Collaborative Research: Identifying the Role of Basin-scale Climate Variability in the Decline of Atlantic Corals

人类的二氧化碳排放正在给海洋状况带来可测量的变化。其中许多变化对珊瑚礁生态系统产生了负面影响，降低了它们为全世界数亿人提供食物、耕地、旅游目的地和海岸线保护的能力。该项目的重点是海洋变暖引起的层化增强对加勒比海和百慕大地区造礁珊瑚生长的影响。层化作用的增强影响了为珊瑚提供食物的初级生产力。研究人员产生的初步数据表明，由于这些变化，大西洋珊瑚的生长在过去50年里有所下降。我们设计了一个基于实验室的实验来验证这一假设。如果得到证实，预计到21世纪大西洋初级生产力的下降可能会与气候变暖和海洋酸化对北大西洋珊瑚礁生态系统的影响相媲美，而且肯定会加剧。为研究生研究提供支持，并通过伍兹霍尔海洋研究所暑期奖学金和百慕大海洋科学研究所-普林斯顿环境研究所暑期实习方案促进本科生的参与。结果将在国家和国际会议上提出，并通过同行评议的出版物及时传播。通过该计划产生的所有数据将被存档在生物和化学海洋数据管理办公室。人为气候变化已成为21世纪珊瑚礁生存的主要威胁。除了海洋变暖和酸化，全球气候模型预测，在21世纪，上层海洋的分层加剧，导致北大西洋生产力下降高达50%。该项目采用受控的实验室操作实验，以测试加勒比海和百慕大地区主要造礁珊瑚的生产力和生长之间的联系。调查人员产生的初步数据，包括长达数十年的珊瑚生长历史以及珊瑚组织和骨骼的氮同位素比率，表明该地区的珊瑚生长在过去50年里有所下降，以应对已经在进行的生产力变化。如果海洋环流、生产力下降和珊瑚生长之间的联系得到证实，预计21世纪生产力的下降可能会与气候变暖和海洋酸化对北大西洋珊瑚礁生态系统的影响相媲美，而且肯定会加剧。

Human carbon dioxide emissions are causing measureable changes in ocean conditions. Many of these changes negatively affect coral reef ecosystems, reducing their ability to provide food, arable land, tourist destinations and coastline protection for hundreds of millions of people worldwide. This project focuses on the effects of enhanced stratification, caused by ocean warming, on the growth of reef-building corals across the Caribbean and Bermuda. Enhanced stratification impacts primary productivity which generates food for corals. Initial data generated by the investigators suggest that Atlantic coral growth has declined in the last 5 decades in response to these changes. A laboratory-based experiment is designed to test this hypothesis. If verified, the projected decline in Atlantic primary productivity through the 21st century could potentially rival and will certainly exacerbate the effects of warming and ocean acidification on coral reef ecosystems across the North Atlantic. Support is provided for graduate research, and undergraduate participation is facilitated through the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Summer Fellowship and the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences-Princeton Environmental Institute Summer Internship Programs. The results will be presented at national and international meetings and disseminated in a timely manner through peer-reviewed publications. All data produced through this program will be archived in the Biological and Chemical Oceanographic Data Management Office.Anthropogenic climate change has emerged as a principle threat to coral reef survival in the 21st century. In addition to ocean warming and acidification, global climate models project enhanced stratification of the upper oceans through the 21st century and a consequent decline in productivity, by up to 50%, in the North Atlantic. This project employs controlled laboratory manipulation experiments to test the link between productivity and growth of the dominant reef-building corals across the Caribbean and Bermuda. Preliminary data generated by the investigators, including multi-decade long coral growth histories and nitrogen isotope ratios of coral tissue and skeleton, suggest that coral growth across the region has declined over the past 50 years in response to productivity changes already underway. If the link between ocean circulation, productivity decline, and coral growth is verified, the projected 21st century decline in productivity could rival and will certainly exacerbate the effects of warming and ocean acidification on North Atlantic coral reef ecosystems.