CNH-L: Multiscale Dynamics of Coral Reef Fisheries: Feedbacks Between Fishing Practices, Livelihood Strategies, and Shifting Dominance of Coral and Algae

该项目将解决捕捞做法在珊瑚礁生态系统中发挥的作用。它将包括一个以岛屿珊瑚礁渔业为中心的综合社会、生态和模型研究计划。调查人员将与当地社区的渔民接触，记录被捕捞的物种，以及渔民做出在哪里、何时捕鱼以及捕捞什么的决定的潜在社会和经济驱动因素。生态学研究将利用直接实地工作和卫星观测记录主要鱼类物种的空间分布和丰度以及珊瑚礁的状况。总体而言，这项研究将大大有助于了解影响珊瑚礁健康的因素。将为6名研究生、2名博士后研究人员和众多本科生提供综合培训，他们将获得生态、社会科学和建模方面的经验。研究生和博士后研究人员将参加费舍尔社区研讨会。K-12外联活动将涉及与教师的伙伴关系，并将为美国和太平洋岛屿的小学开发多语种课程。与公民科学家的合作将提高公众对捕鱼对珊瑚礁影响的认识。研究结果将对珊瑚礁保护和管理从业者具有直接价值，为可持续地管理整个太平洋地区的类似系统以及决定全球珊瑚礁空间动态的过程提供见解。数百万沿海居民依赖珊瑚礁渔业获取食物、收入以及他们的个人和文化身份，但随着珊瑚礁越来越多地丢失并被海藻取代，全世界的珊瑚礁正受到威胁。由于各种原因，在热带珊瑚礁捕鱼往往以吃海藻的鱼类为目标，人们认为这些物种的减少可能会导致海藻的生长，最终会取代活珊瑚。人们对推动捕捞行为的因素知之甚少，可能包括渔民可获得的谋生机会以及他们对渔业资源的了解和获取。理解这些组成部分之间的反馈需要考虑生态相互作用和人类行为的空间动态。通过利用卫星技术、廉价智能手机以及创新的生态、社会网络和建模技术的最新进展，该研究计划将揭示渔业如何将自然景观与社会互动景观联系起来，并将为珊瑚礁系统的动态相互关系提供独特的见解。

This project will address the role that fishing practices play in coral reef ecosystems. It will consist of an integrated social, ecological, and modeling research program centered on an island coral reef fishery. The investigators will engage with fishers in their local communities to document the species that are fished and the underlying social and economic drivers of the decisions fishers make about where and when to fish and what to catch. Ecological studies will document spatial distribution and abundance of key fish species as well as the condition of the reefs using both direct field work and satellite derived observations. Overall the research will contribute greatly to the understanding of factors that influence the health of coral reefs. Integrative training will be provided for six graduate students, two post-doctoral researchers and numerous undergraduates who will gain experience in ecology, social science, and modeling. Graduate students and post-doctoral researchers will attend and participate in fisher community workshops. K-12 outreach activities will involve partnerships with teachers, and multilingual curricula for elementary schools in the United States and Pacific Islands will be developed. Collaborations with citizen scientists will increase public awareness of the effects of fishing on the reefs. The research findings will be of direct value to coral reef conservation and management practitioners, yielding insights into sustainably managing similar systems across the Pacific region and into the processes that determine the spatial dynamics of coral reefs worldwide.Millions of coastal dwellers rely on coral reef fisheries for food, income, and their personal and cultural identities, yet reefs are under threat worldwide as corals are increasingly lost and replaced by seaweeds. For a variety of reasons, fishing on tropical reefs often targets species of fish that eat seaweeds, and it is thought that reductions in these species can result in growth of seaweeds that eventually replace live coral. The factors that drive fishing behavior are poorly understood, and can include available livelihood opportunities to fishers as well as their knowledge of and access to fishery resources. Understanding feedbacks between these components requires accounting for the spatial dynamics of ecological interactions and human behavior. By capitalizing on recent advances in satellite technology, inexpensive smartphones, and innovative ecological, social network, and modeling techniques this research program will reveal how fishing links the physical landscape with the landscape of social interactions, and it will provide unique insights into the dynamic interrelations of the coral reef system.