Palmer LTER Tech Prog Rept (92-93) TECHNICAL PROGRESS REPORT TITLE: Long-Term Ecological Research on the Antarctic Marine Ecosystem: An Ice-Dominated Environment PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: R.M. Ross, L.B. Quetin, B.B., Prezelin, R.C. Smith, E.E. Hofmann, W. Fraser, W. Trivelpiece PERIOD OF TIME COVERED: 6 June 1992 to July 31, 1993 ID NO: OPP-9011927 INSTITUTION: University of California at Santa Barbara, Marine Science Institute Santa Barbara, CA 93106 Our efforts this year focused on (1) conducting the second field season for the Palmer LTER which included the first of a pair of process cruises pre- and post- winter; (2) further development of data management; and (3) initiating a project for an American Geophysical Union Research Series volume entitled "Foundations for Ecological Research West of the Antarctic Peninsula". The proposal for the AGU volume was submitted in October 1992, with the co-editors Eileen Hofmann, Langdon Quetin and Robin Ross. I. Field Season Our second field season included (1) a 5-month Palmer based near-shore sampling effort with sampling by groups interested in seabird reproduction and ecology, primary production and phytoplankton physiology, prey distribution and abundance and secondary production, and remote sensing and environmental optics; (2) the annual summer cruise on the Polar Duke from January 1 to February 7 (PA to Palmer Station) which sampled transect lines 600.*, 500.*, 400.*, 300.* and 200.* with participation by researchers interested in primary production and phytoplankton physiology, prey distribution and abundance and secondary production, remote sensing and environmental optics, and microbial loop processes during the entire cruise, joined by researchers interested in seabird ecology during phase II of the cruise which focused on the area within the foraging range of the AdŽlie penguins (Quetin et al., Antarctic Journal US, submitted); and (3) an austral fall cruise on the Nathaniel B. Palmer from March 25 to May 15 (PA to PA) which covered the entire Palmer Peninsula grid (900 km by 200 km) and involved research on primary production and phytoplankton physiology, prey distribution and abundance and secondary production, remote sensing and environmental optics, microbial loop processes, and hydrography. During the summer cruise several possible sites on Hugo Island for an automatic weather station were evaluated. We hope that we will be able to install another AWS within the next two years. The hydrographic grid obtained during the austral fall cruise is the first extensive hydrographic coverage of this region west of the Antarctic Peninsula extending south of Adelaide Island. This data set will form the basis of the LTER's understanding of circulation in the study region. Pre-winter data on larval krill collected on this cruise combined with post-winter data will form the basis for a test of a working hypothesis on the effects of winter ice extent on krill recruitment. Determination of microbial loop activity during the austral fall was also a major objective. Sediment traps deployed during the austral spring of 92 during a separately funded cruise were retrieved and redeployed. They will be retrieved again during the January 94 LTER cruise. II. Data Management Data management for the Palmer LTER underwent further development and now takes advantage of Internet connectivity to facilitate communications among our distributed principle investigators. Documentation and data storage is centralized at one site (CRSEO, Center for Remote Sensing and Environmental Optics, at UCSB) where a new 500 megabyte disk was installed and currently provides sufficient online storage for much of the documentation and data. Definition of core data sets and development of data forms continues in order to provide both a common vocabulary as well as a similar structure across the diverse data sets. The online browse program originally developed for data documentation was superseded by a local Internet gopher server to provide an online menu catalog of the documentation. This effort is aimed specifically at providing realtime accessibility for online browsing of the documentation to all Palmer LTER investigators as well as to any outside investigator over the Internet. Our goal is to make our large data sets easily available since this is a requirement for effective interdisciplinary, long-term research. Education: During the past year the Palmer LTER (OPP-9011927) supported totally or in part six Ph.D. students, four from University of California at Santa Barbara, and two from Old Dominion University. All these students