California Sea Grant Announces 2010 Research Grant Recipients
Contact:
Russell Moll
Director
California Sea Grant College Program
La Jolla, CA
E.: rmoll@ucsd.edu
T.: (858) 534-4440
Shauna Oh
Assistant Director
California Sea Grant College Program
La Jolla, CA
E.: shaunaoh@ucsd.edu
T.: (858) 822-2708
Tools:
Revised:
January 19, 2010
Lingulodinium polyedrum, a non-toxic red-tide dinoflagellate species. Researchers will be studying whether the organism may migrate vertically in the water column to obtain nitrogen below the mixed layer. Credit: R. Shipe/UCLA
January 19, 2010
Contact: Christina S. Johnson, csjohnson@ucsd.edu, 858-822-5334
LA JOLLA–An oceanographer who thinks climate change is shifting the spring phytoplankton bloom, a geneticist who envisions developing a sea-going instrument for rapidly speciating fish larvae, and a biogeochemist with a theory about the causes of algal blooms in low-nitrate waters are among this year’s recipients of California Sea Grant research funds.
In all, California Sea Grant and the Ocean Protection Council awarded more than $1 million to support nine new marine-related projects and seven graduate students. Projects begin in February.
“This year, we see a heavy investment in the sustainable management of fisheries and marine resources,” says California Sea Grant Director Russell Moll. “We are very pleased to continue our support of outstanding research on topics of real relevance to California.”
Below is a list of the new projects and their lead investigators, with a short summary of each project’s key objectives.
New Zealand mud snails beside a dime for scale. Researchers will study whether parasites could halt the snail's spread in America. Credit: US Geological Survey
Developing a Biological Control for the New Zealand Mud Snail
Tom Dudley, Ryan Hechinger and Armand Kuris, Marine Science Institute, UC Santa Barbara
Could introducing a special snail parasite halt the invasion of New Zealand mud snails in U.S. waterways? Researchers will investigate the degree to which castrating trematode parasites have curbed mud snails in rivers and streams in Australia, where both the mud snail and its parasites were accidently introduced. Follow-up laboratory experiments will test whether the parasites could inadvertently infect non-targeted native North American mollusks. Findings will validate or invalidate the merits of using the parasite for biological control.
Is C/N Decoupling Caused by Harmful Algal Blooms in Santa Monica Bay?
Anita Leinweber, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, UCLA; and Rebecca Shipe, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA
The hypothesis to be tested in this project is that dinoflagellates migrating vertically in the water column affect and link dissolved inorganic carbon and nitrogen cycles. The theory: Algae living in nitrogen-depleted sunlit surface waters may descend below the mixed layer at night to obtain needed nitrogen and re-ascend by day to photosynthesize. Researchers will test the theory in Santa Monica Bay in Los Angeles. Findings may offer an explanation for the causes of harmful algal blooms in low-nitrate surface waters.
Pacific mackerel and hake eggs (above) are essentially identical. Researchers will employ novel genetic techniques to distinguish them rapidly in seawater samples. Credit: NOAA Fisheries
High-Throughput Molecular Identification of Fish Eggs and Larvae
Ron Burton, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego
The researcher will develop a sea-going instrument for rapid identification of fish eggs and larvae collected by a continuous fish-egg sampler. DNA bar-coding methods, coupled with a bead array technology, capable of simultaneously identifying multiple specimens of marine microbes, will be employed. The first application of the new tool, if it can be developed, will be to identify species of fish eggs in a 12-year archive of samples collected during CalCOFI cruises, in collaboration with NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center.
Competing Bacterial Endosymbionts in Abalone Health, Management and Restoration
Carolyn Friedman and Glenn VanBlaricom, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington; Peter Raimondi, Institute of Marine Sciences, UC Santa Cruz
Researchers will determine the geographic distribution of a newly discovered rickettsial bacterium in wild and cultured abalone and seawater. The bacterium appears to reduce the lethality of withering syndrome. It is also hypothesized that warmer water facilitates disease transmission, but susceptibility to infection varies among different abalone species. Findings have relevance to endangered species recovery efforts and abalone mariculture.
