Value Propositions for 2009-10 Projects
| Advanced Underwater Technology Development | |
|---|---|
| 3.3.2.1 | New Technology Development to Measure In Situ Metabolism and Bioenergetics in Corals - Baden, UNCW |
| 3.3.2.2 | Mobile Distributed In Situ Sensing Networks - Frey, HBOI/FAU |
| Exploring Shelf Frontiers | |
| 4.2.1 | Benthic-pelagic Coupling in Deep Coral Ecosystems - Frank, HBOI/FAU |
| 4.2.5 | Connectivity between Deep and Shallow Ecosystems - Eggleston, NCSU |
| 4.3.1 | New Biomedical Resources - Wright, HBOI/FAU |
| 4.5.1 | Submerged Cultural Resources (SCR) in NOAA’s Sanctuaries - Shepard, UNCW |
| Vulnerable Coral Systems | |
| 5.2.4 | New Technology Development in Support of Ocean Acidification Research - Szmant, UNCW |
| 5.3.1 | Mesophotic Reefs Ecosystems - Reed, HBOI/FAU |
| 5.5.1 | Continuity and Diversity of Deep-Sea Reef and Sponge Communities along the Slopes off the Southeastern U.S., Gulf of Mexico, and North Atlantic - Ross, UNCW |
| Education | |
| 6.3.1 | New At-Sea Opportunities for the Next Generation of Scientists: The CI Transect Program - Hanisak, HBOI/FAU |
3.3.2.1 -- New Technology from Biomedical Community Applied to Measure In Situ Metabolism and Bioenergetics in Coral Species
Need: Better tools and new parameters are needed to promote rapid assessment and monitoring of metabolic health of corals and other key coral reef species. This project will innovate a non-destructive sampling approach, especially required in reef ecosystems where cover of live coral is greatly reduced.
Approach: Collaborator Seahorse Bioscience Inc. holds the patents for: 1) XF24 extracellular flux assays that can measure metabolic changes and health of living cells; and 2) plastics-embedded sensor technologies for multiple platform types. We propose to apply this technology to develop an in situ platform for measuring extracellular flux in marine organisms, for example, corals and other encrusting reef-builders.
Benefits: The resulting technology will change how we assess coral reef ecosystem health, increase the accuracy and reliability of assessments, and greatly reduce costs over traditional visual surveys, field samples, and lab work.
Competition: Currently, the approach to assessing coral physiology is lab based. These approaches are time-consuming and require destructive sampling. The new approach will provide rapid, non-destructive assessments.
3.3.2.2 -- Mobile Distributed In Situ Sensing Networks
Need: Coastal oceans are experiencing increasing incidents of water quality degradation, for example, due to harmful algal blooms (HABs) and contaminant spills. These dynamic events must be accurately mapped, characterized and monitored in order to determine cause and effect.
Approach: This project proposes a transformational step to bridge the gap between expeditionary and observatory ocean science using a less expensive and more mobile sensor and sampling network. The “unmanned, intelligent, mobile observatory” includes: a multi-agent system of sensor platforms (AUVs, gliders, mobile landers, etc.) that carry out their individual tasks (distribution) cooperatively, using a framework called Physicomimetics or Artificial Physics (AP). Multi-agent distribution and cooperation (i.e., “swarming”) will enables: self-organization and self-repair, synoptic and adaptive sampling, active plume tracing and source localization, synthetic-aperture sensing, coordinated deployment, scalability, flexibility, and robustness. The project builds on previous ONR-sponsored work of CIOERT partners who have developed a simulation engine for evaluating swarm-based task scenarios with both simulated and real-world datasets.
Benefits: Results of this project will include a greatly enhanced simulation engine, offering a robust tool for testing and evaluating various sensors, platforms and algorithms in multi-agent sensing scenarios. This simulation engine will be free and open to the public via internet-based open-source software communities, in order to offer such a tool to other investigators and developers in the scientific community.
