LTER: MCR III: Long-Term Dynamics of a Coral Reef Ecosystem

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Coral reefs have enormous ecological, economic and cultural value, but are threatened by natural disturbances and human activities including those causing global-scale changes. Worldwide, corals increasingly are being replaced by macroalgae or non-coral invertebrates. The reefs of Moorea, French Polynesia, provide an ideal model system to understand factors that mediate ecological resilience and to develop the capacity to forecast the composition and function of reefs in a future ocean of warmer water and ocean acidification. The overarching goal of the Moorea Coral Reef (MCR) LTER, established in 2004, is to gain a predictive understanding of the dynamics and functionality of oceanic coral reef ecosystems. MCR science achieves this goal through long-term observations, experiments and modeling. The time series data revealed changes in community structure used to generate hypotheses, which are tested using process-oriented studies including long term experiments. Empirical studies are synthesized and modeled to gain novel insight into the responses of coral reefs of Moorea to changing environmental conditions, to search for ecological generality, and to advance ecological theory. This project will also support a number of broader impacts including: (1) K-12 teaching, training, and learning, (2) creative dissemination of results to the broader public, (3) advising of government agencies and NGOs, (4) training the next generation of scientists who are better prepared for interdisciplinary research in a global setting, and (5) provision of a rich data inventory supporting comparative and synthetic research on coral reefs throughout the world. Ecological resilience provides a unifying principle in MCR III, in which the investigators will explore community and ecosystem responses to pulsed disturbances (cyclones, bleaching), human-induced press perturbations (nutrient pollution, fishing), and slowly changing drivers (Global Climate Change, Ocean Acidification). This project will expand the focus on resilience by exploring the causes and consequences of spatially varying patterns of community responses to pulsed perturbations in 2007-10. MCR time series has revealed contrasting community dynamics and resilience between the fore reef and the lagoon; the perturbed fore reef is reassembling to a coral community strongly resembling that found prior to the disturbances (albeit with spatial variability in return rates), whereas some lagoon reefs have transitioned from coral to macroalgae. In addition, the researchers will estimate how different community states affect key ecosystem rate processes (Gross Primary Production, respiration, net calcification). Understanding controls of these processes will provide insight into how they might change in a warmer future ocean with lower pH. To project community composition of future reefs, the research team will explore traits of corals that may make some taxa winners and others losers under future conditions. The intellectual merits arise from a more predictive understanding of how coral reefs respond to interacting environmental changes at multiple spatial, temporal, and biological scales, together with how these responses alter the provision of critical ecosystem services.MCR will expand its Schoolyard LTER by developing a professional development program for K-12 teachers, continuing to engage K-12 teachers in research in Moorea, and developing curricula for the MCR children?s book (Kupe and the Corals) to serve diverse student audiences. MCR's Schoolyard will strengthen engagement with underserved schools in Southern California, which includes paying for transportation and substitute teacher costs for students and teachers to participate in MCR programs at UC Santa Barbara. The MCR team will continue training diverse undergraduates and serve as a resource for graduate and postdoctoral training. Results from this research will continue to contribute to the scientific community through publications and to the broader public through University of California Santa Barbara and California State University Northridge outreach programs (e.g., UCSB's Research Experience & Education Facility that exposes 10,000 K-12 and public visitors annually to MCR research), interviews with the media, participation in public forums and advising government officials (including the Territorial Government of French Polynesia) and NGOs (including Association Te Pu 'Atiti'a on Moorea composed of local educators). The project will enhance infrastructure for research and education. More broadly, this project will benefit society by increasing understanding of how human activities alter the resilience and functioning of coral reefs on which humans depend.