Sustainability and Fine-Scale Management of a California Sea Urchin Fishery and the Ecology of Exploitation
Paul Dayton and Ed Parnell, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego; Stephen Schroeter, Marine Sciences Institute, UC Santa Barbara
Biologists will study the fine-scale dynamics of red sea urchins and their ecological role within the Point Loma kelp forest in San Diego, with the goal of furthering efforts to develop community-based co-management of the urchin fishery and ecosystem-based management of the kelp forest. Scientific and commercial urchin divers will collect data for estimating sea urchin recruitment and growth, movement, fishing mortality and foraging behavior. This information will be used, among other things, to determine ecologically relevant spatial scales for local urchin populations.
Adaptive Management: Predicting Responses to Marine Protected Areas for Comparison to Monitoring Data
Louis Botsford, Marissa Baskett and Alan Hastings, Center for Population Biology, UC Davis
Biologists will develop computer models for evaluating the performances of Central Coast marine protected areas (MPAs) for key exploited species, including blue rockfish, black rockfish, lingcod and cabezon. The spatial population models will incorporate what is known about larval dispersal, adult movement and key species interactions. Model output may provide managers with some insights on how to use monitoring data to evaluate whether and how the MPAs are meeting the goals of the Marine Life Protection Act.
A graphic showing sardine egg concentrations off Southern California. Researchers will be studying the effects of climate change on the timing and success of sardine reproduction. Credit: R. Asch/UCSD
Climate Change and the Phenology of Plankton and Fish Production in the California Current
David Checkley, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego
This project examines effects of warming surface waters on timing of the spring plankton bloom and subsequent spawning of Northern anchovy, Pacific sardine and jack mackerel. The theory to be explored is that global warming has altered, perhaps through upwelling dynamics, the timing of the spring bloom and hence available spawning habitat. Four types of satellite data will be used to monitor seasonal fluctuations in oceanographic conditions and primary productivity in the California Current and how they relate to yearly fish recruitment success.
Exploiting Marine Actinomycete Diversity for Natural Product Discovery
Paul Jensen and Bradley Moore, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego
Molecular techniques will be used to screen a large collection of marine bacteria for their potential to produce new hybrid isoprenoid antibiotics and for the presence of prenyltransferase genes, which are associated with hybrid isoprenoid biosynthesis. Specific objectives include experimentally characterizing gene clusters associated with isoprenoid biosynthesis, and cloning and heterologous expression of prenyltransferases.
The California Ocean Protection Council provided a total of $720,000 for the following research project, with approximately $200,000 to be spent in the first year:
Fall Chinook salmon staging (waiting for rain to migrate) during a low-flow period in the Smith River. OPC-funded research will examine restoration options for salmon in the Central Valley. Credit: Z. Larson/Smith River Advisory Council
The Future of the California Chinook Salmon Fishery: Roles of Climate Variation, Habitat Restoration, Hatchery Practices and Biocomplexity
Brian Wells, NOAA Fisheries Southwest Fishery Science Center; David Hankin, Humboldt State University; Louis Botsford, UC Davis
This project seeks to provide managers with tools for weighing pros and cons of various restoration options for Central Valley and Klamath run Chinook salmon. The project’s first phase will involve a retrospective analysis of the links between climate variation, human activities and salmon numbers. The second phase will be a prospective analysis to determine critical stages in the life history of salmon impacting fish production. An overarching question to be explored: Might restoring genetic diversity within and among salmon populations reduce swings in salmon survival rates?
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NOAA’s California Sea Grant College Program (www.csgc.ucsd.edu) is a statewide, multi-university program of marine research, extension services, and education activities administered by the University of California. It is the largest of 32 Sea Grant programs and is headquartered at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. The National Sea Grant College Program is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce.
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