Weather conditions recorded near the MBL Dock, Woods Hole, MA, USA on August 14, 2012 (Mnemiopsis feeding in turbulence project)

Website: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/554493
Version: 27 March 2015
Version Date: 2015-03-27

Project
» Turbulence and Suspension Feeding - a New Approach using the Lobate Ctenophore Mnemiopsis Leidyi (Mnemiopsis feeding in turbulence)
ContributorsAffiliationRole
Costello, John H.Providence CollegePrincipal Investigator, Contact
Colin, SeanRoger Williams University (RWU)Co-Principal Investigator
Dabiri, John O.California Institute of Technology (Caltech)Co-Principal Investigator
Rauch, ShannonWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI BCO-DMO)BCO-DMO Data Manager


Dataset Description

Weather conditions recorded near the MBL Dock, Woods Hole on August 14, 2012.

Reference:
Sutherland, K.R., Costello, J.H., Colin, S.P., and Dabiri, J.O. 2014. Ambient fluid motions influence swimming and feeding by the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi. J. Plankton Res. 36(5): 1310–1322. doi:10.1093/plankt/fbu051


Methods & Sampling

Wind data originated from a local weather station located at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (within 150 m of the sampling location).

Methods and precision described in:
Sutherland, K.R., Costello, J.H., Colin, S.P., and Dabiri, J.O. 2014. Ambient fluid motions influence swimming and feeding by the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi. J. Plankton Res. 36(5): 1310–1322. doi:10.1093/plankt/fbu051


Data Processing Description

BCO-DMO edits:
- Modified parameter names to conform with BCO-DMO naming conventions.
- Modified formatting of date and time.
- Replaced blanks with 'nd' to indicate 'no data'.
- Added lat and lon of the dock using values provided on the metadata form), and location name.


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Data Files

File
weather.csv
(Comma Separated Values (.csv), 27.91 KB)
MD5:027b4c638c7f9e444d64eaba4c017a5e
Primary data file for dataset ID 554493

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Parameters

ParameterDescriptionUnits
location

Description of sampling location.

text
lat_dock

Latitude of the MBL Dock. The weather station was located within 150 m of the dock.

decimal degrees
lon_dock

Longitude of the MBL Dock. The weather station was located within 150 m of the dock.

decimal degrees
date_local

Month, day, and year of sampling. (Local time zone, EST)

mmddyyyy
time_local

Time (hours, minutes, seconds). (Local time zone, EST)

HHMMSS
temp_air

Air temperature.

degrees Fahrenheit (F)
dewpoint

Dewpoint temperature.

degrees Fahrenheit (F)
press_air

Air pressure.

inches (in)
wind_dir

Wind direction.

nominal/text
wind_dir_degrees

Wind direction.

degrees
wind_speed_mph

Wind speed in mph.

miles per hour (mph)
wind_speed_gust_mph

Gusting wind speed = maximum wind speed during time interval.

miles per hour (mph)
wind_speed_m

Wind speed in m/s.

meters per second (m/s)
humidity

Humidity.

percent (%)
precip

Precipitation.

inches (in)
ISO_DateTime_Local

Date and time formatted to ISO 8601 standard. This standard is based on ISO 8601:2004(E) and takes on any of the following forms:
YYYY-mm-ddTHH:MM:SS[.xx] (local time)

e.g.:
2009-08-30T09:05:00[.xx] (local time)
2009-08-30T14:05:00[.xx]Z (UTC time)
2009-08-30T14:05:00[.xx]-05:00 (local time with time zone).

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS[.xx]


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Instruments

Dataset-specific Instrument Name
Weather Station
Generic Instrument Name
Automated Weather Station
Generic Instrument Description
Land-based AWS systems are designed to record meteorological information.


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Deployments

MBL_Dock_0812

Website
Platform
MBL
Start Date
2012-08-14
End Date
2012-08-14
Description
Field surface turbulence measurements made at the MBL dock, Woods Hole, MA, USA, August 14, 2012.


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Project Information

Turbulence and Suspension Feeding - a New Approach using the Lobate Ctenophore Mnemiopsis Leidyi (Mnemiopsis feeding in turbulence)

Coverage: Marine Biological Laboratory dock, Woods Hole, MA


Description from NSF award abstract:
Prey selection, intake and, ultimately, the trophic impact of predators are determined by a succession of events that occur at the organismal level -- individual interactions among predators prey, and their environments. Furthermore, because the majority of predator-prey interactions occur in moving fluids, it is critical to observe and quantify predator-prey interactions within a hydrodynamic context. Successful predictions of trophic patterns in natural settings are limited by the ability to: 1) observe directly the effects of turbulence on feeding in pelagic organisms; 2) understand the mechanistic bases of animal-fluid interactions in turbulent environments; and 3) relate quantitative observations from still-water laboratory studies to nature. These limitations are pervasive in studies of trophic exchange within the larger scope of marine ecology.

Recent technological advances, and the combined expertise of the Co-PIs, enables meaningful studies of the influence of turbulence on feeding by the notoriously invasive lobate ctenophore, Mnemiopsis leidyi. Mnemiopsis is a delicate gelatinous predator which uses a laminar feeding current to entrain and capture prey. Using a remarkably effective feeding strategy, zooplankton standing stocks and overall zooplankton biodiversity are reduced, and standing stocks of phytoplankton are increased via a trophic cascade. Like many suspension feeders, however, the feeding current produced by Mnemiopsis may be vulnerable to hydrodynamic disruption by ambient flows. In fact, turbulent events may change the behavior, distribution and prey selection of lobate ctenophores such as Mnemiopsis. This species is an ideal model organism to determine the mechanisms by which turbulence affects trophic exchange patterns of ecologically influential planktonic suspension feeders.

Involving a combination of laboratory and in situ methods to quantify, at the organismal level, this study will determine effects of turbulent flows on the feeding mechanics and predator-prey interactions of Mnemiopsis. Understanding how these turbulent effects translate to the community level will be accomplished via in situ sampling techniques that relate natural turbulence levels to ingestion rates, prey selection and predatory impact of Mnemiopsis in the field. This approach extends beyond current laboratory and modeling studies, with the potential of establishing clear cause-and-effect relationships.

This research will: 1) directly quantify turbulent effects on in situ predator-prey interactions; 2) provide mechanistic understanding of key variables influencing the ecological impact of an important invasive marine species; and 3) develop a novel approach for studying small-scale physical-biological interactions both in the laboratory and in the field.

Knowing how turbulence affects feeding in lobate ctenophores is valuable at the scale of the organism, as well as ecologically. The approach developed here also may be applied to a variety of other turbulence-dominated situations (e.g., mixing at fronts, animal-marine snow interactions) or to other organisms (other plankton, benthic-water column exchanges). In all cases, the outcomes depend upon small-scale physical-biological processes.



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Funding

Funding SourceAward
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE)
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE)
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE)

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