic Peninsula marine ecosystem
affect recruitment in Adélie penguin populations. The
approach combines data collection, extensive data analyses, and the development
of a bioenergetics model of penguin chick growth that provides a framework for
investigating the physical and ecological factors that determine chick fledging
weight, which is linked to recruitment success. The available
data base spans 30 years at Palmer Station, and four major research programs,
including the Southern Ocean experiment of the Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics
program (SO GLOBEC). SO GLOBEC is a multidisciplinary effort focused on
understanding the physical and biological factors that influence growth,
reproduction, recruitment and survival of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba). The program uses a multi-trophic level approach that includes the predators and
competitors of Antarctic krill, represented by other zooplankton, fish,
penguins, seals, and cetaceans. It is currently in a synthesis and modeling
phase. This collaborative project is concerned with specifically with the sea
ice dynamics that constrain ecological processes, and will be integrated with
other synthesis and modeling studies that deal with primary producers, grazers,
predators, and other higher trophic levels.
“Collaborative Research: U.S. SO GLOBEC Synthesis and Modeling: Timing is Everything: The dynamic coupling among Phytoplankton, Ice,
Ice Algae and Krill (PIIAK)”
Principal
Investigators:
CHRISTIAN
FRITSEN,
University of Nevada, Desert Research Institute
ROBIN
ROSS,
University of California-Santa Barbara
LANGDON
QUETIN,
University of California-Santa Barbara
MARIA
VERNET,
University of California-San Diego, Scripps Institute of Oceanography
This collaborative
study between the Desert Research Institute, the University of California,
Santa Barbara (0529087; Robin Ross), and the University of California, San
Diego (0528728; Maria Vernet) will examine the
relationship between sea ice extent along the Antarctic Peninsula and the life
history of krill (Euphausia superba), by
developing, refining, and linking diagnostic datasets and models of
phytoplankton decreases in the fall, phytoplankton biomass incorporation into
sea ice, sea ice growth dynamics, sea ice algal production and biomass
accumulation, and larval krill energetics, condition,
and survival. Krill is a key species in the food web of the Southern Ocean
ecosystem, and one that is intricately involved with seasonal sea ice dynamics.
Results from the Southern Ocean experiment of the Global Ocean Ecosystems
Dynamics program (SO GLOBEC) field work as well as historical information on
sea ice dynamics and krill recruitment suggest a shift in the paradigm that all
pack ice is equally good krill habitat. SO GLOBEC is a multidisciplinary effort
focused on understanding the physical and biological factors that influence
growth, reproduction, recruitment and survival of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba). The
program uses a multi-trophic level approach that
includes the predators and competitors of Antarctic krill, represented by other
zooplankton, fish, penguins, seals, and cetaceans. It is currently in a
synthesis and modeling phase. This collaborative project is concerned with the
lower trophic levels, and will be integrated with
other synthesis and modeling studies that deal with grazers, predators, and
other higher trophic levels.
“U.S. SO GLOBEC Synthesis and Modeling: Southern Ocean GLOBEC
(SO GLOBEC) Planning Office”
Principal
Investigator:
EILEEN
HOFMANN,
Old Dominion University
The objective of the
proposed work is to provide for the operation of a Planning Office for the
synthesis and modeling phase of the Southern Ocean Global Ocean Ecosystems
Dynamics (SO GLOBEC) program. The office will ensure that synthesis and
integration activities that are developed as part of SO GLOBEC are coordinated
with those undertaken by the international and U.S. GLOBEC programs through: 1)
organization of special sessions at meetings, 2) preparation of dedicated
publications focused on program results, 3) maintenance of a project web site,
4) development of program outreach efforts, and 5) ensuring coordination with
International GLOBEC and other national and international programs and
organizations. The office will consist of one faculty member and one program
specialist. SO GLOBEC is a multidisciplinary
effort focused on understanding the physical and biological factors that
influence growth, reproduction, recruitment and survival of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba). The
program uses a multi-trophic level approach that
includes the predators and competitors of Antarctic krill, represented by other
zooplankton, fish, penguins, seals, and cetaceans. Extensive studies describing
the ecology and physiology of important species at all trophic
levels contributed to the ecosystem approach which is the essence of SO GLOBEC.
The Planning Office will provide a central focal point for ensuring that the
results from SO GLOBEC are made available to the broader scientific community
and to the general public, and that the results will be incorporated into the
planning of future Southern Ocean programs.
