COLLABORATIONS: Our research currently occurs in the context of the PISCO consortium, and in collaborations with colleagues involved in ocean acidification and biogeographic community ecology in the southern hemisphere.
1. Meta-ecosystem Dynamics in Nearshore Ecosystems - What are the relative impacts of local-scale, meso-scale and larger-scale processes in structuring the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem and LMEs in general? We study the influence of upwelling, phytoplankton productivity, particulates and organic matter, recruitment, larval abundance, biotic interactions, shore topography and environmental stress on rocky intertidal and subtidal community structure and organization. Besides Bruce, Francis, Mark and Jack, PISCO PIs include Mark Carr, Pete Raimondi, and Kristy Kroeker (UCSC): Mark Denny and Steve Palumbi (Hopkins); and Libe Washburn, Carol Blanchette, and Jenn Caselle (UCSB). Collaborators include or have included ecologists (Sally Hacker, Sarah Dudas of University of Vancouver Island, Nanaimo, BC; Gil Rilov of Israel Institute of Limnology and Oceanography, Haifa, Israel; Karina Nielsen of Romberg Tiburon Center for the Environment; Eric Sanford of UC Davis; Matt Bracken of UC Irvine, and Tarik Gouhier of Northeastern University); physical biologists (Brian Helmuth of Northeastern University), and molecular eco-physiologists (Sean Place of Sonoma State University, Gretchen Hofmann, UCSB).
2. Marine Community Biodiversity - What shapes the patterns of rocky intertidal biodiversity? We study patterns of distribution, abundance and diversity in rocky intertidal communities across several spatial scales, ranging from the traditional scales of m2 to much larger than traditional scales ranging to 1000s of km. Studies involve mapping, monitoring, remote sensing, field experimentation, and modelling. Collaborators include Gil Rilov (Israel Institute of Limnology and Oceanography), David Schiel (University of Canterbury, New Zealand), Carol Blanchette (UCSB), Sergio Navarrete and Evie Wieters (Univ. Catolica, Santiago, Chile), and Tarik Gouhier (Northeastern University).
3. Stability and Resilience of Coastal Ecosystems- How will coastal ecosystems be changed as the climate gradually warms? This focus has three components and overlaps in concept and research activity with projects 1 and 2 above. Two projects have focused on impacts of Ocean Acidification. The first is the OMEGAS project, and the second project examines the impact of OA and other environmental stressors on coralline algae, a key facilitator of kelp recruitment, across the Oregon and northern California coasts. The third project (the “LTREB project”) builds on long-term PISCO datasets on recruitment, phytoplankton, species interactions, and community structure, to examine how climate-related change is altering rocky intertidal communities along the Oregon coast.
4. Sub-organismal Mechanisms - How important are sublethal effects of environmental stress and subtle effects of varying food availability on growth, survival and abundance of marine intertidal organisms? In particular, what are the impacts of hypoxia and ocean acidification on marine benthic populations and their larvae? These studies are aimed at understanding the molecular, biochemical and physiological mechanisms that underlie the responses of marine organisms to climate change. We collaborate with Drs. Gretchen Hofmann and Sean Place on this work.
5. Marine Conservation Ecology –What is the anthropogenic impact on coastal ecosystems? How can one manage for resilience in coupled human-natural systems? What is the role of networks of marine reserves and how should they be designed? How will coastal ecological communities respond to the loss of the keystone predator Pisaster ochraceus? Will this species be able to recover from the devastation wrought by disease? These are some of the conservation-related questions being addressed within our group. In addition to many of the above colleagues, other collaborators on these topics include Karen McLeod of OSU COMPASS. Many of these activities offer students possible ways to learn about and participate in ways of connecting scientific understanding to the larger public and policy worlds.
- PISCO (Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans, a Large-Scale, Long-Term Ecological Consortium (see http://www.piscoweb.org)) is focused on the dynamics of the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem, specifically in the area from the intertidal to 10-20 km offshore, an area oceanographers term the inner and middle shelves. Research involves studies in rocky intertidal and the adjacent pelagic environment from the surf zone to a depth of approximately 30 to 50 m, with the goal of understanding benthic-pelagic coupling in, and connectedness among rocky intertidal and subtidal communities. PISCO is funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation supplemented by grants from other foundations, NSF, NOAA and Sea Grant. The consortium is led by ten scientists, three at OSU (Bruce, Francis Chan, and Jack Barth of the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences), two at Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station, three at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and two at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Some specific components of the projects are listed below. PISCO offers opportunities for graduate students and postdocs to carry out research that extends beyond the geographic and disciplinary constraints that often limit such research to more local scales and to more disciplinary approaches.