participated in at least one cruise or part of the Palmer field season. One additional Ph.D. student from Texas A&M University participated in the austral fall cruise. Seven undergraduates given stipends from the Palmer REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) site were also members of various research teams during this research season. Most of these undergraduates participated in a research seminar and did independent research projects. Educational activities and publications of the microbial loop component of the Palmer LTER are not reported under OPP-9011927, but are included in the technical report of that separately funded project. Publications In Print or In Press: Preliminary results of the 1991-1992 season are included in a series of short articles in print in the 1992 Review volume of the Antarctic Journal of the United States. One poster was presented at the American Geophysical Union meeting in early December 1992. One invited article was contributed to a special issue of the Marine Pollution Bulletin on environmental pollution in the Antarctic. Several articles were submitted to the Antarctic Journal of the United States for the 1993 Review Issue. Reports on various aspects of seabird ecology have been submitted to national (AMLR, Antarctic Marine Living Resources) and international (CCAMLR, Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) groups. 1992. Fraser, W. R., W. Z. Trivelpiece, B. R. Houston and D. R. Patterson. PALMER LTER: Seabird research undertaken during 1991-1992 at Palmer Station, Antarctic Peninsula. Antarctic Journal of the United States (Review Volume 1992) (Submitted July 1992) 1992. Hofmann, E. E., C. M. Lascara and J. M. Klinck. PALMER LTER: Upper ocean circulation in the LTER region from historical sources. Antarctic Journal of the United States (Review Volume 1992) (Submitted July 1992) 1992. Prezelin, B. B., M. Moline, K. Seydel and K. Scheppe. PALMER LTER: Temporal variability in HPLC pigmentation and inorganic nutrient distribution in surface waters adjacent to Palmer Station, December 1991 - February 1992. Antarctic Journal of the United States (Review Volume 1992) (Submitted July 1992) 1992. Prezelin, B. B., N. P. Boucher, M. Moline, E. Stephens, K. Seydel and K. Scheppe. PALMER LTER: Spatial variability in phytoplankton distribution and surface photosynthetic potential within the Peninsula Grid, November 1991. Antarctic Journal of the United States (Review Volume 1992) (Submitted July 1992) 1992. Quetin, L. B. and R. M. Ross. A long-term ecological research strategy for polar environmental research. Marine Pollution Bulletin 25: 233-238. 1992. Quetin, L. B., R. M. Ross, B. B. Prezelin, K. L. Haberman, K. L. Hacecky and T. Newberger. PALMER LTER: Biomass and community composition of euphausiids within the Peninsula Grid, November 1991 cruise. Antarctic Journal of the United States (Review Volume 1992)(Submitted July 1992) 1992. Ross, R. M. and L. B. Quetin. PALMER Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER): An overview of the 1991-1992 season. Antarctic Journal of the United States (Review Volume 1992) (Submitted July 1992) 1992. Smith, R. C., K. S. Baker, P. Handley and T. Newberger. PALMER LTER: ROZE sampling of the hydrography and optics over the Palmer Grid during the 1991/1992 LTER field season. Antarctic Journal of the United States (Review Volume 1992) (Submitted July 1992) 1992. Smith, R. C., K. S. Baker, K. K. Hwang, D. Menzies, and K. J. Waters. PALMER LTER: Hydrography and optics within the Peninsula Grid, November 1991 cruise. Antarctic Journal of the United States (Review Volume 1992) (Submitted July 1992) 1992. Waters, K. J. and R. C. Smith. PALMER LTER: A sampling grid for the Palmer LTER Program. Antarctic Journal of the United States (Review Volume 1992) (Submitted July 1992) Reports: 1992. W. Fraser. Report on the assessment of incidental mortality and marine debris at Palmer Station. Delivered to NMFS. 1992. Fraser, W. R. and W. Z. Trivelpiece. Seabird research undertaken as part of the NMFS/AMLR ecosystem monitoring program at Palmer Station, 1991/92. IN AMLR 1991/92 Field Season Report 1992. CEMP/CCAMLR data summaries based on AMLR research on seabirds at Palmer Station. Delivered to NMFS. 1993. Fraser, W. R. and W. Z. Trivelpiece. Seabird research undertaken as part of the NMFS/AMLR ecosystem monitoring program at Palmer Station, 1992/93. IN AMLR 1992/93 Field Season Report: Objectives, accomplishments and tentative conclusions, J. Rosenberg (ed). pp. 105-108. NOAA Administrative Report LJ-93-08. 