RAPID: Coral reproduction following mass corallivore outbreak and offspring tolerance during El Nino modulates reef recovery

快速：大规模珊瑚食动物爆发后的珊瑚繁殖和厄尔尼诺期间后代的耐受性调节珊瑚礁恢复

• 批准号: 2348674
• 负责人: Hollie Putnam
• 金额: $ 20万
• 依托单位: University of Rhode Island
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-11-01 至 2024-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2348674&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAPID; Coral; reproduction; following; mass

Natural and anthropogenic impacts are increasingly co-occurring with negative consequences for marine systems, specifically coral reefs. Natural predator outbreaks, such as the corallivorous Crown of Thorns Sea stars, can rapidly kill corals. Further, the stress generated by climate and ocean warming is driving coral bleaching, or the breakdown of the coral-dinoflagellate nutritional symbiosis, which can cause coral starvation and mass mortality. The reefs of Mo’orea, French Polynesia, are currently experiencing an outbreak of Crown of Thorns sea stars, with high coral mortality. In conjunction, the current El Niño warming is driving up ocean temperatures, with the potential to exacerbate peak seasonal thermal stress on corals. In particular, Pocillopora spp, which are dominant reef builders in Mo’orea, are being preferentially eaten by Crown of Thorns Sea stars and have historically displayed coral bleaching during the warmest months. In light of the rapid and extensive coral predation on the ecologically dominant Pocillopora spp on the forereef in Mo’orea and compounding El Niño thermal stress, this project examines the role of lagoon reef Pocillopora spp reproduction, recruitment, and temperature tolerance in reef recovery. This work provides the capacity to quantify species-specific reproduction and thermal tolerance to better understand and forecast legacy effects on reef recovery and resilience. Broader impacts of this project include research support for early career scientist training, as well as data and materials for undergraduate and high school student curriculum modules and research projects for schools in French Polynesia and Rhode Island. This project represents an urgently needed assessment of the impact of multiple co-occurring disturbance events of corallivore outbreaks and thermal stress on coral reefs. Along with quantifying the Crown of Thorns Sea star abundance and distribution, researchers are completing a genetic and ecological characterization of the diversity and abundance of adult and juvenile Pocillopora spp in the lagoon to determine the population prior to spawning and thermal peak, quantifying reproduction of Pocillopora spp and larval thermal tolerance, and determining the density and thermal tolerance of Pocillopora spp recruits in the lagoon and forereef during the peak of seasonal thermal stress and several months after, in an El Niño year. The results advance understanding of the consequences of coral spawning and recruitment immediately following a natural disturbance. Importantly, the project provides information on how the dominant Pocillopora spp are contending with the chronic and acute stress of ocean warming and marine heat waves at sensitive early life stages. The results of this project provide a deeper understanding of the legacy of stress on the ecologically, economically, and culturally significant coral reef ecosystem.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.

自然和人为影响越来越多地同时发生，对海洋系统产生负面影响，特别是珊瑚礁的自然捕食者的爆发，例如食珊瑚的棘冠海星，可以迅速杀死珊瑚。导致珊瑚白化，或珊瑚-甲藻营养共生的破坏，从而导致珊瑚饥饿和大规模死亡。法属波利尼西亚莫雷阿岛的珊瑚礁目前正在经历荆棘冠海的爆发。与此同时，当前的厄尔尼诺现象导致海洋温度升高，有可能加剧珊瑚的季节性热应激高峰，尤其是珊瑚礁的主要珊瑚礁珊瑚。由于莫雷阿岛前礁上生态占主导地位的波西洛波拉属 (Pocillopora spp) 受到快速而广泛的珊瑚捕食，它们优先被荆棘冠海星吃掉，并且在最温暖的月份里曾出现过珊瑚白化现象。结合厄尔尼诺热应力，该项目研究了泻湖珊瑚礁 Pocillopora spp 繁殖、补充和温度耐受性在珊瑚礁恢复中的作用。这项工作提供了量化物种特异性繁殖和热耐受性的能力，以更好地了解和预测对珊瑚礁的遗留影响。该项目的更广泛影响包括为早期职业科学家培训提供研究支持，以及为法属波利尼西亚和罗德岛州学校的本科生和高中生课程模块和研究项目提供数据和材料。需要评估的珊瑚虫爆发和热应激等多重干扰事件对珊瑚礁的影响，在量化荆棘冠海星丰度和分布的同时，研究人员正在完成成年和幼体波西洛波拉属物种多样性和丰度的遗传和生态特征分析。在泻湖中确定产卵和热峰前的种群，量化 Pocillopora spp 的繁殖和幼虫的耐热性，并确定 Pocillopora spp 新成员的密度和耐热性重要的是，该项目提供了有关自然干扰后珊瑚产卵和补充的后果的信息。 Pocillopora spp 在敏感的生命早期阶段正在应对海洋变暖和海洋热浪的慢性和急性压力。该项目的结果使人们更深入地了解了对生态、经济和文化具有重要意义的珊瑚礁生态系统所造成的压力。本次获奖通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，NSF 的法定使命被认为值得支持。