NURP – NOAA’S Undersea Research Program

NURP – NOAA’s Undersea Research Program

FY 2005 SCIENCE GUIDANCE

This document outlines NURP’s Science Guidance to the NURP Centers and NIUST for FY 2005.

INTRODUCTION helps scientists make observations, collect samples, and conduct experiments that NOAA’s Undersea Research Program would otherwise be unobtainable. (NURP) is a comprehensive underwater research program that supports NOAA’s About 90 percent of the funding mission by providing scientists with the appropriated to NURP by the U.S. Congress tools and expertise they need to conduct is spent extramurally (outside NOAA) on scientific research of regional, national, and undersea research. NURP supports high- global importance. Of special interest to quality, peer-reviewed research through 6 NURP is research focused on NOAA’s regional NURP Centers and NIUST. The management responsibilities – corals, quality of NURP-supported research is fisheries, and ecosystems – and on ABOUT NURP advancing underwater technologies to conduct this research. Additionally, NURP NURP is part of NOAA Research and is is keenly interested in furthering the field of headquartered in Silver Spring, MD. NURP marine biotechnology research through its consists of six regional NURP Centers and one National Institute for Undersea Science and Institute that maintain responsibility for Technology’s (NIUST) National Repository soliciting and supporting research and of marine natural products. This repository technology development. represents the first intensive survey/sampling of U.S. coral reef  North Atlantic and Great Lakes NURP Center organisms that are screened in-house for at the University of Connecticut, Avery Point biomedical and agrochemical potential; and  Mid-Atlantic Bight NURP Center are available to qualified researchers for at Rutgers University further biotechnology studies.  Southeast and Gulf of Mexico NURP Center at the University of North Carolina at NURP works with scientists to use advanced Wilmington underwater technologies and methods  Caribbean NURP Center including: scuba diving, mixed-gas diving, at the Caribbean Marine Research Center advanced technical diving, human-occupied  West Coast and Polar Regions NURP Center submersibles, remotely operated vehicles at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (ROVs), autonomous underwater vehicles  Hawai‘i and the Western Pacific NURP Center (AUVs), sea floor observatories, Aquarius – at the University of Hawai‘i, Manoa the world’s only underwater laboratory, and  NIUST – National Institute for other cutting edge technologies. By using Undersea Science and Technology advanced underwater technologies, NURP at the University of Mississippi and The University of Southern Mississippi 1 ensured through a competitive process with education. high standards of peer-review patterned after the National Science Foundation. NURP’s mission directly supports NOAA by providing an improved understanding of The following research directions constitute the Nation’s underwater resources to enable the NURP FY 2005 Science Guidance. effective ecosystem-based management. These guidelines are based upon the NOAA NURP supports targeted research that Strategic Plan for FY 2003-2008 and enables NOAA to achieve its Ecosystem research needs as defined by NOAA Mission Goal to “protect, restore, and resource managers. Undoubtedly, additional manage the use of coastal and ocean research directions could be added. resources through ecosystem-based However, these directions are meant to serve management”. as an initial guide to the NURP Centers and NIUST in forming their approach to FY The NOAA Strategic Plan identifies five 2005. The NURP Centers and NIUST strategies by which the Ecosystem Goal can should continue to consider their individual be met: capabilities, expertise, and unique regional priorities in developing their scientific and 1. Monitor and observe the land, sea, programmatic approaches. atmosphere, and space and create a data collection network to track Earth’s STRATEGIES changing systems. 2. Understand and describe how natural In response to the changing needs of society systems work together through and the environment, NOAA has adopted a investigation and interpretation of new strategic plan for FY 2003-2008. The information. new plan responds to changes in climate, 3. Assess and predict changes in natural demographics, globalization, economies, systems and provide information about and stressors to the environment. NOAA’s the future. Strategic Plan is located at 4. Engage, advise, and inform individuals, www.osp.noaa.gov. partners, communities and industries to facilitate information flow, assure NOAA’s Mission: coordination and cooperation, and provide assistance in the use, evaluation, To understand and predict changes in and application of information. the Earth’s environment and conserve 5. Manage coastal and ocean resources to and manage coastal and marine optimize benefits to the environment, the resources to meet the Nation’s economy, and public safety. economic, social, and environmental needs. NURP supports primarily the strategy to Understand and Describe; and also NURP responds to NOAA’s mission by contributes information to support the using its expertise in undersea in situ strategies to Monitor and Observe, Assess research and technology. and Predict, Engage, Advise, and Inform, and Manage. NURP’s Mission:

