Leveraging emerging numerical models from engineering to support coral reef conservation

利用工程中的新兴数值模型支持珊瑚礁保护

• 批准号: 2892543
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Imperial College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2892543
• 关键词: Leveraging; emerging; numerical; models; engineering

Coral reefs are hot spots of biodiversity, provide important ecosystem services (e.g.protection from coastal erosion), and underpin fisheries. However, they are also under unprecedented stress. Current work in coral restoration aims to conserve existing populations through assisted migration and evolution. However, in the case of assisted migration, there are no well-grounded metrics for selecting the areas for migration and the mechanisms of propagation in a dynamic fluid environment are largely unknown, and likely bespoke to each site. Little is known about how coral nurseries affect the survivorship of propagated corals downstream. Does the shape of nurseries impact shear stress? How doesthat influences individual corals? How do human activities upstream, such as land reclamation, affect currents and associated feeding mechanisms, or smothering via sedimentation?While temperature is a primary stressor and temperature data have been used to guide mitigation efforts, other stressors also affect corals, such as changes in precipitation, pH,salinity, and sedimentation. To understand the sensitivity of coral reefs to change, many factors must be incorporated, at scales from global climate change to local. Suitable data and new modelling frameworks, capable of working across scales from centimetres to hundreds of kilometres, are required.In joining this project, you will aim to deliver a step change in quantitative and modelling tools geared towards coral reef conservation. Extensive fieldwork will be essential to the project to provide imaging at varying scales, to develop high-fidelity 3D models of nurseries and study areas, and to measure local conditions to constrain numerical models.You will combine new observations with state of the art 3D photogrammetric techniques and novel hydrodynamic modelling capabilities developed and used in Earth Sciences and Engineering, Imperial College (e.g. https://fluidityproject.github.io/, https://solidityproject.com/applications/, https://thetisproject.org/). You will leverage tools developed for engineering applications to develop a suite of numerical and modelling applications geared towards coral reef protection and management.

珊瑚礁是生物多样性的热点，提供重要的生态系统服务（例如防止海岸侵蚀）并支撑渔业。然而，他们也面临着前所未有的压力。目前珊瑚恢复的工作旨在通过辅助迁徙和进化来保护现有种群。然而，在辅助迁移的情况下，没有充分依据的指标来选择迁移区域，并且动态流体环境中的传播机制在很大程度上是未知的，并且可能是针对每个站点定制的。人们对珊瑚苗圃如何影响下游繁殖的珊瑚的存活率知之甚少。苗圃的形状会影响剪切应力吗？这如何影响个体珊瑚？上游的人类活动（例如土地开垦）如何影响水流和相关的进食机制，或通过沉积而窒息？虽然温度是主要压力源，并且温度数据已用于指导缓解工作，但其他压力源也会影响珊瑚，例如降水量、pH 值、盐度和沉降。为了了解珊瑚礁对变化的敏感性，必须考虑从全球气候变化到局部气候变化的许多因素。需要合适的数据和新的建模框架，能够在从厘米到数百公里的尺度上工作。加入这个项目，您的目标是在面向珊瑚礁保护的定量和建模工具方面实现重大变革。广泛的实地工作对于该项目至关重要，以提供不同比例的成像、开发托儿所和研究区域的高保真 3D 模型以及测量当地条件以约束数值模型。您将把新的观察结果与最先进的 3D 摄影测量相结合帝国理工学院地球科学与工程开发和使用的技术和新颖的流体动力学建模功能（例如 https://fluidityproject.github.io/、https://solidityproject.com/applications/、 https://thetisproject.org/）。您将利用为工程应用程序开发的工具来开发一套针对珊瑚礁保护和管理的数值和建模应用程序。