“Collaborative Research: U.S. SO GLOBEC Synthesis and Modeling: Circulation and
Hydrographic Data Analyses and Modeling Studies”
Principal
Investigators:
EILEEN
HOFMANN,
Old Dominion University
JOHN
KLINCK,
Old Dominion University
RICHARD
LIMEBURNER,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
W. BRECHNER
OWENS,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
ROBERT
BEARDSLEY,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
LAURENCE
PADMAN,
Earth and Space Research
WALKER SMITH, College of William & Mary, Virginia
Institute of Marine Science
This collaborative
study between Old Dominion University, the College of William and Mary, Earth and
Space Research, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will examine the
interactions among the ocean circulation, vertical mixing, sea ice, and marine
biological processes on the western Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf.
The study will result in analytical and numerical modeling tools that are based
on, and will have been tested against the extensive data set obtained in the
course of the Southern Ocean experiment of the Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics
program (SO GLOBEC). These models will provide insight into circulation and
biological dynamics that will be applicable to the development and refinement
of physical and biological models for other high latitude systems. SO GLOBEC is
a multidisciplinary effort focused on understanding the physical and biological
factors that influence growth, reproduction, recruitment and survival of
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba). The
program uses a multi-trophic level approach that
includes the predators and competitors of Antarctic krill, represented by other
zooplankton, fish, penguins, seals, and cetaceans. It is currently in a synthesis
and modeling phase. This collaborative project is concerned with the
environmental setting and dynamics that constrain ecological processes, and
will be integrated with other synthesis and modeling studies that deal with
grazers, predators, and other higher trophic levels.
"Collaborative Research: U.S. Southern Ocean GLOBEC
Synthesis and Modeling: Top Predators Provide Large-Scale Context to GLOBEC
Area Ocean Processes and Food Web"
Principal
Investigators:
CYNTHIA TYNAN, University
of Washington
DAVID
AINLEY, Harvey & Associates
ELIZABETH CLARKE, Marine
Laboratory, UK
R. GLENN FORD, R.G. Ford
Consulting
WILLIAM FRASER, Polar Oceans
Research Group
CHRISTINE RIBIC, University of
Wisconsin-Madison
DEBORAH THIELE, Deakin
Univeristy
ERIC WOEHLER, Hobart,
Australia
Responding to the
Announcement of Opportunity (AO) Southern Ocean GLOBEC
Synthesis and Modeling, we propose a project on top predators that
will address the four topic areas stressed in the AO: 1a) synthesis
of data sets on the abundance and distribution of target species; 2)
modeling to investigate physical, biological, and coupled
physical-biological processes; 3) comparative regional studies that
emphasize inter-regional comparisons and coupling of target species
populations; and 4) integrative analysis of the U.S. GLOBEC
Programs. Some of the major frontal features in the Southern Ocean,
that have been shown in mesoscale and regional studies to
importantly affect biological processes the Southern Boundary
of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the Antarctic Slope Front, and
the marginal ice zone (MIZ) all coincide closely in the SO
GLOBEC study area. We propose that combining and synthesizing the
distribution and occurrence patterns of highly mobile marine birds
and cetaceans, gathered from 60 cruises in more than 18
multidisciplinary efforts since the late 1970s, will provide a
valuable near-circumpolar context in which to test hypotheses on the
ecological importance of the above features. Analyses will thus
provide a large-scale inter-regional comparison with the mesoscale
synthesis and modeling from the specific SO GLOBEC field
studies. The combined data set will span two-thirds of the Antarctic
circumference, from the continent to the Polar Front. Included in
the data set are all the GLOBEC cruises (US and European) as well as
cruises from the Palmer LTER program. A large portion of the data
set was gathered within the pack ice of the Southern Ocean. The
distances between the water mass boundaries and frontal features
listed above, are non-uniform in the Southern Ocean, diverging
widely or converging in different regions, and presenting a coupling
of physical-biological dynamics that will be instructive to compare.
We chose marine birds and cetaceans because they are highly mobile and
concentrate where prey is abundant and foraging efficient. Upon
merging the data sets, we will determine an appropriate scale of
analysis, which should vary among species and the physical processes
involved in the frontal features. Using a set of a priori models
(see below), we will define the important environmental variables
hypothesized to impact the top predators, specifically fronts, water
masses and their boundaries and the MIZ, along with such factors as
depth and chlorophyll concentration. We will use climatologically
averaged positions of features, sea-truthed with specific
hydrography from the various cruises. GIS will be used to grid
environmental factors, and to determine distances between
density/biomass and frontal features.
The modeling approach will be two-fold. First, to achieve the density
estimation portion of the project, we will use generalized additive mixed
models (GAMMs) to explore the importance of the environmental variables to
predator density or biomass. Generalized additive mixed models will be used
because they can fit a wide variety of nonlinear relationships whilst taking
account of complex error structures. Secondly, where appropriate, we will
use the information-theoretic approach to understand variable importance via
variable weights and model averaging. We will address autocorrelation among
transect segments, and will use GAMMs to estimate population sizes
stratified by feature (e.g., water mass) and region. Last
updated
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Copyright Info: Old Dominion University 2006