ECOHAB-GOM has a series of challenging and important oceanographic questions to address, but a number of factors make success likely. The program design reflects considerable PI experience with large-scale Alexandrium blooms in coastal waters. Second, unlike many other regions of the country where HABs are ephemeral, poorly studied, and exceedingly difficult to target in field programs, the study areas chosen here have had PSP outbreaks in 22 of the last 24 years (Hurst, pers. comm.). Bloom "seasons" are thus well-defined in time and space, allowing efficient vessel scheduling. It also means that those cruises will not be fruitless searches for toxic cells. The Alexandrium populations will be within our study areas, certainly in varying numbers from year to year, but they will be within the domain of our cruises. Another ECOHAB-GOM strength is that a coupled physical/biological model exists and has been used to simulate Alexandrium dynamics in the WMCC. This model will be refined to address the dynamics of the source region in Casco Bay and expanded to include the EMCC. In addition, the larger scale context of the WMCC and EMCC systems will be studied using the Dartmouth finite element model of GOM circulation.
C.7 Relationship to ECOHAB Program Objectives
One ECOHAB goal is to investigate the ecology and oceanography of HAB species which cause significant impacts in the U.S. PSP is arguably the most serious of these phenomena, and the area with the longest history of documented outbreaks and the highest cumulative economic impacts is probably the GOM. Another ECOHAB goal is to support studies that provide information to other regions. ECOHAB-GOM will obtain data on processes common to outbreaks of PSP elsewhere in the U.S., including the transport of cells in coastal currents, the accumulation of cells at fronts, and the transport and/or dispersal of cells due to upwelling or downwelling. Other ECOHAB goals addressed by this project are to: 1) develop methods to rapidly identify and enumerate HAB species and to physically separate them from mixed assemblages; 2) elucidate the factors controlling transitions between life history stages and establish the quantitative role of those stages in bloom dynamics; 3) develop methods to permit in situ measurements of species-specific growth rates... and assess the physiological condition of cells; 4) investigate the mechanisms of vertical migration; 5) characterize population dynamics, including the rate processes required in predictive models; 6) determine the extent to which bloom formation results from a breakdown of grazing; and 7) investigate food-web routing of toxins. A final ECOHAB goal is to model the dynamics of HABs in relation to their physical environment. This is particular strength of ECOHAB-GOM, as our existing and planned physical-biological models are ambitious and well-established.
The prediction or control of blooms or the management of potentially toxic shellfish resources require a thorough understanding of population dynamics and the manner in which cells are concentrated, dispersed, or transported. Equally important is an assessment of how they might respond to environmental perturbations such as nutrient inputs. ECOHAB-GOM will provide this information for the major Alexndrium habitats in the GOM. Our modeling component should provide a valuable interpretive tool for drawing together the results of many separate efforts, not just those related to PSP, leading to a better understanding of the GOM ecosystem and ultimately a predictive capability with respect to transport and ecological response. In addition to PSP in the GOM and on Georges Bank, other management issues that would benefit from this project include fish stock management (food web transfer and impacts of toxins), the new Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (a "downstream" fisheries resource and feeding ground for the endangered right whale), the Casco Bay Project (a component of the EPA's National Estuaries Program), and a multitude of issues related to aquaculture siting, effluent discharges, and other coastal zone management.
C.9 Relationship to Ongoing Projects
ECOHAB-GOM will utilize the PSP monitoring of the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR), headed by John Hurst, an Associate Investigator on this propoosal. Frequent contact with DMR have proved invaluable in the past in coordinating cruise timing and sampling strategy. (Letter of support in Section J). A similar relationship exists with the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and one of our PIs, Jennifer Martin of DFO St. Andrews. Our program will benefit greatly from DFO monitoring of PSP and Alexndrium in the southwest Bay of Fundy, and the DFO will benefit from our data as well (Section J); one EMCC transect is in Canadian waters. We will also benefit from a Sea Grant project by Anderson and Turner which will examine Alexandrium dynamics in Massachusetts Bay. Keller and Pettigrew (Sea Grant) will evaluate the role of the spring freshet of the Kennebec River in the transport of material, specifically in the riverine turbidity maxima, to coastal waters. Keller, Pettigrew and Thomas are involved in a NOAA/NESDIS project aimed at a understanding the internal workings of Penobscot Bay as it affects nearshore and littoral productivity. A hydrographic mooring within our sampling regime will reduce costs to this project considerably. Another related project is conducted by Friends of Casco Bay, a group collecting data on the biological, chemical, and physical characteristics of the Bay. This group will notify us of blooms, fronts, or other features that can augment our surveys. A letter is included in Section J.
C.10 Project Management. The ECOHAB-GOM project Steering Committee will be Anderson, Townsend, Geyer, and Signell, with Anderson assuming overall administrative responsibility. These individuals will not only coordinate WMCC, EMCC, physics, and modeling/mooring activities respectively, but will be responsible for coordination and data flow among research groups. To facilitate communication and coordination, PI workshops will be held each yearP. Agency officials will be invited as well. Workshops will also be held prior to the field surveys in Years 1, 3, and 4 to fully coordinate and synchronize project activities. An Internet mailing list has been established for this project, and a WWW homepage set up as a site where investigators can place and access figures, data, and other information. This site will function as a central node for ECOHAB-GOM communication. State-of-the-art visualization techniques have been a hallmark of several of our PIs, and these approaches will be used for all project elements. In addition to the accessible database and model outputs, a series of manuscripts and technical reports will be produced. The publication record of our PIs guarantees a high rate of dissemination of results in the peer-reviewed literature. All PIs will participate in a national ECOHAB symposium in Year 5.
C.11 Data Management. ECOHAB-GOM will adhere to the principles described in the data policy statements of the Coastal Ocean Processes (CoOP) and U.S. GLOBEC programs as specified on their web pages. These principles provide for timely dissemination of data and model-derived products while protecting the rights of investigators. Signell will maintain a web site at which all PIs will make their data available to one another (such a system was used for information exchange during the writing of this proposal). When these data and other scientific products are ready for distribution to the community at large, they will be made available on the web. At such time this same material will also be submitted to NODC and other suitable repositories for archiving.