Competition: Currently, in-situ ocean observation and monitoring are accomplished using fixed platforms (e.g., observatories, Eulerian stations) and mobile platforms (e.g., ships, AUVs, Lagrangian drifters). Ship-based expeditions need high-endurance sensor networks in order to continue to investigate a phenomenon of interest that is beyond the time-scope of the expedition.
4.2.1 -- Benthic-pelagic Coupling in Deep Coral Ecosystems
Need: Ecosystem-based approaches to management are required for assessment and management of marine resources. Marine protected areas, for example, are an example of this approach. Hundreds of thousands of square miles of new MPAs are now being considered off the US east coast to protect shelf edge and slope reef communities. Baseline studies are needed to characterize the benthic and pelagic communities in these habitats.
Approach: This project will utilize a combination of new and traditional technologies to provide a rapid assessment of plankton biodiversity, and the chemical/physical parameters affecting their abundance and distribution. The SIPPER is a plankton imaging system easily deployed from a variety of undersea platforms with potential to significantly increase the speed and scale at which fine-scale spatial patterns of different species of zooplankton can be determined. Currently the instrument can sort images into rough generic groups, such as “shrimp” or “fish.” Concurrent net samples will enable training the SIPPER’s pattern recognition software to sort images to achieve high taxonomic resolution down to species.
Benefits: Project data will be used to identify the linkages between pelagic and benthic ecosystems in areas where mesophotic and deep reef communities exist both in and outside proposed MPAs, and develop a comprehensive database of baseline information that can be used to assess the consequences of anthropogenic pressures and gauge the success of management efforts.
Competition: The traditional approaches to collecting plankton include traps and nets, both very expensive and intensive sampling operations. The calibrated SIPPER data offers an efficient and rapid assessment alternative that can be easily transitioned to NOAA labs.
4.2.5 -- Connectivity between Deep and Shallow Ecosystems: Ecosystem-based Management of New Shelf Edge MPAs
Need: Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) approaches include developing and applying conceptual and mathematical models to be able to predict impacts of management efforts and natural phenomena on seafloor communities. Deep continental shelf ecosystems are hypothesized to serve as refugia for high numbers of endemic fishes and invertebrates, however, there is relatively little understanding of the ecological role these deeper populations play in replenishing shallower ecosystems. We hypothesize that certain areas or habitats will serve as population sources and others as sinks, which is a critical distinction for managers employing EBM approaches like offshore marine protected areas (MPA).
Approach: ROMS-based coupled physical-biological simulations, spatially-explicit metapopulation simulation model for generic reef fish, and NEMURO coupled-biological model for ecosystem fluxes will guide hypothesis testing related to the impacts and success of new shelf edge MPAs. Sampling will use current and emerging undersea survey technologies that are integrated with habitat-mapping, both seafloor and pelagic sampling, and bio-physical modeling efforts that rely on data collected by the CIOERT mesophotic coral team, collected by our team as necessary, and collected by other NOAA field programs (e.g., NMFS/Beaufort, spawning aggregation cruises).
Benefits: The modeling framework approach has broader application to a number of EBM issues, for example, invasive species, climate change assessment, and fishing pressure. Model inputs will include innovations in sampling technologies, for example, development of the SIPPER optical plankton sampler deployed close to a reef by AUVs, and split-beam acoustic sampler for fish census.
Competition: The S. Atlantic Fishery Management Council is investigating use of ecological models, Ecopath, Ecosim and Ecospace, to describe offshore food webs and predict impacts of MPA management efforts. The proposed project complements these broad-scale models with more targeted components (physics, reef fish distribution, biomass flux of plankton and nutrients).
4.3.1 -- Discovery of Novel Therapeutic Agents from Marine Frontier Habitats
Need: The NOAA Research Five Year Plan priorities include “advancing biomedical and commercial applications of marine natural products,” also one of the twelve priority research goals set at the national level in the “The Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy.” Ocean frontier habitats represent a rich repository of unstudied biodiversity and potential bioactive compounds in marine actinomycetes, fungi, microalgae, sponges, ascidians and cnidarians.
