RAPID: Linking Upper Thermal Limits to Fitness Proxies in Arctic Zooplankton

Copepods, tiny zooplankton, are the most abundant animals living in ocean waters. They play fundamental roles in Arctic food webs by consuming phytoplankton and protozoa and serving as food for fish, marine mammals, and birds. The Arctic is warming four times faster than the global rate, potentially putting many species at risk. The ability to predict the response of copepods to warming depends on robust knowledge of their upper thermal limits. This project will provide novel information on the critical thermal limit of key Arctic copepod species and whether or not this limit reflects their ability to succeed in their environment. The work will also provide insights into the success of a copepod species that is dramatically increasing its abundance in the southern Arctic, which may alter the transfer of energy in the ecosystem. The project’s findings, highlighting Arctic research, will reach broad audiences via social media and activities with K-12 students. The project will also train one Ph.D. student.

Arctic species, which typically are cold temperature specialists, may be at risk of extinction because of the fast change the Arctic is experiencing. Thus, there is an urgent need to understand the physiological limits to survival in these species and whether or not these limits are a good measure of fitness. The project’s goals are: 1) Quantify critical thermal limits in three key copepod species of Disko Bay, Greenland, a widely studied Arctic ecosystem. 2) Evaluate the linkage between critical thermal limits and fitness proxies. The project will test the hypothesis that: a) Critical thermal limit is higher for the southernmost of the three species studied, which has dramatically increased its abundance in Disko Bay in the last 30 years. b) There is a positive correlation of the critical thermal limit, measured at an ecologically relevant temperature, and fitness proxies such as the balance of ingestion and respiration rate, egg production rate, egg hatching success, body size, and oil sac size. The educational and outreach activities of the project are proportional to the modest funding request and aimed at enhancing the public understanding of how marine species respond to change. A second objective is to communicate research in Arctic regions. The PI’s group will translate and disseminate results from the project via social media posts and in-person or hybrid presentations for K-12 audiences. The project will train one Ph.D. student and provide opportunities to network with other scientists working in the Arctic.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Award Number: 2529004
Principal Investigator: Hans Dam
Funds Obligated: $28,286
State: CT