The impact of a large episodic disturbance on an invasive (outbreak) coral: Will Typhoon Maysak promote or suppress an invasive Montipora sp. Coral on reefs of Ulithi, Micronesia

位于密克罗尼西亚联邦的乌利提环礁是世界第四大环礁，二战期间曾是美国海军第三舰队的重要集结地。环礁上有充满活力的珊瑚礁，以及依赖这些珊瑚礁的人们的社区。乌利蒂遭受了许多人类和自然的干扰，包括1960年袭击的台风奥菲莉亚。当地渔民认为，这一事件引发了覆盖珊瑚礁的杂草入侵珊瑚的入侵过程，并剥夺了鱼类和章鱼的基本栖息地，可能威胁到这些生态系统。四年前，当地人邀请调查人员到乌利蒂研究珊瑚礁，共同努力提高渔业和珊瑚礁的健康。研究人员对入侵的珊瑚DNA进行了测序，并将其鉴定为单孢菌属的一个新物种。然而，它的入侵动力仍然是一个谜。2015年4月初，乌利蒂再次遭遇大风波：超强台风梅萨克。台风摧毁了岛上的大部分建筑，并移走了从海岸上可以看到的大部分珊瑚礁。研究人员利用过去四年的基线数据，与一组学生一起，试图绘制出台风对入侵的蒙蒂孢拉的影响。通过基因组测序，他们希望更好地了解台风Maysak在这种入侵珊瑚的建立和扩散中所起的作用。这个项目提供了一个独特的机会来研究罕见事件的影响和入侵过程，并广泛传播研究结果，提高人们对珊瑚礁、气候变化和独特的人-自然耦合系统的认识。他们的经历将发布在社交媒体和项目网站onePeopleonereef.ucsc.edu上，以及通过国家自然基金会。超级台风梅萨克于2015年3月31日袭击了乌利提环礁，在过去的至少50年里，入侵/爆发的Montipora物种已经影响了那里的浅层珊瑚礁。研究人员提出的研究将通过基因组学和珊瑚礁采样来阐明这种罕见但影响很大的事件对生物入侵的影响，以调查台风前由Montipora主导的密克罗尼西亚珊瑚礁，以及没有Montipora或密度较低的更原始的珊瑚礁。调查人员将把这些发现与过去四年从这些网站收集的现有数据联系起来。这些研究将促进我们对珊瑚礁系统中生物入侵的理解，探索珊瑚物种作为暴发生物体的不寻常发生，并有助于我们了解周期性干扰--可能随着全球气候变化的推进而增加--可能对世界范围内受到威胁的珊瑚礁生态系统造成多大影响的知识。

Ulithi Atoll, in the Federated States of Micronesia, is the fourth largest Atoll in the world, and was an important staging area for the US Navy 3rd fleet during WWII. The Atoll contains dynamic coral reefs, and communities of people that depend on them. Ulithi has been subjected to a number of human and natural disturbances, including Typhoon Ophelia that hit in 1960. Local fishermen believe that this event started an invasion process by a 'weedy' invasive coral that covers reefs, and removes essential habitat for fish and octopus, potentially threatening these ecosystems. Four years ago, local people invited the investigators to Ulithi to study the reefs and work together to enhance fisheries and reef health. The investigators sequenced the invading coral DNA and identified it as a new species of Montipora. However, its invasion dynamics remain a mystery. In early April 2015, Ulithi was hit again by a major disturbance: super Typhoon Maysak. The Typhoon destroyed most structures on the island, and removed much of the coral formations visible from shore. Using their baseline data of the past four years, the investigators, along with a team of students, seek to map the effect of the Typhoon on the invasive Montipora. Using genomic sequencing, they hope to better understand the role of Typhoon Maysak on the establishment and dispersal of this invasive coral. This project provides a unique opportunity to study the effects of a rare event, and invasion processes, and to broadly disseminate findings, raising awareness about coral reefs, climate change, and unique human-natural coupled systems. Their experiences will be made available on social media and the project website onepeopleonereef.ucsc.edu, as well as through NSF.Super typhoon Maysak struck Ulithi Atoll on March 31, 2015, where an invasive/outbreak species of Montipora has affected shallow coral reefs over at least the last 50 years. The research the investigators propose will elucidate the effects of this rare but high impact event on a biological invasion using genomics and reef sampling to investigate Micronesian reefs that were dominated by Montipora before the typhoon, and more 'pristine' reefs where Montipora was absent or in low densities. The investigators will be relating these findings to existing data that were collected from these sites over the past four years. These studies will advance our understanding of biological invasions in coral reef systems, explore the unusual occurrence of a coral species as an outbreak organism, and contribute to our knowledge of how high impact, episodic disturbances - likely to increase in frequency with the advance of global climate change - may affect threated coral reef ecosystems world-wide.