Krill offer clues on how marine ecosystem works

DOWN SOUTH: A URI team worked in collaboration with six scientists from the University of Massachusetts Boston on a cruise of Antarctica to study krill. Pictured above are Jeremy Lucke and Jullie Jackson. / COURTESY CHRISTOPHER ROMAN
DOWN SOUTH: A URI team worked in collaboration with six scientists from the University of Massachusetts Boston on a cruise of Antarctica to study krill. Pictured above are Jeremy Lucke and Jullie Jackson. / COURTESY CHRISTOPHER ROMAN

(Corrected, June 27)
Just back from a monthlong expedition in the waters off Antarctica, the research is far from over for a team from the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography studying the tiny, shrimp-like sea animal called krill, the focus of the expedition.
The URI graduate school still has two years left on $1.1 million in research funding from the National Science Foundation’s Division of Polar Programs. That three-year grant helped cover some of the costs for the URI team of six faculty and 11 graduate and undergraduate students who worked in collaboration with six scientists from the University of Massachusetts Boston on the Antarctica cruise aboard the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer, a 308-foot research ship with ice-breaking capabilities. The ship costs were covered separately by the NSF.
The New England scientists are examining krill preferences and behaviors as part of a web of scientific issues much larger than the plentiful little crustacean.
“The lowly krill averages only about two inches in length, but it represents a giant-sized link in the global food chain,” according to the National Geographic website on invertebrates. “These small, shrimp-like crustaceans are essentially the fuel that runs the engine of the Earth’s marine ecosystems.”
The expedition braved winter in Antarctica, where the coldest temperature the scientists faced was minus-10 degrees Celsius, which is 14 degrees Fahrenheit, no different than many winter days in New England.
“The bigger problem was that it was very dark. We had about four hours of daylight,” said Susanne Menden-Deuer, associate professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. “We want to know where the krill may be finding food and how they survive the long winter.
“We will go back in spring or summer and compare how the ecosystem functions in the different seasons,” she said. “That will tell us some fundamentals about how the ocean works in this very important region.
“We have a lot of samples and there are some things you can’t do on a ship, like operate a centrifuge,” said Menden-Deuer. Those samples will be used in extensive follow-up research. “But there are some things we’ve already learned,” she said. “We looked at what excites the krill and we found they were less excited by plant food and more excited by sediment.” said Menden-Deuer.
“We sent instruments down to the sea floor and grabbed sediment,” she said. The sand and organic matter came from depths ranging from 600-4,000 feet. The scientists examined the stomachs of the krill to see what and how much they eat.
“By looking at what krill do, we can learn about the whole system,” she said.
In the long run, the research is a small piece of the international effort to shed light on pressing environmental issues.
“It’s very important that we understand how the planet works in these times of rapid environmental change,” said Menden-Deuer.
Scientific research might be compared to a banker studying before investing in a company, she said.
“You look at the type of production, the income stream, expenditures, weaknesses, risks and opportunities,” said Menden-Deuer.
“We have to make an assessment of the status quo and anticipate how the system might respond to changes in the environment,” she said. “If you don’t study it, then you have no information to develop management strategies.”
Lead scientist on the expedition was URI professor of oceanography Edward Durbin, who is the principal investigator on the $1.1 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Division of Polar Programs, which was approved Aug. 7, 2012, and runs through July 31, 2015, according to the National Science Foundation website. Co-principal investigators for the NSF grant project are Menden-Deuer, Tatiana Rynearson and Christopher Roman.
According to the NSF abstract for the project titled “Collaborative Research: Seasonal Trophic Roles of Euphausia superba,” or krill, “an overall goal is to investigate seasonal changes in Euphausia superba in-situ feeding and swimming behavior in the Wilhelmina Bay region of the Western Antarctic Peninsula area, known to be a region of changing climate. Understanding the biological impacts of climate change is important to societal and economic goals.” The Antarctica expedition and the NSF grant to URI highlight the growing importance of Rhode Island in maritime research, said Christine Smith, executive director of Rhode Island’s Science and Technology Advisory Council.
“Rhode Island is the Ocean State and this is part of making the state a world-class leader in oceanography and understanding how marine systems are adapting to climate change,” said Smith.
The advisory council, or STAC, collaborated with state and university leaders to develop the Rhode Island Research Alliance Collaborative Research Grants initiative in 2007. That initiative was required to demonstrate state support for science and technology that led to the current $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation, said Smith. The $20 million from NSF was awarded in 2010 to the state of Rhode Island and is administered by the University of Rhode Island.
It’s all part of building the state’s collaborative efforts in marine research, said Smith.
“We give small seed grants from STAC and overall, we’re building capacity to help our scientists become more competitive for follow-up funding,” said Smith.
“The value of these projects adds up to more than just the grant money,” said Smith. “Money is coming in and that definitely has a positive impact. We’re also training the next generation of scientists. It’s education and workforce training and it’s enhancing the reputation of Rhode Island.”
So far, STAC has invested $8.5 million in collaborative research projects, according to a June 13 press release from the R.I. Economic Development Corporation.
The collaboration on marine research includes the University of Rhode Island, Brown University, Bryant University, Community College of Rhode Island, Providence College, Rhode Island College, Rhode Island School of Design, Roger Williams University and Salve Regina University.
“Obviously the health of our waters is absolutely critical to the general and economic well-being of all of us who reside in or near the Ocean State,” URI
Vice President for Research and Economic Development Peter Alfonso said. Alfonso is co-chair of STAC.
(Correction: Peter Alfonso was originally listed as working for Brown University instead of the University of Rhode Island.)

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