Experimental Ecosystems and Scale: Tools for Understanding and Managing Coastal Ecosystems Experimental Ecosystems and Scale: Tools for Understanding and Managing Coastal Ecosystems

Publishing details:

Experimental Ecosystems and Scale: Tools for Understanding and Managing Coastal Ecosystems

Edited by J.E. Petersen, V.S. Kennedy, W.C. Dennison, and W.M. Kemp,

Authors:G.M. BergM. BrooksC.-C. ChenJ.C. CornwellW.C. DennisonR.H. Gardner P.M. GlibertT. GoertemillerD.C. HinkleE.D. HoudeP. Kangas

W.M. Kemp V.S. KennedyR.P. MasonL. Murray J.E. PetersenE.T. PorterL.P. SanfordJ.C. StevensonK.L. SundbergS.E. Suttles

Science Communication by T.A. Saxby and J.L. Woerner

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The wide range of trends and environmental challenges now facing human society, from population growth, to urbanization, to industrialization and modern agriculture, to species invasions and losses, to global climate change, are nowhere more evident than in the shallow waters that form the interface between land and sea. The development of sound environmental policy that effectively preserves and restores critical coastal resources is predicated on the acquisition of new scientifi c knowledge that elucidates the numerous interacting factors that control these complex systems. Research in the coastal zone is complicated by interactions that occur over broad scales of time, space, and ecological complexity, and by unique conditions that render controlled fi eld research especially challenging in these environments. Enclosed experimental ecosystems (mesocosms and microcosms) have gained in popularity as research tools in coastal aquatic ecosystems in part because they provide scientists with a degree of experimental control that is not achievable through fi eld experiments. Yet to date, techniques for systematically extrapolating results from small-scale experimental ecosystems to larger, deeper, more open, more biodiverse, and more heterogeneous ecosystems in nature have not been well developed. Likewise, researchers have lacked methods for comparing and extrapolating information among natural ecosystems that differ in scale. Experimental ecosystems represent a potentially powerful tool for testing and expanding our understanding of the mechanisms that drive ecological dynamics in the coastal zone. The information contained within the pages of this book is intended to help practitioners make the most of this promising approach to ecological research.

The lessons described in this book are drawn largely from a series of investigations conducted under the auspices of the Multiscale Experimental Ecosystem Research Center (MEERC). For a decade, the Environmental Protection Agency supported this comprehensive research effort within the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. MEERC researchers have intentionally manipulated and observed the effects of time, space, and ecological complexity on the dynamics of the range of aquatic habitats that dominate in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The mesocosms have been constructed to simulate benthic-pelagic, submerged aquatic vegetation, and marsh habitats. This book draws on the entire body of research that has been conducted in enclosed experimental ecosystems and distills the essence of what has been learned about experimental design and scale. Diagrams, conceptual models, and straight-forward language are emphasized so as to present information in a form can be easily applied by scientists, students, managers, and policy makers.

This book has a range of intended audiences. Scientists who produce or interpret experimental ecosystem research results will fi nd it useful. The book provides principles for design and protocols for performing experimental ecosystem experiments. Resource managers and policy makers can also use this book to aid in their understanding of how to extrapolate from research done in laboratories or mesocosms to intact ecosystems. This book can serve as a handbook for students studying coastal ecosystem processes, particularly with regard to improving their ability to design and interpret experiments.

Preface

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This book has two main objectives. The fi rst objective is to provide scientists, managers, and policy makers with an introduction to what has been termed the “problem of scale”1 as it relates to research in the coastal zone.2-5 What do we know about the effects of time, space, and ecological complexity in coastal ecosystems and what do we need to know in order to better understand and manage these systems? The second objective is to present information that will allow for improved design and interpretation of enclosed experimental aquatic ecosystems. How can researchers design enclosed experimental ecosystems that more accurately model natural ecosystems? What do scientists, managers, and policy makers need to know in order to interpret, extrapolate, and apply fi ndings from these experiments to nature?

This book is designed to be used in two distinct ways. First, the chapters are organized and sequenced so as to provide a comprehensive introduction to issues of scale and experimental design in the construction, execution, and interpretation of aquatic mesocosm experiments. Second, each section, each sub-section, and, indeed, each page of the book is designed to serve as a stand-alone reference that can be used as a quick introduction to a particular topic. The table of contents and a comprehensive index have been carefully constructed to guide the reader to desired content.

This book begins with a general introduction to the problem of scale and the role of experimentation and enclosed experimental ecosystems in coastal research. The next section outlines key design decisions that mesocosm researchers face and reviews lessons from multiscale experiments that should inform these decisions. Design decisions include such basic choices as container size, experimental duration, habitat type, and degree of biological, material, and energetic exchange. A third section explores tools available for designing and interpreting experimental ecosystems so as to obtain a desired balance between control and realism while maintaining statistical rigor. The book concludes with examples of management applications from a variety of experiments conducted in experimental aquatic ecosystems at the MEERC facility.