Approach: This project will collaborate and add socioeconomic value to CI expeditions through the discovery of new therapeutic agents from pelagic, midwater and benthic habitats explored by the CI. A special emphasis will be placed on missions to lesser studied mesophotic and deep-water reefs and shelf frontiers. The project will also provide training opportunities for students in the fields of cell biology, molecular biology, microbiology and natural products chemistry.
Benefits: New bio-products are untapped wealth of the seas. One new drug discovery may be worth the combined value of all the US fisheries in a year. The results of CI studies on the bioactivity and chemistry of novel compounds isolated from these organisms apply to the development of compounds used to study, diagnose or treat human heritable diseases, cancer, infectious diseases, diseases of the immune system, cardiovascular disease, and central nervous system disorders.
Competition: Natural products have been an important source of new medicines-- an estimated 78% of 90 anti-bacterial agents and 62% of 79 anticancer agents approved for use in the US over the past two decades have their origins in natural products, most from terrestrial microorganisms. According to a 1999 National Research Council Report, the chemical diversity of land-based species had been largely exploited. Whereas, most of the Earth’s microbial diversity is in the sea—the frontier for new discoveries and cures.
4.5.1 -- Submerged Cultural Resources (SCR) in NOAA’s Sanctuaries
Need: OER is the only NOAA program with the specific mission of exploring and documenting SCR and collaborates with the National Marine Sanctuaries in this endeavor through the NOAA Maritime Heritage Program. The Sanctuaries are mandated to manage SCR and require CIOERT assistance in accessing deep (>40 m) resources.
Approach: Year 1 activities will target areas for high resolution mapping and ground-truthing newly discovered SCR within the Graveyard of the Atlantic off Cape Hatteras in partnership with Monitor NMS, and in Thunder Bay NMS. We will partner with SRI International to deploy an ROV or AUV with high resolution mapping sonar to map new deep wrecks located during previous shipboard multibeam surveys. Technical divers will further assess and characterize sites.
Benefits: Both the Monitor NMS and Thunder Bay NMS are now considering expansion to include new SCR sites. Project results will help the Sanctuaries refine their boundaries. Surveys and outreach products will educate managers and the public on the condition and ecologic function of these artificial reefs.
Competition: Surface ship-based acoustic mapping does not have sufficient resolution needed to accurately identify wrecks, assess their condition and role as habitat.
5.2.4 -- New Technology Development in Support of Ocean Acidification Research
Need: Ocean acidification from anthropogenic CO2 absorbed into the oceans is predicted to have dire consequences for calcifying organisms including corals. However, coral reef organisms modify seawater chemistry through their metabolic processes (i.e. photosynthesis, respiration and calcification) on faster time scales and greater magnitude than the anthropogenic global changes, and growth data from coral cores has yet to provide evidence for decreased coral calcification due to changes in ocean pH.
Approach: The magnitude and consequences of localized chemical changes is little understood, partly due to a lack of detailed measurements in the benthic boundary layer. The primary objective for Year 1 will be development of a diver-operated instrument to measure pH, CO2 and O2 at close proximity to benthic calcifiers and plants. An existing Seahorse Technology bench top system will be used as the initial platform for modification and testing. Also, a workshop for researchers engaged in the development of instrumentation and methods to study the effects of ocean acidification will be held to plan for Year 2-5 activities.
Benefits: Successful development of a new tool to make possible in situ measurements of chemical variables important to understanding the natural variability of the TCO2 characteristics of reef waters at the level where the organisms live will provide the analytical tools needed to gain a better understanding of how OA will exhibit itself to and affect benthic calcifying organisms. This is not presently possible.
Competition: Instruments currently used to measure pH, PCO2 and O2 are designed for use on stationary observatories. The proposed package, based on an innovation from the medical community, will be small, mobile and complement the observatory approach.