1993. CEMP/CCAMLR data summaries based on AMLR research on seabirds at Palmer Station. Delivered to NMFS. Abstracts of Posters and Oral Presentations at Meetings: Klinck, J. M., C. M. Lascara and R. C. Smith. Hydrography and krill distribution in the Bellingshausen Sea as part of a Long-Term Ecological Research Program. Session on "Coastal, Shelf and Marginal Seas" of the European Geophysical Society Meeting in Viesbaden, Germany, 3-7 May 1993. Lascara, C. M., E. E. Hofmann, R. M. Ross and L. B. Quetin. 1992. Acoustically derived distributions of krill (Euphausia superba) swarms off the Antarctic Peninsula during austral spring 1991 (LTER program). EOS 73(43): 319. AGU Meeting in San Francisco, December 1992. Manuscripts Submitted: Haberman, K. L., R. M. Ross, and L. B. Quetin. Grazing by the Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, on Nitschia sp. and Phaeocystis sp. monocultures. Antarctic Journal of the United States, submitted July 1993. Hofmann, E. E., B. L. Lipphardt, Jr., R. A. Locarnini, and D. A. Smith. Palmer LTER: Hydrography in the LTER region. Antarctic Journal of the United States, submitted July 1993. Lascara, C. M., E. E. Hofmann, R. M. Ross and L. B. Quetin. Palmer LTER: Overview of krill acoustic studies and results from the Peninsula grid. Antarctic Journal of the United States, submitted July 1993. Lascara, C. M., L. B. Quetin, and R. M. Ross. Palmer LTER: Krill distribution and biomass within coastal waters near Palmer Station. Antarctic Journal of the United States, submitted July 1993. Quetin, L. B., R. M. Ross, and K. Baker. PALMER Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER): An overview of the 1992-1993 season. Antarctic Journal of the United States, submitted July 1993. Meetings (1992-1993): June 1992. SCAR, Sub-committee on Bird Biology, Bariloche, Argentina. Attendee - W. Fraser. June 22-25, 1992. Palmer LTER Executive Committee Meeting, University of California at Santa Barbara. Attendees - Karen Baker, Nic Boucher, William Fraser, Karen Haberman, Eileen Hofmann, Cathy Lascara, Allen Matlick, Mark Moline, Tim Newberger, Barbara Prezelin, Langdon Quetin, Robin Ross, Ray Smith, Sharon Stammerjohn, Wayne Trivelpiece August 1-7, 1992. LTER Coordinating Committee Meeting, Bonanza Creek and Tookik Lake LTER sites, Alaska. Attendees - Robin Ross and Langdon Quetin August 1992. LTER Data managers meeting, Hawaii. Attendee - Karen Baker August 1992. Committee for Environmental Monitoring Protocols, Vina del Mar, Chile US delegate to CEMP (W. Trivelpiece) Sept 15-17, 1992. Polar Orientation Meeting. Attendees - Langdon Quetin, William Fraser, Wayne Trivelpiece Sept 22, 1992. 72nd Meeting Polar Research Board, September 1992, Washington, D.C. Attendees and presentation topics - E. Hofmann, Interdisciplinary Studies and Modeling of the Southern Ocean; R. Ross, Long-Term Ecological Research in the Antarctic Peninsula; W. Fraser, Long-Time Scale Changes and Antarctic Birds Oct 30, 1992. Southern Ocean JGOFS meeting, Washington, DC. Attendees - Eileen Hofmann, Ray Smith February 1993 - Joint Southern Ocean GLOBEC and JGOFS, Florida. Attendee - Eileen Hofmann March 17-18, 1993, LTER Network 10-Year Review Meeting, Miami, Ohio. Attendees - Ray Smith and Karen Baker April 3-5, 1993, LTER Coordinating Committee Meeting, Jornada site, New Mexico. Attendee - Barbara Prezelin May 1993. Antarctic Conference, Santiago, Chile. Attendee - W. Trivelpiece. May 18-21, 1993. Data Information Symposium, Univ. New Mexico. Attendee - Karen Baker June 29-30, 1993. Regional Meeting for Office of Polar Programs, Denver, CO. Attendees: Karen Baker, William Fraser, Eileen Hofmann, David Karl, John Klinck, Barbara Prezelin, Langdon Quetin, Robin Ross, Ray Smith, Wayne Trivelpiece July 1993, Tourist Coordination Meeting, National Science Foundation. Presentation on monitoring human disturbance in Antarctica. Attendee - W. Fraser. July 14-18, 1993. International Workshop on Seabird - Researcher Interactions held at the Riverwood Conference Center, MN from 14-18 July. W. Trivelpiece and W. Fraser, Co-Conveners. Conference attendees included 30 scientists from the US and seven foreign nations. LTER members presented 3 papers on the impacts of flipper banding, instrument attachments and human disturbance at the conference. The proceedings are due to be published this Fall as a workshop report with attached abstracts. July 29-30, 1993. LTER Network Coordinating Meeting, topic - LTER Network 10-Year Review, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. Attendee - Robin Ross July 28-30, 1993, LTER Data Managers Meeting, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. Attendee - Karen Baker, wrote section on data policy for report