Linking navigation behaviors of coral larvae to microbial cues and microbe-mediated mortality

将珊瑚幼虫的导航行为与微生物线索和微生物介导的死亡率联系起来

• 批准号: 1146880
• 负责人: Samuel Traina
• 金额: $ 16万
• 依托单位: University of California - Merced
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-10-01 至 2014-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1146880&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Linking; navigation; behaviors; coral; larvae

Many aquatic animals produce larvae that use complex swimming behaviors to locate settlement habitats. Microbes (Bacteria and Archaea) in the water column and on settlement surfaces may provide navigational information for animal larvae, however the role of microbes in each stage of the coral settlement process is not well understood. This project will use larvae from six Caribbean coral species to test a novel hypothesis about coral behavior, that coral larvae use waterborne microbial communities as navigational information and that they avoid adults of the same species. The study will: (1) determine how coral larvae navigate different reef microbial environments by quantifying their swimming behaviors using videoanalysis, (2) characterize microbial communities from part 1 using high-throughput DNA sequencing, (3) test for behavior, survivorship, and settlement effects in larvae exposed to individual bacterial species, and (4) observe whether patterns of coral settlement in the field are consistent with laboratory results.Intellectual merit: Coral reefs create food, economic revenue, shoreline protection, and cultural pride, yet they are massively threatened by human activity. Meanwhile, coral recruitment rates continue to decline on Caribbean reefs. This project will advance knowledge of: the microbial cues key to successful coral recruitment, the conditions under which coral larvae can identify lower-mortality habitats, and the best approaches for helping threatened corals survive their most crucial life history stage. Broader impacts: At a research site in Curaçao, we will continue to communicate our findings through the CARMABI Foundation nature education program and through CARMABI's broader outreach channels (news coverage, public lectures). We will continue to communicate with local scuba divers, nature resource managers, and government officials on Curaçao, and broadly through publications, presentations, photography exhibits, blogging, and podcasts. The project will support the training of one female postdoctoral researcher and two students.

许多水生动物产生的幼虫利用复杂的游泳行为来定位栖息地。水柱和沉降面上的微生物(细菌和古生菌)可以为动物幼虫提供导航信息，但微生物在珊瑚定居过程每个阶段的作用尚不清楚。该项目将使用六种加勒比海珊瑚的幼虫来测试一种关于珊瑚行为的新假说，即珊瑚幼虫使用水生微生物群落作为导航信息，并且它们避开相同物种的成虫。这项研究将：(1)通过使用视频分析来量化珊瑚幼虫的游泳行为，确定它们如何在不同的珊瑚礁微生物环境中航行，(2)使用高通量DNA测序来表征第一部分的微生物群落，(3)测试暴露于单个细菌物种的幼虫的行为、生存和定居效应，以及(4)观察珊瑚在野外的定居模式是否与实验室结果一致。智力优势：珊瑚礁创造食物、经济收入、海岸线保护和文化自豪感，但它们受到人类活动的大规模威胁。与此同时，加勒比海珊瑚礁的珊瑚采集率继续下降。该项目将促进以下方面的知识：珊瑚成功招募的关键微生物线索、珊瑚幼虫能够识别低死亡率栖息地的条件以及帮助受威胁的珊瑚度过其最关键的生活史阶段的最佳方法。更广泛的影响：在库拉索的一个研究地点，我们将继续通过CARMABI基金会自然教育项目和CARMABI更广泛的外联渠道(新闻报道、公开讲座)传达我们的发现。我们将继续与当地的潜水员、自然资源经理和政府官员就库拉索进行交流，并广泛地通过出版物、演示文稿、摄影展览、博客和播客进行交流。该项目将支持培训一名女性博士后研究员和两名学生。