RUI-LTREB Renewal: Three decades of coral reef community dynamics in St. John, USVI: 2014-2019

描述珊瑚礁等生态系统如何变化是评估全球气候变化和海洋酸化的生物后果的首要工作。 珊瑚礁已成为这些努力的典范。在人们担心它们可能在世纪内生态灭绝的情况下，描述什么已经失去，什么还剩下，什么处于危险之中，是至关重要的。 该项目利用了1987年开始的无与伦比的信息遗产，以评估珊瑚礁将持续存在的形式，以及它们能够抵抗环境挑战的程度。这一长期项目是对加勒比珊瑚礁进行的27年研究的继续。收集的各种数据将使调查人员能够确定当地和全球干扰在珊瑚礁退化中的作用。这些数据还将揭示珊瑚礁的结构和功能，在未来有更多的人类干扰，珊瑚礁可能不再占主导地位的热带珊瑚礁。该项目的广泛社会影响包括促进对生态系统的理解，该生态系统长期以来一直象征着生物世界的美丽，多样性和精致。拟议的研究将使新一代的本科生和研究生接触自然历史，并对我们的星球正在发生的变化进行定量评估。这种培训将导致当代生态学的更深刻的理解，同时，它促进了卓越的STEM职业生涯，并支持在美国的技术基础设施。大学和高中之间将建立伙伴关系，使大学教师和学生与k-12教育工作者及其学生接触，使教师能够在鼓舞人心的珊瑚礁地点开展研究，并激励儿童追求STEM职业。开放获取数十年的遗留数据将刺激进一步的研究和教学。

Describing how ecosystems like coral reefs are changing is at the forefront of efforts to evaluate the biological consequences of global climate change and ocean acidification. Coral reefs have become the poster child of these efforts. Amid concern that they could become ecologically extinct within a century, describing what has been lost, what is left, and what is at risk, is of paramount importance. This project exploits an unrivalled legacy of information beginning in 1987 to evaluate the form in which reefs will persist, and the extent to which they will be able to resist further onslaughts of environmental challenges. This long-term project continues a 27-year study of Caribbean coral reefs. The diverse data collected will allow the investigators to determine the roles of local and global disturbances in reef degradation. The data will also reveal the structure and function of reefs in a future with more human disturbances, when corals may no longer dominate tropical reefs. The broad societal impacts of this project include advancing understanding of an ecosystem that has long been held emblematic of the beauty, diversity, and delicacy of the biological world. Proposed research will expose new generations of undergraduate and graduate students to natural history and the quantitative assessment of the ways in which our planet is changing. This training will lead to a more profound understanding of contemporary ecology at the same time that it promotes excellence in STEM careers and supports technology infrastructure in the United States. Partnerships will be established between universities and high schools to bring university faculty and students in contact with k-12 educators and their students, allow teachers to carry out research in inspiring coral reef locations, and motivate children to pursue STEM careers. Open access to decades of legacy data will stimulate further research and teaching.