2010 — 2017 |
Page, Henry [⬀] Miller, Robert |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Sources of Particulate Organic Matter and Their Use by Benthic Suspension-Feeders in the Coastal California Ecosystem @ University of California-Santa Barbara
Intellectual Merit: Understanding trophic connections and how resource variability affects consumers is necessary if we are to predict how food webs may shift in the face of environmental change. Macroalgae and phytoplankton support highly productive marine ecosystems. Research based on stable isotope analyses has supported the idea that macroalgal detritus, especially the giant kelp Macrocystis, is a major source of dietary carbon to benthic suspension-feeders. However, recent findings by the investigator's four-year stable isotope study suggest that phytoplankton, not kelp, are the main food resource for benthic suspension-feeders on reefs in the Santa Barbara Channel, and that variation in phytoplankton abundance, combined with feeding selectivity and the scale of consumer tissue turnover times, may drive variability in consumer isotope values. The results suggest that a key assumption made in 'snapshot' isotope studies of coastal ecosystems over the past 20 years, which the isotope signature of coastal phytoplankton can be represented by that of offshore phytoplankton, could be incorrect. This assumption has been made because of the difficulty in separating phytoplankton from detritus to obtain an uncontaminated isotope signature, also a problem in freshwater systems.
The investigator will address two main objectives in this research project: 1) determining the contribution of phytoplankton and giant kelp detritus to the pool of suspended reef POM and whether POM composition varies with distance from kelp forests, and 2) evaluating how different components of the POM are used as food by reef suspension feeders. Two complementary approaches are designed to explore the contribution of phytoplankton and kelp detritus to POM in coastal waters: an advanced flow cytometry and cell-sorting system to separate phytoplankton from bulk POM, and analysis of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in POM and consumers. The investigators have obtained preliminary data that demonstrate the feasibility of both of these methods. Isotope values of isolated inshore phytoplankton and kelp, and compound-specific PUFA, will be used in mixing models to estimate relative contributions of these two major primary producers to suspension feeder diets. Two hypothesized mechanisms that may influence isotopic composition of consumers will also be tested: selective feeding on particular fractions of the POM, and tissue turnover times.
This project will provide new insights into the trophic support of benthic suspension feeders, an ecologically and economically important guild in coastal ecosystems. The results will test the general hypothesis that giant kelp detritus is an important source of dietary carbon to suspension feeders, a commonly accepted idea that needs re-evaluation in light of key assumptions that have been made in its support. Stable isotope analyses are an ideal tool for testing this hypothesis given the spatial and temporal scales of variability that exist in the abundance of phytoplankton and giant kelp at our study sites. The sampling scheme combined with longer-term data on producer biomass provided by the Santa Barbara Coastal LTER will enable the investigators to capture this variability, which is generally missed by studies based on 'snapshot' stable isotope analyses.
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0.915 |
2012 — 2018 |
Melack, John (co-PI) [⬀] Holbrook, Sally (co-PI) [⬀] Reed, Daniel [⬀] Reed, Daniel [⬀] Siegel, David (co-PI) [⬀] Miller, Robert (co-PI) [⬀] |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Lter: Land/Ocean Interactions and the Dynamics of Kelp Forest Ecosystems (Sbc Iii) @ University of California-Santa Barbara
Intellectual Merit: The Santa Barbara Coastal LTER (SBC) is an interdisciplinary research and education program established in April, 2000 to investigate the role of land and ocean processes in structuring ecosystems at the land-sea margin. The main study area is the Santa Barbara Channel and the steep coastal watersheds, small estuaries and sandy beaches that drain into it. The focal ecosystem of the research is giant kelp forests, a diverse and highly productive marine ecosystem that occurs on shallow rocky reefs at the interface of the land-sea margin in the Santa Barbara Channel and other temperate regions throughout the world. The major emphasis of this project is developing a predictive understanding of the structural and functional responses of giant kelp forest ecosystems to environmental forcing from the land and the sea. The amount of nutrients and organic matter delivered to the kelp forest from land and the surrounding ocean varies in response to changes in climate, ocean conditions and land use. Variation in the supply of these commodities interacts with physical disturbance to influence the abundance and species composition of kelp forest inhabitants and the ecological services that they provide. The overarching question motivating this research is: How are the structure and function of kelp forests and their material exchange with adjacent land and ocean ecosystems altered by disturbance and climate?
