Ocean Acidification-Category 1: The Molecular Basis of Ocean Acidification Effects on Calcification in Zooxanthellate Corals

海洋酸化（海水pH值下降）是由大气中二氧化碳的增加引起的。预计这将对沉淀碳酸钙的生物产生巨大影响。珊瑚礁是由钙化生物，特别是造礁珊瑚形成和维持的。目前的预测是珊瑚物种将受到负面影响；然而，由于尚不清楚的原因，有限数量的可用测量显示出显著的可变性。这一点至关重要，因为珊瑚礁生态系统在国内和国际上都具有重要的文化和经济价值。因此，该项目将重点放在珊瑚钙化的分子基础上，以了解下个世纪珊瑚将如何应对海洋酸化。罗格斯大学有一个最先进的珊瑚养殖设施，将用于模拟未来的海洋状况。这项工作将利用一套独特的珊瑚组织培养，这将使科学家能够评估珊瑚对海洋酸化反应的细胞生物学基础。实验室测量还将确定珊瑚的地球化学特征如何受到不同环境条件的影响。这些结果很重要，因为珊瑚的地球化学特征被用来了解珊瑚在历史上如何对海洋pH值的变化做出反应。该项目将由罗格斯大学的一个研究小组与台湾和以色列的科学家合作进行。该项目还将邀请K-12教师参与，以制定突出珊瑚生物学和海洋生物地球化学的课程计划。

Ocean acidification (the decrease in seawater pH) is driven by the increase in atmospheric CO2. This is expected to have a dramatic effect on organisms that precipitate calcium carbonate. Coral reefs are formed and maintained by calcifying organisms, particularly reef-building corals. Current predictions are that coral species will be negatively impacted; however the limited number of available measurements exhibit significant variability for reasons that are not understood. This is critically important as coral reef ecosystems hold significant cultural and economic values both nationally and internationally. This program is therefore focused on the molecular basis for calcification in corals in order to understand how corals will respond to ocean acidification in the next century. Rutgers University has a state-of-art coral culture facility that will be used to simulate future ocean conditions. The work will utilize a unique set of coral tissue cultures that will allow scientists to assess the cellular biology that underlies the reponses of corals to ocean acidification. The laboratory measurements will also determine how geochemical signatures of corals are affected by varying environmental conditions. These results are important because coral geochemical signatures are used to understand how corals have responded to changes in the ocean pH in the historical past. The project will be conducted by a research team at Rutgers, in collaboration with scientists in Taiwan and Israel. The program will also engage K-12 teachers in order to develop lesson plans that highlight coral biology and ocean biogeochemistry.