To support NOAA’s mission through advanced undersea research, sampling, observation, experimentation, and 2 REGIONS OF INTEREST FOR FY RESEARCH PRIORITIES FOR FY 2005 2005

Highest priority is given to proposals for NOTE: For organizational purposes, studies within the U.S. Exclusive Economic research directions are divided into five Zone and waters under U.S. jurisdiction categories – Corals, Fisheries, including, the Great Lakes, territorial seas, Ecosystems, Management Strategies, and and adjacent waters of the United States; Technology Development. These U.S. Territories; and the Freely-Associated categories are for reporting convenience States. and are not meant to be mutually exclusive. Additionally, some research Habitats of Interest directions are repeated because of their applicability to multiple categories. NURP encourages research to be conducted in specific habitats including: These priorities were established through  Coral reefs discussion with NOAA resource managers.  Deep coral reefs (e.g., insular slope reefs at the edge of scuba limits) Corals  Deep-sea coral communities .  Essential Fish Habitat  Define the roll of keystone species  Seamounts and other hard bottom within coral communities and determine structures (pinnacles, outcrops, etc.) how they sustain such roles through  Hydrothermal vents and cold seeps studies of their trophic and behavioral webs, physiological metrics in Marine Managed Areas comparison to other guild members (including reproductive physiology), NURP encourages and supports research in recruitment dynamics, and population areas that are managed for specific uses. dynamics. The development and evaluation of  Study the life histories of economically management strategies is also encouraged. important marine organisms associated These marine managed areas include: with shallow and/or deep-sea coral  Marine Protected Areas ecosystems.  Habitat Areas of Particular Concern  Conduct research to better understand  National Marine Sanctuaries how ecosystems function, including  National Estuarine Research Reserves interrelationships between environments, populations, species, and individual  National Wildlife Refuges organisms to predict how such systems  National Parks will react to change.  Conduct research to better understand the threats faced by shallow coral reefs, including, but not limited to, coral bleaching, coral diseases, land-based pollution, and invasive species.  Conduct research to develop methods for restoration of damaged coral reefs. 3  Conduct studies to increase the populations, species, and individual understanding of deep-sea corals, organisms to predict how such systems including knowledge of the corals will react to change. themselves, the factors that influence  Conduct studies to assess the their growth, reproduction, distribution, effectiveness of management strategies recruitment, and how communities of for conserving fish stocks, essential fish corals may function as habitat for fish habitat, biological diversity, and and invertebrates. productivity.  Model and predict future environmental  Use advanced underwater technology to changes (e.g. shifts in major water develop improved techniques for stock masses) on decadal and centennial time assessment of fish populations, and to scales using past environmental determine the effectiveness of stock conditions as recorded in fossil and enhancement efforts. living deep-sea coral skeletons.  Develop improved methods/models to  Develop models to accurately predict the assess the abundance and condition of effects of environmental changes fishery populations or affected (including natural events) on habitats of ecosystems, and the effectiveness of interest and marine managed areas (See stock or habitat enhancements. the section entitled Regions of Interest  Model and predict the effects of for more information on critical habitats anthropogenic stressors on fish and marine managed areas). populations, habitats or ecosystems, and  Evaluate, model, and predict the effects estimate rates of impact recovery. of anthropogenic stressors on shallow  Identify, characterize, and understand and deep-sea coral habitats and/or essential fish habitat to determine ecosystems and estimate rates of impact requirements for healthy fish recovery. populations.  Assess long-term changes in Fisheries oceanographic or climatic parameters that may affect the abundance of fish NOTE: Fisheries includes commercially populations. important fish and invertebrates (e.g.,  Determine the relationships of Queen Conch, Spiny Lobster, American oceanographic and climatic parameters Lobster, King Crab, Tanner Crab, etc.) to the abundance and diversity of economically important fishery  Determine how spatial and temporal populations. patterns of diversity are regulated and  Conduct research on life histories of relate spatial patterns to phenotypic and commercially or ecologically important genetic variation in key taxa in critical fish and invertebrate stocks. habitats and marine managed areas.  Develop models to accurately predict the (See the section entitled Regions of effects of environmental changes Interest for more information on critical (including natural events) on habitats of habitats and marine managed areas). interest and marine managed areas (See  Conduct research to better understand the section entitled Regions of Interest how ecosystems function, including for more information on critical habitats interrelationships between environments, and marine managed areas). 4  Assess the influence of trophic strategies in current use. interactions and oceanographic conditions on recruitment success. Technology Development  Document and assess the effects of fishing on trophic structures.  Develop new technologies/methods to improve NOAA’s ability to assess fish Ecosystems and invertebrate populations.  Develop new technologies/methods for  Develop models to predict the monitoring the dynamics and status of succession of hydrothermal vent/cold ecosystems and communities, including seep communities as a response to chemical, physical, and biological changes in chemical flux. sensors.  Seek out, recover, and culture novel  Develop new technologies for in situ organisms from unique, extreme long-term research and observations, environments, such as deep-sea vents including underwater vehicles for long- and cold seeps, for the purpose of term immersion and remote control identifying unique bioactive compounds including, AUVs, ROVs, and chemical, with commercial potential. physical, and biological sensors.  Investigate the relationships between  Develop new technologies/methods to vent or seep geochemistry and the support technical diving and use of associated vent and seep communities. closed-circuit rebreathers.  Understand the role that methane hydrate degassing plays in the carbon cycle.  Characterize, assess, and analyze the spread of alien and invasive species.  Collect, analyze, and archive marine samples for biomedical and commercial applications.  Evaluate, model, and predict the effects of anthropogenic stressors and/or environmental changes hydrothermal vent and cold seep ecosystems, and estimate rates of impact recovery.