To address this question LTER researchers will focus on three themes: (1) biotic and abiotic drivers of kelp forest structure and function, (2) material exchange at the land-ocean margin, and (3) movement and fluxes of inorganic and organic matter in the coastal ocean. The relevance of this research is far reaching as LTER scientists are addressing fundamental questions pertaining to biodiversity and ecosystem function, vulnerability and resilience of communities to climate change and fishing, the roles of land use and fire on landscape change and watershed hydrology, and the physics of dispersal in the little studied coastal waters of the inner continental shelf. The dynamic nature of kelp forests, including their frequent disturbance and rapid regeneration coupled with high productivity and diverse food webs make them ideal systems for investigating ecological questions that require decades to centuries to address in other ecosystems. This project will utilize a variety of approaches including: (1) coordinated long-term measurements, (2) manipulative field experiments, (3) measurement-intensive process studies, and (4) integrated synthetic analyses and modeling that allow for predictions beyond the spatial and temporal scope of our measurements, and help guide future research. SBC's information management system, which focuses on data organization, integrity, preservation and web-based public access geared for a variety of end users will facilitate these efforts.
Broader Impacts: Education and training are tightly integrated into all aspects of this research. LTER personnel have successfully developed a multifaceted, interdisciplinary approach to education and outreach that highlights research interests of SBC investigators, students, and the general public. Programs include active links with K-12 students and teachers that target historically under-represented groups from under serving, low-achieving schools. The LTER participants are also very proactive in undergraduate and graduate student training, direct public outreach, and productive interactions with the media, government agencies and local industries. The LTER will continue these outreach and education programs and maintain efforts to attract additional funding to support them. The LTER is committed to sharing research results with resource managers, decision makers, stakeholders, and the general public who are interested in applying our findings to policy issues concerning natural resources, coastal management, and land use.
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0.915 |
2013 — 2016 |
Page, Henry (co-PI) [⬀] Miller, Robert |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Sources of Particulate Organic Matter and Their Use by Suspension-Feeders in New Zealand Kelp Forests @ University of California-Santa Barbara
The goal of this proposal is to catalyze a research collaboration between the PI and Dr. Nicholas Shears, a Lecturer at the University of Auckland, to understand trophic connections and the effect of resource variability on consumers. This is necessary to predict how food webs may shift in the face of environmental change. The PI proposes to extend prior work to examine the role of kelp detritus in this very different kelp forest system. He will use stable isotopes and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) to trace kelp carbon through the food web, and test the hypothesis that kelp detritus represents a significant source of carbon to suspension feeders living in the extensive Ecklonia kelp forests of New Zealand. This award is supported by the Catalyzing New International Collaborations program under OIIA/International Science and Engineering, with co-funding by GEO/Ocean Sciences.
Macroalgae and phytoplankton support highly productive marine ecosystems on shallow coastal reefs. The objectives of the proposed research are to determine: (1) the contribution of phytoplankton and kelp detritus to the pool of suspended particulate organic matter (POM) available to reef consumers, and (2) how different components of the POM are used as food by reef suspension feeders. Broader impacts of this project will include educational benefits to a graduate student who is the first person in her family to attend college. The project will serve to expand her research and perspective to include a very different kelp forest system and introduce her to the value of international collaborations through mentoring by Dr. Shears and his group. Results of this research will be disseminated widely through scientific publications but also through our undergraduate teaching and public lectures at venues such as the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
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0.915 |
2015 — 2019 |
Ohlmann, Carter Dugan, Jenifer [⬀] Miller, Robert |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Linking Nearshore Kelp Forest Dynamics to Sandy Beach Ecosystems @ University of California-Santa Barbara
Primary producers, such as plants and algae, form the basis of most food webs and their productivity and fate fundamentally shape ecosystems. Often, however, food and other resources are delivered to a food web from an outside source, providing a subsidy to the recipient ecosystem. Understanding these types of trophic connections and exchanges between ecosystems is necessary for predicting how food webs may respond to change, whether environmental or anthropogenic. Despite their potential importance, quantitative evaluations of cross-ecosystem material fluxes, variation of these fluxes in time and space, and ecological responses of recipient communities are lacking, particularly for marine ecosystems. By investigating links between a source ecosystem, kelp forests, and a recipient ecosystem, sandy beaches, this project will expand and transform our understanding of cross-ecosystem