RUI: Ocean Acidification- Category 1- The effects of ocean acidification on the organismic biology and community ecology of corals, calcified algae, and coral reefs

RUI：海洋酸化 - 第 1 类 - 海洋酸化对珊瑚、钙化藻和珊瑚礁的有机生物学和群落生态的影响

• 批准号: 1041270
• 负责人: Robert Carpenter
• 金额: $ 199.27万
• 依托单位: The University Corporation, Northridge
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1041270&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Ocean; Acidification; Category; effects

This project is a 4-y effort focused on the effects of Ocean Acidification (OA) on coral reefs at multiple spatial and functional scales. The project focuses on the corals, calcified algae, and coral reefs of Moorea, French Polynesia, establishes baseline community-wide calcification data for the detection of OA effects on a decadal-scale, and builds on the research context and climate change focus of the Moorea Coral Reef LTER. The project goals will be attained by combining the skills of scientists with expertise in tropical algal ecophysiology and coral ecophysiology and will establish a post-doctoral, graduate, and undergraduate mentoring program to accomplish the field experimentation. The project addresses one of the most significant contemporary issues in marine science (OA), capitalizes on the research commitment of the NSF LTER program, and will help to ensure that the US maintains a pivotal role in the global effort to understand OA.Intellectual Merit. While coral reefs have undergone unprecedented changes in community structure in the past 50 y, they now may be exposed to their gravest threat since the Triassic. This threat is increasing atmospheric CO2, which equilibrates with seawater and causes ocean acidification (OA). In the marine environment, the resulting decline in carbonate saturation state (Omega) makes it energetically less feasible for calcifying taxa to mineralize; this is a major concern for coral reefs. It is possible that the scleractinian architects of reefs will cease to exist as a mineralized taxon within a century, and that calcifying algae will be severely impaired. While there is a rush to understand these effects and make recommendations leading to their mitigation, these efforts are influenced strongly by the notion that the impacts of pCO2 (which causes Omega to change) on calcifying taxa, and the mechanisms that drive them, are well-known. The investigators believe that many of the key processes of mineralization on reefs that are potentially affected by OA are only poorly known and that current knowledge is inadequate to support the scaling of OA effects to the community level. It is vital to measure organismal-scale calcification of key taxa, elucidate the mechanistic bases of these responses, evaluate community scale calcification, and finally, to conduct focused experiments to describe the functional relationships between these scales of mineralization.This project is a hypothesis-driven approach to compare the effects of OA on reef taxa and coral reefs in Moorea. The PIs will utilize microcosms to address the impacts and mechanisms of OA on biological processes, as well as the ecological processes shaping community structure. Additionally, studies of reef-wide metabolism will be used to evaluate the impacts of OA on intact reef ecosystems, to provide a context within which the experimental investigations can be scaled to the real world, and critically, to provide a much needed reference against which future changes can be gauged. Importantly, this proposal addresses several of the high priority recommendations of NSF-sponsored workshops and recent reviews of ocean acidification.Significance and Broader Impacts. The significance of this project lies in the current inability of the scientific community to accurately predict the effects of OA on coral reefs. The broader significance and impact of this research is to blend two approaches, a response of organisms to environmental chemistry versus ecological competition and multiple forcing at both organismal and community scales. The data also will provide a baseline for repeated investigations in the coming decades. In addition to conventional broader impacts including the mentoring of postdocs, graduate students, undergraduates, and technicians, CSUN is designated as an Hispanic-serving institution, which will ensure that the research will reach beyond the traditional demographics dominating scientific disciplines in the US. The labs of the co-PIs are integrated within a framework of K-12 education (including teachers and their students), and a mentoring program that forges interactions among children, university faculty, and graduate students. In the field, the Gump Research Station interacts with the Polynesian community through the At'itia cultural center that provides a locus for educational activities.

该项目是一项4-y的努力，侧重于海洋酸化（OA）对多个空间和功能尺度下的珊瑚礁的影响。该项目侧重于法属波利尼西亚的摩尔山脉的珊瑚，钙化的藻类和珊瑚礁，建立了社区范围内的基准钙化数据，以检测OA对十年级尺度的影响，并建立在研究环境和Moorea Coral Coral Reef lter的气候变化焦点上。将通过将科学家的技能与热带藻类生态生理学和珊瑚生态生理学方面的专业知识相结合，并将建立博士后，研究生和本科指导计划来实现项目目标来实现项目目标。该项目介绍了海洋科学（OA）中最重要的当代问题之一，利用了NSF lter计划的研究承诺，并将有助于确保美国在全球了解OA.Intlectual功能的努力中保持关键作用。尽管珊瑚礁在过去50年中经历了社区结构前所未有的变化，但现在他们可能会受到三叠纪以来最严重的威胁。这种威胁正在增加大气二氧化碳，这与海水平衡并导致海洋酸化（OA）。在海洋环境中，碳酸盐饱和状态（欧米茄）的下降使其在能量上的可行性降低了钙化分类群以矿化矿化。这是珊瑚礁的主要问题。珊瑚礁的巩膜建筑师可能会在一个世纪内以矿化分类单元的形式存在，并且钙化藻类将受到严重损害。尽管急于理解这些影响并提出建议缓解的建议，但这些努力受到PCO2对钙化分类单元的影响（导致Omega的变化）的影响强烈影响，而驱动它们的机制是众所周知的。 调查人员认为，可能受OA影响的礁石上矿化的许多关键过程只是鲜为人知，并且当前的知识不足以支持OA效应对社区水平的扩展。衡量关键分类单元的有机体尺度钙化，阐明这些反应的机械基础，评估社区规模钙化，最后进行重点实验以描述这些矿化规模之间的功能关系。该项目是一种假设驱动的方法，以比较OA对礁石群和coral reefs in MooreA的影响。 PI将利用缩影来解决OA对生物过程的影响和机制，以及塑造社区结构的生态过程。此外，将使用对礁石代谢的研究来评估OA对完整礁生态系统的影响，以提供一个可以将实验研究缩放到现实世界的环境，并批判性地提供了急需的参考，以使未来的变化可以衡量。重要的是，该提案介绍了NSF赞助的研讨会的一些高优先级建议以及最近对海洋酸化的评论。意义和更广泛的影响。该项目的重要性在于科学界目前无法准确预测OA对珊瑚礁的影响。这项研究的更广泛的意义和影响是将两种方法融合在一起，生物对环境化学与生态竞争的反应以及在有机体和社区尺度上的多种强迫。数据还将在未来几十年内为重复调查提供基准。除了传统的广泛影响外，包括对博士后，研究生，本科生和技术人员的指导，CSUN还被指定为西班牙裔服务机构，这将确保这项研究将超出传统的人口统计学，以占主导地位的科学学科。 Co-Pis的实验室集成在K-12教育的框架内（包括教师及其学生），以及一项指导计划，该计划在儿童，大学教职员工和研究生之间进行了互动。在该领域，Agump研究站通过At'itia文化中心与波利尼西亚社区互动，该中心为教育活动提供了一个轨迹。