- OCEAN ACIDIFICATION: Two previous collaborations helped initiate our focus on ocean acidification, which continues through graduate student, postdoctoral, and research faculty research. These groups included PIs from PISCO, MBARI, UC Davis/Bodega Marine Lab (OMEGAS; Ocean Margin Ecosystem Group for Acidification Studies), and OSU and Sonoma State University (ACIDIC; Algal Communities In Distress: Impacts and Consequences). Both OMEGAS and ACIDIC were supported by NSF from 2010 to 2014. Our goal in OMEGAS was to investigate acclimation and adaptation of sea urchins and mussels to a mosaic of ocean acidification along the CCLME, and in ACIDIC, was to investigate responses of calcifying algae and associated macrophytes to OA in the northern CCLME. OMEGAS established the first large-scale network of sensors to document patterns of OA in the inner shelf region of the California Current upwelling ecosystem. In both cases, research remains underway to address these critical problems.
- SEA STAR WASTING DISEASE: We have focused primarily on the consequences for and recovery of sea star populations, and the intertidal community. The research of several students and a postdoc are focused on these issues, and since the problem is ongoing, future research opportunities will exist. Besides the ecological studies, with collaborators in the department and elsewhere, we hope to investigate the genetics of the ochre sea star in a search for possibly resistant genomes.
1. Meta-ecosystem Dynamics in Nearshore Ecosystems - What are the relative impacts of local-scale, meso-scale and larger-scale processes in structuring the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem and LMEs in general? We study the influence of upwelling, phytoplankton productivity, particulates and organic matter, recruitment, larval abundance, biotic interactions, shore topography and environmental stress on rocky intertidal and subtidal community structure and organization. Besides Bruce, Francis, Mark and Jack, PISCO PIs include Mark Carr, Pete Raimondi, and Kristy Kroeker (UCSC): Mark Denny and Steve Palumbi (Hopkins); and Libe Washburn, Carol Blanchette, and Jenn Caselle (UCSB). Collaborators include or have included ecologists (Sally Hacker, Sarah Dudas of University of Vancouver Island, Nanaimo, BC; Gil Rilov of Israel Institute of Limnology and Oceanography, Haifa, Israel; Karina Nielsen of Romberg Tiburon Center for the Environment; Eric Sanford of UC Davis; Matt Bracken of UC Irvine, and Tarik Gouhier of Northeastern University); physical biologists (Brian Helmuth of Northeastern University), and molecular eco-physiologists (Sean Place of Sonoma State University, Gretchen Hofmann, UCSB).
2. Marine Community Biodiversity - What shapes the patterns of rocky intertidal biodiversity? We study patterns of distribution, abundance and diversity in rocky intertidal communities across several spatial scales, ranging from the traditional scales of m2 to much larger than traditional scales ranging to 1000s of km. Studies involve mapping, monitoring, remote sensing, field experimentation, and modelling. Collaborators include Gil Rilov (Israel Institute of Limnology and Oceanography), David Schiel (University of Canterbury, New Zealand), Carol Blanchette (UCSB), Sergio Navarrete and Evie Wieters (Univ. Catolica, Santiago, Chile), and Tarik Gouhier (Northeastern University).
3. Stability and Resilience of Coastal Ecosystems- How will coastal ecosystems be changed as the climate gradually warms? This focus has three components and overlaps in concept and research activity with projects 1 and 2 above. Two projects have focused on impacts of Ocean Acidification. The first is the OMEGAS project, and the second project examines the impact of OA and other environmental stressors on coralline algae, a key facilitator of kelp recruitment, across the Oregon and northern California coasts. The third project (the “LTREB project”) builds on long-term PISCO datasets on recruitment, phytoplankton, species interactions, and community structure, to examine how climate-related change is altering rocky intertidal communities along the Oregon coast.
4. Sub-organismal Mechanisms - How important are sublethal effects of environmental stress and subtle effects of varying food availability on growth, survival and abundance of marine intertidal organisms? In particular, what are the impacts of hypoxia and ocean acidification on marine benthic populations and their larvae? These studies are aimed at understanding the molecular, biochemical and physiological mechanisms that underlie the responses of marine organisms to climate change. We collaborate with Drs. Gretchen Hofmann and Sean Place on this work.
5. Marine Conservation Ecology –What is the anthropogenic impact on coastal ecosystems? How can one manage for resilience in coupled human-natural systems? What is the role of networks of marine reserves and how should they be designed? How will coastal ecological communities respond to the loss of the keystone predator Pisaster ochraceus? Will this species be able to recover from the devastation wrought by disease? These are some of the conservation-related questions being addressed within our group. In addition to many of the above colleagues, other collaborators on these topics include Karen McLeod of OSU COMPASS. Many of these activities offer students possible ways to learn about and participate in ways of connecting scientific understanding to the larger public and policy worlds.