Collaborative Research: Establishing the Flexibility & Physiology of Symbiodinium Symbioses in the Eastern Pacific: Predicting Ecological Success in Light of Future Climate Ch

合作研究：建立东太平洋共生藻的适应性和生理学：根据未来气候变化预测生态成功。特拉华州华纳大学LaJeunesse佛罗里达国际大学大量栖息在珊瑚组织中的光合共生体在严重的热应力期间可能会受到损害。 这些情况导致大规模珊瑚白化事件，往往导致大量珊瑚死亡，从而使它们所支持的整个生态系统退化。 一些珊瑚可以拥有不同种类的共生体，具有不同的热敏感性，这一发现导致了一种假设，即如果珊瑚可以容纳耐热藻类，这种变异性可以为适应或适应气候变化提供一个轴。特别是，人们认为“D”谱系中的虫黄藻（共生藻属中的藻类）可能起到这一作用，但对这类虫黄藻和其他虫黄藻的生态分布和生理细节的了解在很大程度上是不完整的。东太平洋提供了一个很好的场所来测试共生体变化和恢复力的想法，因为它包括受到漂白不同影响的地区，并且已知有珊瑚物种可以携带D型虫黄藻。 Warner和LaJeunesse将研究墨西哥西部三个地区几个具有重要生态意义的造礁珊瑚种群内部和之间不同虫黄藻的分布，这些珊瑚在漂白频率和严重程度方面存在历史差异。 在多个时间和空间尺度上进行的遗传调查将利用新的藻类探测方法，以确定选定珊瑚中全部虫黄藻的特征。 将评估热暴露对已知含有多种或单一共生体的珊瑚的光合作用活性和钙化的短期和长期影响，以及通过共生体变化从热应力中恢复的潜力。最后，通过调查珊瑚-藻类组合的生长和繁殖产量来评估适合度。 这项研究的结果应该提供急需的知识，如何（或如果）虫黄藻和珊瑚礁可以生存的基础上预测的海水温度增加未来的环境干扰的问题。 拟议的工作代表了美国和墨西哥科学家之间的合作努力，包括培训两名博士生和几名来自合作研究人员家乡机构的本科生。

Collaborative Research: Establishing the Flexibility and Physiology of Symbiodinium Symbioses in the Eastern Pacific: Predicting Ecological Success in Light of Future Climate ChangeMark E. WarnerUniversity of DelawareTodd C. LaJeunesseFlorida International UniversityPhotosynthetic symbionts that inhabit coral tissues in great abundance may become damaged during periods of severe thermal stress. These situations lead to mass coral bleaching events often resulting in the mortality of numerous corals and subsequent degradation of the entire ecosystem they support. The discovery that some corals can harbor different species of symbiont with differing thermal sensitivity has led to the hypothesis that such variability could provide an axis for acclimatization or adaptation to climate change if corals can host thermally tolerant algae. In particular, it is thought that zooxanthellae (algae in the genus Symbiodinium) within the "D"lineage may serve this role, yet knowledge of the ecological distribution and physiological detail of this and other groups of zooxanthellae is largely incomplete. The eastern Pacific provides an excellent venue to test ideas of symbiont change and resilience, as it encompasses regions that have been differentially impacted by bleaching and has coral species known to harbor D-type zooxanthellae. Drs. Warner and LaJeunesse will investigate the distribution of different zooxanthellae within and between several populations of ecologically important reef-building corals in three regions of western Mexico with historical differences in bleaching frequency and severity. Genetic surveys at multiple temporal and spatial scales will utilize new methods for algal detection to characterize the full complement of zooxanthellae within chosen corals. The short and long-term impacts of thermal exposure on the photosynthetic activity and calcification of corals known to harbor multiple or single symbionts will be assessed, as will the potential for recovery from thermal stress via symbiont change. Lastly, fitness will be evaluated by investigating the growth and reproductive output of coral-algal combinations. The outcome of this research should provide much needed knowledge toward the question of how (or if) zooxanthellae and reef corals can survive future environmental disturbance based on predicted increases in sea water temperature. The proposed work represents a collaborative effort between U.S. and Mexican scientists and includes the training of two PhD students and several undergraduate students from the collaborating investigators' home institutions.