Exploring Taiwan- Pelagic Ecology

Exploring Taiwan- Pelagic Ecology

Reading

1. Costanza R, et al. (1997) The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387(6630):253-260.

2. Hsieh CH, et al. (2006) Fishing elevates variability in the abundance of exploited species. Nature 443:859-862.

3. Anderson CNK, et al. (2008) Why fishing magnifies fluctuations in fish abundance. Nature 452:835-839.

4. Gong G-C, et al. (2006) Reduction of primary production and changing of nutrient ratio in the East China Sea: Effect of the Three Gorges Dam? Geophys. Res. Lett. 33:L07610.

5. Hsieh C, Chen C, & Chiu T (2005) Composition and abundance of copepods and ichthyoplankton in Taiwan Strait (western North Pacific) are influenced by seasonal monsoons. Marine and Freshwater Research 56:153-161.

Motivation

1. The importance of marine ecosystem and its service

2. The economic value of marine service is ~20949 billions US dollars/per year

3. The economic value of fisheries of Taiwan is ~90 billions NT (trading in fishing ports only)

4. The economic power and social impacts of marine system and its service are enormous.

Introduction to Marine Pelagic Ecosystem

1. Habitat and the physical environment (depth and light)

2. Pelagic foodweb (size and feeding style)

3. Life of phytoplankton, zooplankton, and nekton (morphology and life cycle)

4. Adaptation of pelagic life (how to keep floating, how to find food and avoid predation, how to cope with light limitation).

Marine pelagic ecosystems around Taiwan

1. Northeast Taiwan-Upwelling system: high productivity and fisheries due to upwelled nutrients

2. West Taiwan: Taiwan Strait: Monsoon effects on seasonal circulation and its consequence of marine community and biogeography

3. East Taiwan- Kuroshio ecosystem: Spawning area od highly migratory top marine predators such as Bluefin tuna, sailfish, marline, etc. Why they spawn in this oligotrophic environment is an enigma.

4. South Taiwan- deep South China Sea: typhoon effects and internal tidal effects on marine productivities

Interdisciplinary research in the East China Sea

1. Marine grazing foodchain

2. Microbial loop

3. CO2 chemistry and global worming

4. Automatic plankton sensing system and its application in climate research

5. Effects of Yangtz River Dam

6. Modeling the ecosystem and fish migration

7. Trophic study using stable isotope

8. Trophic studying using feeding experiments

Fisheries and seafood conservation

1. History of fishing in Taiwan

2. Fishing methods

3. Seafood and its economic power

4. Overfishing and the problem of politics

5. Fishing effects on the marine ecosystems:

a. Decreased predatory fishes

b. Fishing down the marine foodweb

c. Fishing induced trophic cascade

d. Fishing magnified uncertainty in a changing environment

e. Fishing effects on life history evolution of exploited fishes

Discussion