Management Strategies

 Conduct studies to assess the effectiveness of management strategies for conserving fish stocks, essential fish habitat, biological diversity, and productivity.  Conduct research to assess the effectiveness of marine managed areas.  Conduct research to develop new management strategies or improve 5 GENERAL GUIDELINES Proposal Guidelines

Eligibility Proposals for funding from NURP through its 6 regional NURP Centers and NIUST Eligible applicants are U.S. institutions of must meet rigorous scientific guidelines, higher education, not-for-profit institutions, including: and federal, state, and local governments. Federal agencies may not charge salary or • Research subjects must support NOAA’s overhead. and NURP’s strategic goals. • Research questions should be Regions hypothesis-driven, and formulated in a way that is answerable by the proposed Highest priority is given to proposals for methodology. “Look-and-see” studies within the U.S. Exclusive Economic explorations are generally not Zone and waters under U.S. jurisdiction supported. including, the Great Lakes, territorial seas, • Hypotheses and methods should be and adjacent waters of the United States; economic - efficiently addressing the U.S. Territories; and the Freely-Associated research problem with the least use of States. resources. “Shotgun” approaches to problem solving are discouraged. • Proposed methodology must be adequate to address the problem, appropriate to the situation, and must be the most cost- effective. Alternative methods must be effectively eliminated. • Research should address processes or relationships that will lead to explanatory knowledge that can be extrapolated to the larger world. • Research should be innovative, and must produce new knowledge. • Proposals to develop models to predict the impacts of environmental change, anthropogenic stressors, etc. should contain a field component that utilizes the assets and/or expertise of the NURP Centers and/or NIUST. • Proposals for technology testing should utilize the new technology in novel scientific research. • Principal Investigators must demonstrate that they have background knowledge and familiarity with the research subject and methodology proposed. Previous publications in related subjects are

6 beneficial.

