OCE-PRF: How larval behavior and microbes govern the assembly of Caribbean coral communities

在扩散过程中，许多海洋物种的幼虫受益于水柱和表面上的微生物（细菌和微生物）提供的丰富详细的特定地点的导航信息。在底栖生物方面，微生物群落可能会压迫沉淀的幼虫，增加死亡率。如果一个物种能够进化到从高死亡率的环境中发现线索并远离它们，这种威胁就会减少。PI以前使用产卵的加勒比珊瑚物种的工作表明，珊瑚礁微生物群落影响幼虫的定居和生存;幼虫暴露于同种成年珊瑚附近收集的水，死亡率较高，定居率较低。由于宿主特异性病原体的死亡风险增加，该物种可能已经进化到检测和避免同种成虫附近的微生物。这是珊瑚群落聚集的普遍现象吗？在目前的NSF资助下，PI还分离并鉴定了第一种在加勒比珊瑚物种中诱导幼虫定居的培养细菌。拟议的项目将在库拉考的CARMABI基金会研究站进行，赞助科学家Mark Vermeij博士。PI将在实验室和现场实验中使用多个物种的游泳阶段珊瑚幼虫，以研究珊瑚礁上的微生物群落异质性如何为珊瑚提供信息。智力优势：珊瑚礁每年通过渔业、旅游业和文化价值为人类提供数十亿美元的商品和服务，但它们受到人类活动的严重威胁。由于成年珊瑚的死亡率越来越高，世界珊瑚礁的持续生存将越来越取决于幼年珊瑚的成功补充。因此，这项研究将推进一个重要的行为在一个具有生态意义的海洋生物群体的知识，同时测试一个新的生态假设的一般性：珊瑚幼虫已经进化到使用微生物群落作为导航信息来检测同种。产品将包括有关珊瑚招募模式的新知识和有关诱导定居的细菌的具体知识。更广泛的影响：珊瑚礁健康：将向加勒比的珊瑚礁恢复团体提供诱导定居的细菌菌株，从而提高它们饲养、定居和移植幼珊瑚的速度，以加快退化珊瑚礁的恢复。培训和扩大参与：为代表性不足的群体的学生成功地竞争博士学位。计划和资金，获得指导，研究培训和实地工作经验是至关重要的。然而，这些机会往往仅限于那些有能力做志愿者或自掏腰包的学生。为了解决这一问题，该项目每年将从代表性不足的群体中挑选两到三名美国本科生/硕士生到库拉考的研究地点，进行珊瑚礁生态学和实地研究方面的第一次实践培训。沟通：研究结果将通过公开讲座、新闻采访和CARMABI的自然教育计划在库拉考各地分享，该计划每年有14，000名库拉索学童参加。在库拉考之外，PI将继续追求创造性的传播项目。作为TED全球研究员，她将与TED-Ed合作制作一个关于生物多样性的动画片段，并专门就促进海洋科学的多样性发表TED演讲。TED是一个非营利组织，致力于分享想法，并将来自技术，娱乐和设计的人们聚集在一起（www.ted.com）。这个博士后奖学金由海洋科学部管理，由国际和综合活动办公室的国际科学和工程科资助。

During dispersal, larvae of many marine species benefit from the richly detailed, site-specific navigational information provided to them by microbes (Bacteria and Archaea) in the water column and on surfaces. On the benthos, microbial communities may stress settling larvae and increase mortality. This threat is reduced if a species can evolve to detect cues from high-mortality environments and navigate away from them. Previous work by the PI using a spawning Caribbean coral species demonstrated that coral reef microbial communities affect both larval settlement and survival; larvae exposed to water collected near conspecific adult corals suffered higher mortality and lower settlement rates. This species may have evolved to detect and avoid the microbes near conspecific adults, due to the increased risk of mortality from host-specific pathogens. Could this be a general phenomenon governing the assembly of coral communities? Under current NSF funding, the PI has also isolated and identified the first cultured bacteria that induce larval settlement in a Caribbean coral species. The proposed project will be conducted at CARMABI Foundation Research Station in Curacao with sponsoring scientist Dr. Mark Vermeij. The PI will use swimming-stage coral larvae of multiple species in laboratory and field experiments to investigate how microbial community heterogeneity on coral reefs provides information to settling corals. Intellectual Merit: Coral reefs provide humans with billions of dollars in goods and services each year through fisheries, tourism, and cultural value, yet they are massively threatened by human activity. As adult corals die at increasing rates, the persistence of the world's coral reefs will depend increasingly on successful recruitment by juvenile corals. This study will therefore advance knowledge of a crucial behavior in an ecologically significant group of marine organisms while testing the generality of a novel ecological hypothesis: that coral larvae have evolved to use microbial communities as navigational information to detect conspecifics. Products will include new knowledge about coral recruitment patterns and specific knowledge about bacteria that induce settlement. Broader Impacts : Reef health: Settlement-inducing bacterial strains will be provided to reef restoration groups in the Caribbean, thus increasing the rate at which they can raise, settle, and outplant juvenile corals to speed the recovery of degraded reefs. Training and broadening participation: For students in underrepresented groups to successfully compete for Ph.D. programs and funding, access to mentorship, research training, and fieldwork experiences are critical. Yet these opportunities are often limited to students who can afford to volunteer or pay out-of-pocket. To address this problem, the project will bring two to three U.S. undergrad/Master's students from underrepresented groups to the study site in Curacao each year for their first hands-on training in reef ecology and field research. Communication: Research results will be shared across Curacao through public lectures, news interviews, and via CARMABI's nature education program, which reaches 14,000 Curacaoan schoolchildren yearly. Beyond Curacao, the PI will continue to pursue creative communication projects. As a TED Global Fellow, she will produce an animated segment about biodiversity in collaboration with TED-Ed and give a TED Talk specifically about promoting diversity in ocean science. TED is a nonprofit devoted to sharing ideas and bringing people together from technology, entertainment, and design (www.ted.com).This postdoctoral fellowship is managed by the Division of Ocean Sciences and funded by the International Science and Engineering Section of the Office of International and Integrative Activities.