fluxes in the coastal ocean. Nearshore kelp forests are highly productive marine ecosystems characterized by large seasonal and interannual variations in net primary production (NPP). More than 90% of kelp forest NPP is exported to adjacent ecosystems including the intertidal zone. Lacking attached plants and algae, sandy beach ecosystems near kelp forests depend heavily on imported drift kelp (wrack) to support complex and diverse food webs. Although sandy beaches are a dominant shoreline type along all U.S. coasts, provide habitat and prey for wildlife, including endangered species, and are highly valued by society as recreational and cultural resources that drive vibrant coastal economies, they receive little ecological study compared to other shoreline types. This lack of knowledge hinders the conservation and management of beaches as ecosystems. Perched on the narrow rim between land and sea, beaches are highly vulnerable to climate change, particularly sea level rise, and will be impacted by changes in climate, as will kelp forests. This project integrates biological and physical approaches to achieve an understanding of the fate and transport of exported kelp, and how variability in this resource subsidy shapes the community structure and function of recipient beach ecosystems. Graduate and undergraduate students will be integral members of the research team, receiving scientific training and mentoring in coastal marine ecology and in public outreach and education. The training and participation of local residents and coastal managers in regular shoreline surveys for beached kelp plants will provide an essential research component of the study and enhance public awareness of scientific research, coastal ecology and the role of links between kelp forest and beach ecosystems. The results of this project will provide new insights into the dynamics of connectivity between coastal marine ecosystems that can be applied to their conservation and management.
The project seeks to understand trophic connectivity between a donor ecosystem, kelp forests, and a recipient ecosystem, sandy beaches, with two primary goals: 1) an evaluation of how variation in kelp wrack input affects patterns and processes in beach ecosystems and 2) a quantitative understanding of trophic connectivity through physical transport and input of drift kelp biomass from kelp forests to sandy beaches. The project will begin with two years of intensive work at a well-studied kelp forest in the Santa Barbara Channel, Mohawk Reef, and along 10 km of adjacent coastline, where the research team will measure intertidal community structure over time in response to variability in kelp inputs. To assess effects of variation in wrack input on ecosystem function, they will also measure kelp consumption and secondary production rates of intertidal consumers on adjacent beaches. They will directly observe fate and transport of kelp using complimentary approaches: 1) tracking kelp plants tagged at Mohawk Reef using drifters with GPS; and 2) tagging large numbers of kelp plants (2000) with "drift cards" at Mohawk Reef for recovery by the project team and trained volunteer beachcombers. Ending distributions of recovered drift cards and drifter tracks along the shoreline will then be computed. These data will be used to inform and validate a kelp forest-to-beach kelp transport model based on numerical simulations of coastal surface currents from the Regional Oceanic Modeling System (ROMS). Using predicted kelp beaching rates from this model run regionally, the investigators will then sample community structure and wrack biomass at a larger set of beaches spanning 100 km of the southern California shoreline to test the generality of research findings. This combination of fate and transport observations, beach community surveys and process measurements, and modeling will allow the investigators to characterize temporal variability in kelp subsidy inputs and the consequences of this variability for community structure and function of recipient beach ecosystems.
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0.915 |
2016 — 2018 |
Page, Henry (co-PI) [⬀] Reed, Daniel [⬀] Reed, Daniel [⬀] Miller, Robert (co-PI) [⬀] Melack, John (co-PI) [⬀] Carlson, Craig (co-PI) [⬀] |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Rapid: Tracing the Origin and Fate of Particulate Organic Matter in Nearshore Marine Sediments @ University of California-Santa Barbara
Material exchange between ecosystems is being increasingly recognized as an important determinant of many ecological patterns and processes. Nowhere is this more evident than in the highly productive coastal zone, which receives large amounts of terrestrial particulate organic (POM) matter through stream and river discharge. In semi-arid regions such as southern California, the delivery of terrestrial POM to the nearshore is largely restricted to storm events that are intensified during El Nino years of above average rainfall. The processing and fate of this material is poorly known, yet there is growing evidence that it could contribute significantly to nearshore productivity. This research project will help to fill a critical knowledge gap pertaining to the origin, distribution, processing of terrestrial POM and its potential to serve as a reservoir of nitrogen storage for nearshore primary production during periods of the year when marine sources of dissolved inorganic nitrogen are low. Research on this award will be done in close collaboration with the Santa Barbara Coastal Long Term Ecological Research program (SBC LTER). As such it will augment SBC's strong contribution to student training and mentoring in interdisciplinary research at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral levels. Outcomes will be incorporated into SBC's ongoing Schoolyard LTER program, which is organized around a theme of kelp forest ecology and land-ocean exchanges and aimed at long-term connections with underserved, low-achieving schools that include year-round on and off campus activities. The LTER Investigators have developed formal partnerships with local cities and Santa Barbara County to develop vulnerability assessments of the regions coastal ecosystems and the LTER will incorporate the findings from this study into those assessments