7 Table 1. NOAA’s Undersea Research Program Contacts Program Director Address Contact Information

NOAA’s Undersea Research Program Barbara Moore NOAA’s Undersea Research Program Headquarters [email protected] 1315 East-West Hwy, R/NURP v Silver Spring, MD 20910 www.nurp.noaa.gov Tel: (301) 713-2427 x127 Fax: (301) 713-1967

North Atlantic and Great Lakes Ivar Babb North Atlantic Great Lakes NURP Center at the [email protected] National Undersea Research Center University of Connecticut at Avery Point Tel: (860) 405-9121 University of Connecticut – Avery Point Fax: (860) 445-2969 1084 Shennecossett Road www.nurc.uconn.edu Groton, CT 06340

Mid-Atlantic Bight Michael DeLuca Mid-Atlantic Bight NURP Center at [email protected] National Undersea Research Center Rutgers University Tel: (732) 932-6555 x512 Institute of Marine & Coastal Sciences Fax: (732) 932-8578 Rutgers University http://marine.rutgers.edu/nurp/mabnurc.html 71 Dudley Road New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8521

Southeast U.S. and Gulf of Mexico Steven Miller Southeastern U.S. and Gulf of Mexico NURP Center at the [email protected] National Undersea Research Center University of North Carolina at Wilmington Tel: (910) 962-2440 University of North Carolina at Wilmington Tel: (305) 451-0233 5600 Marvin K. Moss Lane www.uncwil.edu/nurc Fax: (910) 962-2410 Wilmington, NC 28049

Caribbean John Marr Caribbean Marine Research Center NURP Center [email protected] 100 North U.S. Highway 1 Caribbean Marine Research Center Tel: (561) 741-0192 Jupiter, FL 33477 Fax: (561) 741-0193 www.cmrc.org

West Coast and Polar Regions Ray Highsmith West Coast and Polar Regions NURP Center [email protected] Undersea Research Center University of Alaska Fairbanks Tel: (907) 474-5870 University of Alaska Fairbanks Fax: (907) 474-5804 P.O. Box 757220 www.westnurc.uaf.edu 213 O’Neill Building Fairbanks, AK 99775-7220

Hawai‘i and the Western Pacific John Wiltshire, Acting Hawai‘i Undersea Research Laboratory NURP Center [email protected] University of Hawai‘i Manoa Hawai‘i Undersea Research Laboratory Tel: (808) 956-6802 1000 Pope Road, MSB 303 University of Hawai‘i Manoa Fax: (808) 956-2136 Honolulu, HI 96822

http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/HURL/

National Institute for Marc Slattery National Institute for Undersea Science and Science and Technology [email protected] Technology University of Mississippi and the Tel: (662) 915-1053 Department of Pharmacognosy University of Southern Mississippi Fax: (662) 915-7026 University of Mississippi University, MS 38677-1848

8 www.usm.edu/niust/

9 WHY WE DO THE RESEARCH?

NURP conducts hypothesis-driven research, through both the academic and federal research communities, directed at meeting the needs of NOAA resource managers responsible for managing corals, fisheries, and ecosystems. NURP also conducts research to: (1) develop and evaluate management strategies; (2) advance underwater technologies and tools to conduct state- of-the-art research– such as ROVs, AUVs, human-occupied submersibles, undersea laboratories, advanced technical diving, and biological and chemical sensors; and (3) develop marine natural products.

NURP research is intended to provide NOAA managers with the necessary information to make well-informed decisions. NOAA’s management responsibilities and research authorities for corals, fisheries, and ecosystems are derived in part from:

 Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. §6401 et seq.)  Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (as amended by the Sustainable Fisheries Act) (16 U.S.C. §1801 et seq.)  National Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. §1440)  Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act of 2000 (30 U.S.C. §1902)  National Materials and Minerals Policy Research and Development Act of 1980 (30 U.S.C. §1601)  Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (1978) (43 U.S.C. §1347)  Executive Order 13158: Marine Protected Areas (2000)  Executive Order 13089: Coral Reef Protection