5.3.1 -- Mesophotic Reef Ecosystems
Need: Coral cover on shallow reefs (‹20 m) of the Caribbean Region have declined 80% over the last 30 years. Mesophotic reefs deeper than 30 m are a largely unknown frontier and appear to be healthier than shallow water reefs. They are habitats of commercially important fish species and source of coral larvae for recruitment and potential recovery of the shallower reef areas.
Approach: Year 1 activities will focus on mapping and habitat characterizations of mesophotic reefs and shelf-edge MPA sites in the Gulf of Mexico, the southeastern U.S. region, and Caribbean. UPRM and UNCW technical divers, ROVs, and AUVs will ground-truth priority areas using available multibeam sonar maps with photographic/video surveys for detailed habitat characterizations. We will also conduct molecular-based comparisons of corals from various regions and depths to investigate connectivity, relative levels of coral stress, and bacterial symbionts associated with coral mucus.
Benefits: Mesophotic coral reefs may act as refugia for threatened shallow water species and thus should warrant special resource management attention and protection to help maintain local and/or regional biodiversity and connectivity.
Competition: Mesophotic reefs cannot be sufficiently mapped using ship-based or airborne optical or acoustic systems. More important, diving is required to understand species-habitat associations and ecological functions. Divers or vehicles are required for the desired observation and sampling program—we don’t drag gear over coral reefs.
5.5.1 -- Continuity and Diversity of Deep-Sea Reef and Sponge Communities along the Slopes off the Southeastern U.S., Gulf of Mexico, and North Atlantic
Need: NOAA is now mandated by law (Magnuson Stevens Reauthorization) to map and characterize deep sea coral ecosystems in partnership with the regional fishery management councils. DSCE are slow-growing critical habitat areas facing stresses from resource exploitation activities and climate change.
Approach: Multiple agencies joined forces with CIOERT in 2009 to carry out the NOAA DSC Science Program for FY2009. A research submersible, ROV, multibeam mapping and deep sea lander/observatory were deployed on formerly unexplored deep coral mounds on the upper slope. Objectives included mapping and characterization of DSC areas that may soon be MPAs in close proximity to existing benthic fishing activities.
Benefits: The SAFMC is proposing to designate the southeast Lophelia coral mounds as Habitat Areas of Particular Concern, closed to potentially destructive human activities. Science information will help set boundaries and conserve these fragile ocean “rainforests.”
Competition: CIOERT deep diving technologies and related sampling and observing tools are the only way to study deep coral habitats, as well as describe associated communities.
6.3.1 -- At-Sea Research Opportunities for the Next Generation of Scientists: The CIOERT Transect Program
Need: A mandated NOAA CI goal is development of the next generation of ocean scientists and technologists. The Transect Program, developed at the College of Charleston largely with NSF support, provides hands-on research experience as an approach for training and recruiting undergraduate students into ocean sciences.
Approach: The CI Transect Program features active student participation and immersion in a multi-disciplinary ocean sciences research and monitoring cruise, followed by a rigorous laboratory-based oceanographic research course, and will expand these opportunities for undergraduate students along the eastern seaboard and Great Lakes. Student presentations at Annual Student Researcher Days will impact their peers; and their experiences and knowledge will be transferred to pre-college teachers and their students via web-based resources, and through the COSEE SouthEast pre-college network.
Benefits: Development of a collaborative regional continental shelf monitoring program that coordinates and integrates with regional ocean observatory assets will serve to educate and train a new generation of ocean science researchers and technicians while establishing a baseline of information pertinent to a broad array of future ecosystem-relevant studies.
Competition: The National Research Council’s National Science Education Standards call on professional mentors to work with science teachers to implement the standards, including a call for innovative experiential learning—this also applies too often to undergraduate curricula. A mix of classroom and fieldwork sustains energy and interest, and teaches skills for the real world.