1. Levin 1992, 2. Gardner et al. 2001, 3. Grice and Reeve 1982, 4. Newell 1988, 5. Seuront and Strutton 2004

ReferencesGardner, R.H., W.M. Kemp, V.S. Kennedy, and J.E. Petersen. 2001. Scaling Relations in Experimental Ecology. Columbia University Press: New York.Grice, G.D. and M.R. Reeve (eds). 1982. Marine mesocosms: Biological and chemical research in experimental ecosystems.Springer-Verlag: New York.Levin, S.A. 1992. The problem of pattern and scale in ecology. Ecology 73: 1943-1967.Newell R.I.E. 1988. Ecological changes in Chesapeake Bay: Are they the result of overharvesting the American oyster, Crassostrea virginica? Pages 536-546 in M.P.

Lynch and E.C. Krome (eds.). Understanding the estuary: Advances in Chesapeake Bay research. Chesapeake Research Consortium Publication 129 (CBP/TRS 24/88), Gloucester Point, VA.

Seuront C. and P.G. Strutton. 2004. Handbook of scaling methods in aquatic ecology: Measurement, analysis, simulation. CRC Press, Boca Raton.

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Multiscale Experimental Ecosystem Research Center Science Advisory Committee Member Affi liationDr. Walter Adey Smithsonian Institution Marine System LaboratoryDr. Steve Bartell Specialists in Energy, Nuclear, and Environmental Sciences Oak Ridge,

Inc., Center for Risk AnalysisMr. Richard Batiuk Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, Annapolis MDDr. James Clark Exxon Biomedical Sciences, Inc.Dr. Kenneth Dickson Institute of Applied Sciences, University of North TexasDr. James Kitchell Laboratory of Limnology, University of WisconsinDr. Wayne Landis Huxley College of Environmental Studies, WADr. Raymond Lassiter National Exposure Research Laboratory, EPA, Athens, GADr. Simon Levin Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton UniversityDr. Marlon Lewis Oceanography, Dalhousie UniversityDr. Richard Lowrance U.S.D.A., Agriculture Research Service, Tifton, GADr. Irving Mendelssohn Wetland Biogeochemistry Institute, Louisiana State UniversityDr. Robert Menzer Gulf Breeze Environmental Research Laboratory, ORD, EPADr. William Mitsch School of Natural Resources, The Ohio State UniversityDr. Hilary Neckles U.S.G.S. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Augusta, MEDr. Scott Nixon Graduate School of Oceanography, The University of Rhode IslandDr. Candace Oviatt Graduate School of Oceanography, The University of Rhode IslandDr. Michael Pace Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NYDr. Harry Pionke U.S.D.A., Agriculture Research Service Northeast Watershed

Research CenterDr. Tom Powell Division of Environmental Studies, University of CaliforniaDr. Don Scavia National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Coastal Ocean

Offi ceDr. David Schneider Ocean Science Center, Memorial University of NewfoundlandDr. John Steele Woods Hole Oceanographic InstitutionDr. Frieda Taub University of Washington, School of Fisheries

Acknowledgements

The research described in this book was supported by the Environmental Protection Agency’s STAR (Science to Achieve Results) program as part of the Multiscale Experimental Ecosystem Research Center (MEERC) at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. The MEERC program built on lessons learned in other mesocosm facilities and benefi ted from the stimulation provided by a Science Advisory Committee (see Table) composed of many of the leading thinkers on issues of scale and experimentation in coastal ecology.

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Numerous colleagues, students, and technicians contributed to this large research effort and to this book. A list of the principal investigators, technical staff, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and visiting scholars that assisted in MEERC research:

Multiscale Experimental Ecosystem Research Center Principal InvestigatorsJoel Baker Brad BeboutWayne BellWalter Boynton Russell Brinsfi eldRichard Calabrese Daniel ConleyJeffrey CornwellRobert CostanzaHugh DucklowThomas Fisher Robert Gardner

Patricia Glibert Jay GoochRodger Harvey Edward HoudeTodd Kana Michael KempChristopher MaddenSharook MadonThomas MaloneRobert Mason Thomas MillerRaymond Morgan

Laura Murray Roger Newell Jennifer PurcellMichael Roman Peter SampouLawrence Sanford Kenneth Staver Court StevensonDiane Stoecker Robert Ulanowicz

Technical StaffDan FiscusTim GoertemillerDeborah HinkleBryan PearsonElgin Perry

Sherry PikeJohn Posey Alison SanfordHeather SoulenKaren Sundberg

Brian SturgisSteve SuttlesTom WazniakJason WydaCarmen Zarate

Graduate StudentsLuis Abarca-ArenasJeffrey AshleyRick BartlesonMiné BergJohn BrawleyMaureen BrooksAmy ChenChung-Chi ChenTeresa ColeySean CrawfordJoyce DewarChun-Lei FanPeter HentschkeEun Hee Kim

Angie Lawrence Joy LeanerAmy LiebertXiping MaMike MageauAntonio ManninoKelly McAloonJohn MeltonJeff Merrell Amy Merten William MowittBrandon Muffl eyJohn PetersenElka Porter

Alison SanfordDavid ScheurerJosh SchmitzKristin SchulteWilliam SevernFuh Kwo ShiahKellie SplainBrian SturgisAuja SveinsdottirStacey SwartwoodArnold TurnerLisa WaingerJennifer Zelenke

John Petersen

Michael Heath, Marine Laboratory, AberdeenPatrick Kangas, University of Maryland

Post-Doctoral Fellows

Visiting ScholarsJohn Petersen, Oberlin CollegeJudith Stribling, Salisbury University

Steve BlumenshineElka Porter Enrique Reyes