EAPSI: Linking Climate Variability and Coral Health Through Great Barrier Reef Coral Records

近几十年来，世界范围内的珊瑚礁健康状况有所下降，这在很大程度上是由于环境条件的变化。然而，这些趋势缺乏长期的历史背景。基于珊瑚的过去海洋条件重建可以帮助研究人员预测珊瑚礁如何应对持续的压力因素，如海洋变暖和酸化。三种方法——地球化学、生长带和发光——通常用于生成这些气候记录，但很少同时使用。结合这些方法重建了过去的环境变化和珊瑚生长。该项目将与澳大利亚海洋科学研究所（AIMS）的Janice Lough博士合作，在三个珊瑚核上生成发光和生长带记录，这将补充现有的地球化学测量。这项工作将对环境条件及其对珊瑚健康的影响产生新的记录。三个珊瑚岩心已经进行了地球化学分析，包括稳定同位素（δ -18- o和δ -13- c）和元素比（Sr/Ca）。这些测量结果与海水温度和盐度的变化相对应。在AIMS，发光带将用于跟踪陆地径流的变化，珊瑚生长将通过三个参数（延伸、密度和钙化率）来测量。这些方法同时记录了海洋温度、盐度和径流的变化，以及它们对珊瑚生长速度的影响。该项目为未来的多世纪记录奠定了方法论基础。美国国家科学基金会EAPSI奖支持一名美国研究生的研究，并与澳大利亚科学院合作资助。

Coral reef health has declined worldwide in recent decades, in large part due to changing environmental conditions. However, these trends lack long historical context. Coral-based reconstructions of past ocean conditions can help researchers anticipate how reefs will respond to ongoing stressors, such as warming and acidifying oceans. Three approaches--geochemical, growth banding, and luminescence--are often used to generate these climate records, but are rarely used together. Combining these methods reconstructs both past environmental change and coral growth. This project will generate luminescence and growth banding records on three coral cores in collaboration with Dr. Janice Lough at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), which will supplement existing geochemical measurements. This work will produce a novel record of both environmental conditions and their effects on coral health.Three coral cores have already undergone geochemical analyses, both of stable isotopes (delta-18-O and delta-13-C) and elemental ratios (Sr/Ca). These measurements correspond to changes in seawater temperature and salinity. At AIMS, luminescent bands will be used to track changes in terrestrial runoff, and coral growth will be measured by three parameters (extension, density, and calcification rate). In conjunction, these methods record changes in ocean temperature, salinity, and runoff, and their effects on coral growth rate. This project establishes a methodological basis for future, multi-century records. This NSF EAPSI award supports the research of a U.S. graduate student and is funded in collaboration with the Australian Academy of Science.