The unprecedented drought currently in its fourth year in California, coupled with the ongoing conditions of anomalously low ocean productivity and the prospect of one the strongest El Ninos on record provide an unparalleled opportunity for researchers at the Santa Barbara Coastal Long Term Ecological Research program (SBC LTER) to test specific hypotheses pertaining to the origin, distribution, processing and bioavailability of terrestrial organic matter in coastal marine sediments and their potential for serving as a reservoir of nitrogen storage to fuel nearshore primary production during periods when nitrate concentrations are low. NSF RAPID Response award funds will be used to: (1) measure bulk properties and biomarker tracers of particulate organic matter (POM) in stream water and in coastal marine sediments at SBC sites differing in exposure to terrestrial runoff prior to and following large storm events, and (2) determine the bioavailability of dissolved organic matter (DOM) released from POM in marine sediments following large runoff events. The research will complement and inform SBC's ongoing efforts to investigate the availability and utilization of recycled forms of nitrogen in supporting the primary production of nearshore macrophytes and phytoplankton during non-upwelling periods when nitrate levels ar typically low.
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0.915 |
2017 — 2022 |
Pollock, Tresa (co-PI) [⬀] Manjunath, Bangalore [⬀] Roy Chowdhury, Amit Merchant, Nirav (co-PI) [⬀] Miller, Robert (co-PI) [⬀] |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Si2-Ssi: Limpid: Large-Scale Image Processing Infrastructure Development @ University of California-Santa Barbara
Scientific imaging is ubiquitous: From materials science, biology, neuroscience and brain connectomics, marine science and remote sensing, to medicine, much of the big data science is image centric. Currently, interpretation of images is usually performed within isolated research groups either manually or as workflows over narrowly defined conditions with specific datasets. This LIMPID (Large-scale IMage Processing Infrastructure Development) project will have a transformative impact on such discipline-centric workflows through the creation of an extensive and unique resource for the curation, distribution and sharing of scientific image analysis methods. The project will create an image processing marketplace for use by a diverse community of researchers, enabling them to discover, test, verify and refine image analysis methods within a shared infrastructure. As a freely available, cloud-based resource, LIMPID will facilitate participation of underrepresented groups and minority-serving institutions, as well as international scientists, allowing them to address questions that would otherwise require expensive software. The potential impacts of the project are significant: from wide dissemination of novel processing methods, to development of automatic methods that can leverage data and human feedback from large datasets for software training and validation. For the broader scientific community, this immediately provides a resource for joint data and methods publication, with provenance control and security. This in turn will facilitate faster development and deployment of tools and foster new collaborations between computer scientists developing methods and scientific users. The project will prepare a diverse cadre of students and researchers, including women and members of under-represented groups, to tackle complex problems in an interdisciplinary environment. Through workshops, participation at scientific meetings, and summer undergraduate research internships, a broad community of users will be engaged to actively contribute to all aspects of research, development, and training during the course of this project.
The primary goal is to create a large scale distributed image processing infrastructure, the LIMPID, though a broad, interdisciplinary collaboration of researchers in databases, image analysis, and sciences. In order to create a resource of broad appeal, the focus will be on three types of image processing: simple detection and labelling of objects based on detection of significant features and leveraging recent advances in deep learning, semi-custom pipelines and workflows based on popular image processing tools, and finally fully customizable analysis routines. Popular image processing pipeline tools will be leveraged to allow users to create or customize existing pipeline workflows and easily test these on large-scale cloud infrastructure from their desktop or mobile devices. In addition, a core cloud-based platform will be created where custom image processing can be created, shared, modified, and executed on large-scale datasets and apply novel methods to minimize data movement. Usage test cases will be created for three specific user communities: materials science, marine science and neuroscience. An industry supported consortium will be established at the beginning of the project towards achieving long-term sustainability of the LIMPID infrastructure.
This project is supported by the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure in the Directorate for Computer & Information Science and Engineering and the Division of Materials Research in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences.
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0.915 |