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 06/28/2006.
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