The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.
This award will support a twenty-two-month research fellowship by Dr. Catherine L. Johnson to work with Dr. Erica J. H. Head at Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth, Canada.
Zooplankton in marine ecosystems provide a critical link between planktonic primary producers and higher trophic levels, such as fish, seabirds, and marine mammals. Variability in zooplankton abundance appears to be related to climate variability in many ocean regions, but the mechanisms that drive these relationships are poorly understood. The objectives of the proposed research are to identify the processes that control interannual variability in zooplankton abundance and community structure on the Scotian Shelf, in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, and to develop a mechanistic understanding of climate effects on zooplankton populations. Three complementary data sets, each resolving different space and time scales, are used to characterize spatial and temporal scales of zooplankton variability. Specific questions that are addressed include (1) does water origin or in situ biological processes have a greater influence on Scotian Shelf zooplankton variability; (2) is it possible to control for water mass origin in a long time series of low spatial resolution; and (3) is advection from the Scotian Shelf is a good predictor of downstream, Gulf of Maine, zooplankton variability? Several previous studies suggest that transport and spatial variability of Scotian Shelf water masses can influence zooplankton variability; however, by controlling for water masses, the proposed research allows the influence of in situ processes to be quantified. Understanding zooplankton interannual variability is essential to understanding ecosystem responses to climate. Synthesis of zooplankton data sets focused on different spatial and temporal scales enhances the interpretive value of each data set. The proposed research identifies zooplankton community and abundance shifts that may affect fish recruitment in the northwest Atlantic, and it contributes to development of ecosystem-based fisheries management on the Scotian Shelf. It also facilitates identification of ecologically significant regions of the Scotian Shelf for conservation and representative locations where long-term zooplankton time series can most effectively be focused.
