2009 LTER All Scientists Meeting - PAL

MIRADA-LTERS

Linda Amaral-Zettler — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:45:14 +0000

Poster Number:

323

Presenter/Primary Author:

Linda Amaral-Zettler

Co-Authors:

McCliment, Elizabeth

Co-Authors:

Huse, Susan

The MIRADA project was launched in the fall of 2007 to establish a Microbial Biodiversity Survey and Inventory across all 13 of the major aquatic (marine and freshwater) Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites in the NSF US LTER Program. The long-term objective of our study is to document and describe baseline diversity and relative abundance data for both common and rare members of microbial communities and to relate this diversity to the underlying physical and chemical environment.

Growing Information Infrastructure: Data Lifecycles and Subcycles

Karen Baker — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 21:42:51 +0000

Poster Number:

310

Presenter/Primary Author:

Karen Baker

Co-Authors:

Florence Millerand

Co-Authors:

Lynn Yarmey

Autonomous robotic surveys of Adélie penguin foraging “hot spots” offshore of Palmer Station, Antarctica

Alex Kahl — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:14:49 +0000

Poster Number:

286

Presenter/Primary Author:

Alex Kahl

Co-Authors:

Ducklow, Hugh

Co-Authors:

Fraser, WIliam

Co-Authors:

Martinson, Doug

Co-Authors:

Schofield, Oscar

The distribution of Adélie penguins along the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is spatially heterogeneous. Large Adélie colonies occur spatially in regions characterized by deep seafloor canyons. Often associated with these regions is persistent upwelling of warm, nutrient-rich UCDW, which is hypothesized to provide a predictable food resource close to the colonies such that they can be accessed by the penguins given their limited foraging range.

Factors Affecting Adelie Penguin Foraging and Chick Growth off the Western Antarctic Peninsula: A Modeling Study

Erik Chapman — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:09:51 +0000

Poster Number:

284

Presenter/Primary Author:

Erik Chapman

Co-Authors:

Eileen E Hofmann

Co-Authors:

Christine A Ribic

Co-Authors:

William R Fraser

Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colonies in off the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) are undergoing changes in population size that have been correlated with climate-driven alteration of the marine and terrestrial environment. Climate-associated changes in the environment may affect chick growth processes which are important because large chicks are more likely to recruit to the breeding population and Adelie penguin population dynamics can correlate with fledging mass.

Inter-annual variability in chlorophyll at Palmer Station, West Antarctic Peninsula

Michael Garzio — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:34:09 +0000

Poster Number:

281

Presenter/Primary Author:

Michael Garzio

Co-Authors:

Kahl, L. Alex

Co-Authors:

Savard, Steven

Co-Authors:

Schofield, Oscar

Co-Authors:

Baker, Karen

The West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is experiencing one of the most rapid climate change signals on Earth and recent reports have documented a change in the phytoplankton biomass in the WAP over the last three decades. These reports utilized monthly averaged decadal satellite climatologies. To complement that satellite based effort, we use the 18-year LTER time series collected at Palmer Station to study seasonal and inter-annual variability in the phytoplankton biomass and community composition.

Student Poster:

Yes

Using Webb gliders to study the physical regulation of ecosystem dynamics at Palmer Station Antarctica

Oscar Schofield — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:18:44 +0000

Poster Number:

280

Presenter/Primary Author:

Oscar Schofield

Co-Authors:

Alex Kahl

Co-Authors:

Hugh Ducklow

Co-Authors:

William Fraser

Co-Authors:

Doug Martinson

Co-Authors:

Clayton Jones

A Webb Slocum glider was launched on Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) launched out of the U.S. Palmer Research Station. The glider mission covered >600 km, providing >1400 ocean profiles. The glider profiles, in combination with Adélie penguin foraging data (from penguins tagged with ARGOS-linked tracking instruments), showed that Adélie penguins in the area of Palmer station forage just at the base of the chlorophyll maximum, which may provide improved visibility for these visual foragers.

Tracing Persistent Organic Pollutants into Antarctic Seabird Eggs

Heidi Geisz — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:00:51 +0000

Poster Number:

267

Presenter/Primary Author:

Heidi Geisz

Co-Authors:

Rebecca M Dickhut

Co-Authors:

Michele A Cochran

Co-Authors:

William R Fraser

Antarctic seabirds, including Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae), south polar skuas (Catharacta maccormicki) and southern giant petrels (Macronectes gigantus), are high trophic level predators that accumulate persistent organic pollutants (POPs) present in the marine food webs in which they forage. Diet and migration patterns influence the level of POP residues per species. Here we examine POP levels within the three bird species based on migratory patterns and trophic level using stable isotope analysis of δ15N and δ13C.

Student Poster:

Yes

Palmer LTER: A Site-Based Information Architecture

James Conners — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:43:59 +0000

Poster Number:

259

Presenter/Primary Author:

James Conners

Co-Authors:

Mason Kortz

Co-Authors:

Lynn Yarmey

Co-Authors:

Karen Baker

Designing infrastructure to support the management of diverse data presents unique challenges for each site. Described here is the current information system architecture, as well as targeted architectural features, implemented by the Ocean Informatics team to provide a working solution for accommodating heterogeneous data types. The system architecture is a major component of a site information environment, providing an orientation for technical development, organizational communication, and collaborative science.

LTER Unit Working Group Projects: Dictionary and Registry

Mason Kortz — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:48:17 +0000

Poster Number:

253

Presenter/Primary Author:

Mason Kortz

Co-Authors:

Lynn Yarmey

Co-Authors:

James Conners

Co-Authors:

Todd Ackerman

Co-Authors:

Karen Baker

Units of measurement are a fundamental element of scientific discourse and data integration. The LTER Unit Working Group has developed two initiatives to promote consistent use of units throughout the network. One is the LTER Unit Dictionary, comprising the set of units in use by the LTER sites and the best practices that support them. The other is the Unit Registry, a software solution for online access to the Unit Dictionary. This poster provides an overview of both efforts, including motivations, progress made, and future plans.

Microbial carbon cycling in the Palmer LTER study region over the continental shelf of the west Antarctic Peninsula.

Hugh Ducklow — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:14:17 +0000

Poster Number:

243

Presenter/Primary Author:

Hugh Ducklow

Co-Authors:

Matthew Erickson

Co-Authors:

Kristen Myers

Co-Authors:

Nicole Middaugh

Co-Authors:

Oscar Schofield

Co-Authors:

Martin Montes-Hugo

Co-Authors:

Xelu Moran

Co-Authors:

Maria Vernet

Co-Authors:

Wendy Kozlowski

Co-Authors:

Tiffany Straza

Co-Authors:

David Kirchman

The PAL study area encompasses a 200 x 500 km region extending from the nearshore coastal zone heavily influenced by seasonal sea ice cover to the open Southern Ocean, and from a northern area where sea ice cover is now limited to only the colder winters, to the south where perennial sea ice cover persists into summer months. In this region, primary production is dominated by unicellular phytoplankton and limited by light availability to the October-April period. The region is characterized by spring phytoplankton blooms that have declined by up to 90% in the northern region since 1978.