CRUI: Response of Tropical Marine Symbioses to Environmental Stresses: An Integrated Approach

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9711075 Muller-Parker Coral reefs are highly diverse, productive, and economically important communities that depend on the symbiotic association between algae (zooxanthellae) and corals. This collaborative cross-disciplinary study linking optics, chemistry of pigments, and biology will determine the sequence of events during disruption of the symbiosis in tropical anemones and corals during exposure to stressors linked to global climate change. Three aspects of coral bleaching will be studied, using anemones and corals subjected to ultraviolet light and high temperature: 1) changes in the optical spectra of symbiotic associations during bleaching, 2) changes in photosynthetic pigments of zooxanthellae, and 3) changes in animal-algal biomass parameters and photosynthetic performance of zooxanthellae. The project team includes both science and science education undergraduate majors who will develop research projects and curricular materials for use in field teaching and introductory courses. The PIs will also develop a new interdisciplinary course entitled "Marine Life and Light" which will involve aspects of physics, biology, chemistry and environmental science and will include students from all of these disciplines. Coral reefs are the "rain forests" of the ocean. These highly diverse, productive, and economically important communities depend on the symbiotic relationship between algae and corals. Widespread coral "bleaching" (the loss of the algal symbionts) is attributed to environmental stresses linked to global climate change. This project will study how the intimate intracellular relationship between photosynthetic algae and their animal host is affected by environmental stress, using a collaborative and cross- disciplinary team approach linking optics, chemistry of pigments, and biology. This project also provides a model for integrating science and science education programs by involving undergraduates from both disciplines in the basic researc h and in the development of educational materials which will benefit school children and the general public. The PIs will also develop a new interdisciplinary course entitled "Marine Life and Light" which will involve aspects of physics, biology, chemistry and environmental science and will include students from all of these disciplines.