Investigating coral bleaching in a changing climate: Our state of understanding and mapping opportunities to push the field forward

造礁珊瑚高度依赖于一组共生藻类，这些藻类生活在它们的体内，通过光合作用提供主要的食物来源。在过去的30年里，科学家们研究了珊瑚漂白现象，即周期性地暴露在温暖的水温下，导致这些重要的共生藻类大量排出，这可能会导致珊瑚健康受损，甚至死亡。现在人们非常担心，随着地球继续变暖，全球珊瑚白化事件将以更频繁和更严重的方式发生。尽管科学家们对珊瑚白化有了更好的了解，但珊瑚礁能否经受住未来的白化事件，以及研究人员应该将重点放在哪些特定领域，仍有许多悬而未决的问题。在许多情况下，漂白研究本质上是反动的，一旦压力事件开始就会发生。该项目的目标是将美国国内的珊瑚生物学家聚集在一起，召开一次研讨会，以审查这一主题的当前知识状况。这次会议的主要成果将是评估和讨论关键的知识差距，并确定可能为未来的漂白研究提供重要数据的研究领域和具体问题。造礁珊瑚是生态系统工程师，他们支持地球上最多样化的生态系统之一，拥有巨大的生物和经济价值。这一讲习班的努力将使与会者以及更广泛的科学界能够评估和建议解决珊瑚白化问题研究的新方法。参与者将包括美国珊瑚生物学领域的几位科学领袖，以及博士后研究员和高级研究生，所有这些人都包括一系列研究人员，包括那些来自代表不足的群体的人。珊瑚礁(及其组成的共生体和其他微生物伙伴)对气候变化的细胞、生理、生态和进化反应可能相当复杂。由于目前对全球持续变暖的预测可能会导致每年出现大范围的漂白，因此迫切需要在这一领域继续深入研究。虽然取得了重大进展，但最近的许多发现需要对漂白反应作出更复杂的解释，这表明对漂白的根本原因和后果、恢复模式，特别是一些珊瑚和珊瑚礁未来如何(或是否)可能经受住热异常缺乏充分的了解。根本上需要来自不同专业的科学家结合他们的集体专业知识，以制定研究珊瑚漂白的新方法。该项目的目标是召集一个由美国调查人员组成的核心小组组成的研讨会，他们目前正在研究珊瑚漂白的不同方面。该项目有三个核心目标。首先，回顾和评估不同科学学科间珊瑚漂白研究的现状和发展轨迹。第二，评估和讨论这些学科之间的具体知识差距和整合。最后，与会者将编写一份白皮书，旨在确定研究的关键领域，并确定具体问题、概念和方法的优先顺序，以提供新的重要数据，并为未来十年的漂白研究提供框架。

Reef building corals are highly reliant on a group of symbiotic algae that live within their bodies and provide a major source of food from photosynthesis. Over the past 30 years, scientists have studied the phenomenon of coral bleaching, wherein periodic exposure to warm water temperatures leads to a mass expulsion of these important symbiotic algae, which may lead to a loss in coral health and even death. There is now significant concern that as warming of the earth continues, global coral bleaching events will occur with greater frequency and severity. While scientists have gained a better understanding of coral bleaching, there remain many unanswered questions as to if reef corals can withstand future bleaching events and what particular areas should researchers focus on moving forward. In many cases bleaching studies are reactionary in nature and occur once a stress event has begun. The goal of this project is to bring together a subset of coral biologists within the U.S. to convene a workshop in order to review the current state of knowledge on this topic. The primary outcome of this meeting will be to evaluate and discuss critical knowledge gaps, and to identify areas of research and specific questions that may deliver important data for future bleaching research. Reef building corals are ecosystem engineers that support one of the most diverse ecosystems on earth that holds enormous biological and economic value. The efforts of this workshop will allow participants, as well as the broader scientific community, to evaluate and suggest new approaches for tackling the study of coral bleaching. Participants will include several scientific leaders in coral biology in the U.S., as well as postdoctoral fellows and advanced graduate students, all of which encompass a range of investigators, including those from underrepresented groups. The cellular, physiological, ecological and evolutionary responses of reef corals (and their constituent symbionts and other microbial partners) to climate change can be quite complex. As current projections of continued global warming may lead to annual episodes of wide-spread bleaching, there is a pressing need for continued intensive research in this area. While significant advancements have been made, many recent discoveries have required more complex interpretations of the bleaching response, indicating a lack of a full understanding of the root causes and consequences of bleaching, patterns of recovery, and especially how (or if) some corals and reefs may withstand thermal anomalies into the future. There is a fundamental need for scientists from very different specialties to combine their collective expertise in order to formulate new approaches to investigating coral bleaching. The objective of this project is to convene a workshop consisting of a core group of U.S. investigators that are currently examining different aspects of coral bleaching. The project has three central goals. First, to review and assess the current state and trajectory of coral bleaching research across different scientific disciplines. Second, to evaluate and discuss specific knowledge gaps and integration across these disciplines. Lastly, participants will develop a white paper designed to identify critical areas of research and prioritize specific questions, concepts, and approaches that could deliver new and important data and provide a framework for future bleaching research into the next decade.