Cooperative Agreement NA24NOSX012C0020

PURPOSE: THE SUBARCTIC GULF OF MAINE (GOM) ECOSYSTEM, THE U.S. GATEWAY TO THE WIDER NORTH ATLANTIC, IS BEING ALTERED BY CLIMATE CHANGE. OF PARTICULAR CONCERN IS DECLINING ABUNDANCE OF THE ENERGY-RICH COPEPOD CALANUS FINMARCHICUS, THE FOUNDATION OF THE GOM FORAGE BASE. C. FINMARCHICUS PREY ON PHYTOPLANKTON, AND IN TURN ARE PREY FOR FORAGE FISH, NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALES (NARW), AND OTHER HIGHER LEVEL PREDATORS. HOWEVER, PATTERNS AND LINKAGES IN THESE TROPHIC LAYERS AND ACROSS THEM ARE NOT SUFFICIENTLY UNDERSTOOD, COMPROMISING OUR ABILITY TO MONITOR CHANGES AND EFFECTIVELY MANAGE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES. TO ADDRESS THIS NEED, WE WILL CONTINUE AND EXPAND THE GOM MBON. THE CORE OBSERVATIONS ARE BIODIVERSITY AND OCEANOGRAPHIC SAMPLING AT TIME SERIES STATIONS ALONG THE MAINE COASTAL CURRENT AND IN THE DEEP WILKINSON BASIN, WHERE MOST C. FINMARCHICUS OVERWINTER. THIS PROGRAM PROVIDES UNIQUE INFORMATION ON ECOSYSTEM CHANGE NEEDED TO IDENTIFY PHENOLOGICAL AND BIODIVERSITY SHIFTS AND ALLOWS TIMELY ASSESSMENT, COMPLEMENTING EFFORTS OF NOAA AND NASA. IN THE EXPANSION OF THIS PROGRAM, WE WILL OBSERVE AND DESCRIBE LOWER TROPHIC LEVELS INCLUDING BACTERIA AND PRIMARY PRODUCERS USING BOTH TRADITIONAL AND NOVEL SAMPLING TECHNIQUES SUCH AS EDNA METABARCODING AND HIGH-THROUGHPUT IMAGING WITH AUTOMATED IDENTIFICATION. WE WILL FURTHER DEVELOP DETAILED MBON SEASCAPES FOR THE GOM TO DESCRIBE CHANGE IN OCEANOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS AND PHYTOPLANKTON DIVERSITY. THE VARIOUS DATASETS WILL BE ANALYZED TO COMPARE METHODOLOGIES, GROUND TRUTH REMOTE SENSING DATA WITH INSITU OBSERVATIONS, INCREASE EXPLANATORY AND PREDICTIVE POWER OF OBSERVATIONS, AND TO QUANTIFY LINKAGES AMONG TROPHIC LAYERS. TOGETHER, THESE DATA WILL EXPAND OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE FORAGE BASE IS STRUCTURED, HOW IT IS CHANGING, AND WHAT THE IMPLICATIONS OF THOSE CHANGES ARE TO THE BROADER ECOSYSTEM. THESE TROPHIC LAYER COMPONENTS WILL COME TOGETHER IN NEW BIODIVERSITY PRODUCTS, PURPOSEBUILT TO INTEGRATE AND SYNTHESIZE DIFFERENT DATA TYPES AND DELIVER INFORMATION NEEDED FOR MANAGEMENT DECISIONS. SPECIFICALLY, THESE DATA WILL BE USED TO TRACK AND MAP THE REGIONAL LIPIDSCAPE AS A BASIS FOR ESTIMATING AVAILABLE ENERGY IN THE GOM AND PREDICTING DISTRIBUTIONS AND CONDITION OF FORAGE FISH AND NARW. TO ENSURE THAT WE DELIVER THE RIGHT INFORMATION EFFECTIVELY, WE WILL EXECUTE A USER OUTREACH STRATEGY TO INFORM OUR AUDIENCES ON PROGRESS AND SOLICIT FEEDBACK. THIS MULTI-TROPHIC LEVEL EXPANSION OF GOM MBON WILL ACCELERATE UNDERSTANDING OF MARINE BIODIVERSITY AT A TIME OF RAPID CHANGE AND URGENT NEED. PARTNERS: NOAA FISHERIES, STELLWAGEN BANK NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY (SBNMS), BUREAU OF OCEAN AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT (BOEM)