CAREER: Life after death in coral reefs: Testing the pivotal role of dead corals in ecosystem resilience

职业：珊瑚礁死后的生命：测试死亡珊瑚在生态系统恢复力中的关键作用

• 批准号: 2238422
• 负责人: Andrew Altieri
• 金额: $ 82.32万
• 依托单位: University of Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-04-01 至 2028-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2238422&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Life; after; death; coral

Many ecosystems including coral reefs, hemlock forests, kelp beds, and seagrass meadows are defined by ‘foundation species’ which are the large and conspicuous organisms that create habitat. Decades of research reveal the importance of foundation species for sustaining the biodiversity and ecosystem functions that underlie critical ecosystem services including water purification, storm protection, and food provision. Although foundation species commonly ameliorate stress, create habitat, and modify resource availability through their physical presence rather than their actions, and many foundation species remain as physical structures after death, we know surprising little about their ecological role after death. The research component of this project focuses on corals because of the conspicuous reef structures they leave behind after death and the value of these reef structures for the resilience and function of tropical coastal ecosystems. The education and outreach component of the project build academic capacity and a broad understanding of the importance of foundation species for coastal resilience among underrepresented stakeholder groups in three ways: First, the project increases diversity of participants by recruiting teachers and high school students from underrepresented groups for teacher workshops that involve trips to research sites and virtual precollege courses that connect students nationwide to researchers at the University of Florida. Second, the project promotes globalization for effective world citizens by leading University of Florida undergraduates in international research experiences at Caribbean field sites, and University of Florida graduate students in outreach activities with conservation NGOs in Panama. Third, the project improves retention and provide networking opportunities by fostering mentorship relationships and inviting students and teachers to participate in a regional marine science symposiumCoastal ecosystems around the world are changing at an unprecedented rate due to local and global anthropogenic stressors. Among the most obvious and important changes are shifts in the composition of the dominant, habitat-forming organisms (known as foundation species) that define many ecosystems by driving patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Working in coral reefs, which have been a model system for exploring state shifts and ecosystem resilience, this project explores how dead foundation species play a pivotal role in determining whether and how communities recover from disturbance. The goals of the project are three-fold: (1) Explore the traits of dead corals and how they contrast with living corals, (2) Track the fate of dead coral in the seascape (i.e., return to coral or shift to novel ecosystem), and (3) Test how consumers mediate the role of dead coral in setting ecosystem trajectories. These goals are being pursued through an international research program that employs a complementary set of field surveys, experiments, and modeling.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

许多生态系统在内，包括珊瑚礁，铁杉森林，海带床和海草草地都由“基础物种”定义，这些物种是创造栖息地的大型且引人注目的生物。数十年的研究揭示了基础物种在维持生物多样性和生态系统功能的重要性，这些功能是重要的生态系统服务，包括水净化，风暴保护和粮食提供。尽管基金会物种通常会改善压力，创造栖息地，并通过其物理存在而不是其行为来修改资源可用性，而许多基金会物种仍然是死后的物理结构，但我们对死后的生态作用一无所知。该项目的研究组成部分着重于珊瑚，因为它们在死亡后留下的明显的礁石结构以及这些礁石结构对热带沿海生态系统的弹性和功能的价值。 The education and outreach component of the project build academic capacity and a broad understanding of the importance of foundation species for coastal resilience among underrepresented stakeholder groups in three ways: First, the project increases diversity of participants by recruiting teachers and high school students from underrepresented groups for teacher workshops that involve trips to research sites and virtual precollege courses that connect students nationwide to researchers at the University of Florida.其次，该项目通过领导佛罗里达大学的本科生在加勒比海现场的国际研究经验和佛罗里达大学的研究生促进全球化的世界公民全球化，并与巴拿马的保护非政府组织在外展活动中进行外展活动。第三，该项目改善了保留率，并通过促进心态关系和邀请学生和教师参加世界各地的区域海洋科学研讨会生态系统的邀请，从而提供了网络机会，这是由于当地和全球人为压力，以前所未有的速度变化。最明显，最重要的变化之一是主流，形成栖息地的生物（称为基础物种）组成的变化，这些生物通过驱动生物多样性和生态系统功能的模式来定义许多生态系统。该项目从事珊瑚礁，这是探索状态变化和生态系统弹性的模型系统，探讨了死去的基础物种如何在确定社区是否从灾难中恢复过来以及如何从灾难中恢复过来发挥关键作用。该项目的目标是三重：（1）探索死珊瑚的特征及其与生物珊瑚的对比，（2）跟踪海景中死珊瑚的命运（即返回到珊瑚或转移到新颖的生态系统），以及（3）测试消费者如何介导死亡珊瑚在设置生态系统的作用中的作用。这些目标是通过一项国际研究计划来实现的，该计划采用了一套完整的现场调查，实验和建模。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准，通过评估来诚实地表示支持。