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：在东太平洋建立共生体的灵活性和生理学：根据未来气候变化预测生态成功特拉华大学托德C.拉杰内塞佛罗里达国际大学大量栖息在珊瑚组织中的光合共生体可能在严重的热应激期间受到破坏。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，并随后导致它们所支持的整个生态系统退化。一些珊瑚可以容纳具有不同热敏性的不同种类的共生体，这一发现导致了这样的假设，即如果珊瑚可以容纳耐热藻类，这种可变性可以为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（共生藻属的藻类）可能起着这种作用，但对这种和其他群的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。东太平洋为检验共生变化和恢复力的想法提供了一个绝佳的场所，因为它包含了受白化影响程度不同的地区，并且已知有d型虫黄藻的珊瑚物种。Drs。Warner和LaJeunesse将调查不同虫黄藻在墨西哥西部三个地区的几个具有重要生态意义的造礁珊瑚种群内部和种群之间的分布，这些种群在漂白频率和严重程度上存在历史差异。在多个时间和空间尺度上的遗传调查将利用藻类检测的新方法来表征所选珊瑚内虫黄藻的完整补充。我们将评估热暴露对已知含有多个或单个共生体的珊瑚的光合活动和钙化的短期和长期影响，以及通过共生体变化从热应激中恢复的潜力。最后，将通过调查珊瑚-藻类组合的生长和繁殖产量来评估适应度。这项研究的结果应该为zoo黄藻和珊瑚礁珊瑚如何（或是否）在基于预测的海水温度升高的未来环境干扰中生存的问题提供急需的知识。拟议的工作代表了美国和墨西哥科学家之间的合作努力，包括培训来自合作研究人员所在机构的两名博士生和几名本科生。

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.