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

调查气候变化中的珊瑚白化：我们的理解状况和绘制推动该领域发展的机会

• 批准号: 1638510
• 负责人: Mark Warner
• 金额: $ 9.01万
• 依托单位: University of Delaware
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-06-01 至 2017-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1638510&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Investigating; coral; bleaching; changing; climate

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.

珊瑚礁建筑珊瑚高度依赖于生活在其体内的一组共生藻类，并提供了光合作用的主要食物来源。在过去的30年中，科学家研究了珊瑚漂白的现象，其中周期性暴露于温水温度会导致这些重要的共生藻类大规模驱逐，这可能导致珊瑚健康甚至死亡的损失。现在，随着地球的变暖的继续，全球珊瑚漂白事件的频率和严重程度将会更大。尽管科学家对珊瑚漂白有了更好的了解，但关于珊瑚礁珊瑚是否可以承受未来的漂白事件以及研究人员应专注于前进的哪些特定领域，仍然存在许多未解决的问题。在许多情况下，漂白研究本质上是反动的，一旦发生压力事件开始就发生。该项目的目的是将美国境内的珊瑚生物学家组合在一起，以召集研讨会，以审查有关该主题的当前知识状态。这次会议的主要结果将是评估和讨论关键知识差距，并确定研究领域和特定问题，这些问题可能为未来的漂白研究提供重要的数据。珊瑚礁建筑珊瑚是支持地球上最多样化的生态系统之一的生态系统工程师，具有巨大的生物学和经济价值。该研讨会的努力将使参与者以及更广泛的科学界能够评估并提出解决珊瑚漂白研究的新方法。参与者将包括美国珊瑚生物学的几位科学领袖，以及博士后研究员和高级研究生，所有这些都涵盖了一系列调查人员，包括来自代表性不足的群体的研究人员。珊瑚礁珊瑚（及其组成型共生体和其他微生物伴侣）对气候变化的细胞，生理，生态和进化反应可能非常复杂。由于目前对全球变暖的持续预测可能导致每年的广泛漂白，因此在这一领域迫切需要进行密集的研究。尽管已经取得了重大进步，但最近的许多发现需要对漂白反应进行更复杂的解释，这表明缺乏对漂白剂的根本原因和后果，恢复模式，尤其是某些珊瑚和珊瑚礁如何承受未来的热异常。从非常不同的专业人士组合其集体专业知识以制定新方法来调查珊瑚漂白剂的方法，科学家们的基本需求是基本的。该项目的目的是召开一个由美国核心研究人员组成的研讨会，目前正在研究珊瑚漂白的不同方面。该项目有三个中心目标。首先，审查和评估跨不同科学学科的珊瑚漂白研究的当前状态和轨迹。其次，评估和讨论这些学科的特定知识差距和整合。最后，参与者将开发一份白皮书，旨在确定研究的关键领域，并确定可以提供新的和重要数据的特定问题，概念和方法，并为未来十年的未来漂白研究提供框架。

项目成果

Investigating Coral Bleaching in a Changing Climate: Our State of Understanding and Opportunities to Push the Field Forward

调查气候变化中的珊瑚白化：我们的理解状况和推动该领域发展的机会

• 发表时间: 2017
• 期刊: U.S. Investigator Workshop on Coral Bleaching
• 作者: Mark E. Warner, Daniel Barshis