SGER: Micro-Spatial Scale Assessment of the Genetic Architecture of Coral Reefs

自然和人为力量都影响着珊瑚礁（例如，飓风和污染）。世界上大约27%的珊瑚礁已经基本消失，接下来将有另外32%的珊瑚礁受到威胁。如果这些趋势不减弱，全球不到一半的珊瑚礁可能在未来26年内存活下来。任何生态系统的生态健康都取决于成虫的持续存在和成功的补充。珊瑚群落是珊瑚礁的基础，可能是珊瑚礁系统健康和持久性的关键。虽然有一些关于珊瑚礁生态和种群关联性的资料，但对基本进程尚未形成明确的共识。 调查员将在微观空间尺度上评估珊瑚礁，并以地理信息系统格式综合物理和遗传数据。 该项目支持两个主要目标：1）基因型的每一个个体的两个物种在一个补丁珊瑚礁，以评估在微观空间尺度的相关性和2）使用这些结果作为一个成核力的研究人员有兴趣在评估微空间物理，环境和个人生理方面的遗传特征的珊瑚礁。通过将这些数据以GIS格式组合，研究者希望开始阐明漂白、疾病和存活率的个体间差异的根本原因。SGER的支持是适当的，因为以前没有尝试过对珊瑚礁上的每一个珊瑚物种进行测绘和测量，因此很难预测完成这项任务所需的工作量。此外，地理信息系统在海洋系统中的应用还处于起步阶段，因此，这一项目显然是探索性的。这项研究产生的数据还可能鼓励发展新的空间统计，从而能够进行比目前更深入的分析。 该项目的新奇可能会导致海洋生物学，种群遗传学，地理信息系统和保护领域的进步。 更广泛的影响包括为研究生提供培训，以及为代表性不足的少数群体的高中生提供参与研究活动的机会。

Both natural and anthropogenic forces impact coral reefs (e.g., hurricanes and pollution). Approximately 27% of the world's coral reefs already are essentially gone and will be followed by an additional 32% that currently are considered threatened. If these trends are not abated, less than half of the coral reefs globally are likely to survive the next 26 years. The ecological health of any ecosystem is dependent on the persistence of adults and successful recruitment. Coral colonies are the foundation of reefs and likely are a linchpin in the health and persistence of reef systems. Although some information is available on the ecology and population connectivity of coral reefs, a clear consensus understanding of fundamental processes has not emerged. The investigator will assess coral reefs at the micro spatial-scale and integrate physical and genetic data in a GIS format. The project supports two primary goals: 1) to genotype every individual of two species on a patch reef to assess relatedness at a micro-spatial scale and 2) to use these results as a nucleating force for a consortium of researchers interested in assessing the micro-spatial physical, environmental, and individual physiological aspects of the genetically characterized reef. By combining these data in a GIS format, the investigator hopes to begin to elucidate the underlying cause of individual-to-individual differences in bleaching, disease, and survivability. SGER support is appropriate because the mapping and surveying of every individual of a coral species on a reef has not previously been attempted and therefore it is difficult to predict the amount of effort necessary to accomplish this task. In addition, the application of GIS to marine systems is very much in its infancy making this project clearly exploratory in nature. The data generated by this study also are likely to encourage the development of new spatial statistics allowing a greater depth of analysis than is currently available. The very novelty of this project may result in advancements in the fields of marine biology, population genetics, GIS, and conservation. The broader impacts include training for a graduate student and opportunities for high school students from underrepresented minorities to participate in research activities.