Skeletal Records of Coral Reef Beaching in the Central Equatorial Pacific

海洋变暖导致珊瑚死亡，目前正在努力识别和保护可能承受21世纪热带海洋温度上升的珊瑚礁。赤道太平洋中部(CEP)的珊瑚礁即使不是几千年，也是几个世纪以来，每隔3-7年就会出现一次极端温暖的天气，但仍然是高生产力的生态系统。研究人员从长寿珊瑚物种骨骼中存档的压力信号中获得的初步数据表明，在温暖的时期，CEP珊瑚礁失去了它们的共生藻类或漂白，有时甚至严重。CEP珊瑚礁反复漂白但仍保持生产力的观察表明，它对海洋变暖的适应能力非同寻常。研究人员将使用实验室实验和现场观察来验证历史上漂白的骨骼记录。一个成功的结果将为CEP珊瑚礁的复原能力提供新的和有价值的见解，并为确定热带地区耐热珊瑚礁生态系统提供一个新的工具。此外，该项目包括指导一名博士后和六名本科生或高中生，通过演讲和媒体进行宣传，以及扩大可供公众使用的珊瑚应力带分析软件。海洋变暖预测表明，在未来几十年内，珊瑚礁将每年受到严重影响。因此，一项协调一致的努力正在进行，以确定可能在这些变化中幸存下来的珊瑚礁。调查人员将检验这样的珊瑚礁存在于厄尔尼诺-南方涛动(ENSO)影响的震中的假设，在这种情况下，强烈的年际温度变化为发展热弹性创造了有利条件。该项目使用基于实验室的漂白实验和2015年厄尔尼诺期间野生珊瑚吸收的实际压力信号，以验证大规模造礁珊瑚骨骼中记录的历史白化签名。此外，研究人员将使用CEP的新的长岩芯来建立一个可靠的数据集，可以追溯到1800年的S时代。这一成功的结果将增加人们对骨骼应力带作为定量白化指标的解释的信心，并使CEP能够重建珊瑚礁白化和恢复的历史。

Ocean warming kills corals and efforts are underway to identify and protect coral reefs that may withstand the projected 21st century rise in tropical ocean temperatures. Coral reefs in the central equatorial Pacific (CEP) have been exposed to episodes of extreme warmth every 3-7 years for centuries, if not millennia, yet remain highly productive ecosystems. Initial data obtained by the investigator from stress signatures archived in the skeletons of long lived coral species, suggests that CEP reefs lose their symbiotic algae or bleach, sometimes severely, during warm episodes. The observation that CEP reefs bleach repetitively yet remain productive implies uncommon resilience to ocean warming. The investigator will use laboratory experiments and field observations to validate skeletal records of historical bleaching. A successful outcome will provide novel and valuable insights into the resilience of the CEP reefs and a new tool with which to identify thermally tolerant coral reef ecosystems across the tropics. Additionally, this project includes mentorship of a postdoc and six undergraduate or high school students, outreach through presentations and media, and expansion of publically available software for coral stress band analysis.Ocean warming projections indicate severe impacts to coral reefs will occur on an annual basis within the next few decades. Consequently, a coordinated effort is underway to identify reefs that might survive these changes. The investigator will test the hypothesis that such reefs exist at the epicenter of influence of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), where strong inter-annual temperature variability creates conditions conducive for the development of thermal resilience. The project uses laboratory-based bleaching experiments and actual stress signatures accreted by wild corals during the 2015 El Niño to validate signatures of historical bleaching archived in the skeletons of massive reef building corals. In addition the investigator will use new, long cores from the CEP to build a robust dataset of historical bleaching back to the 1800's. A successful outcome will increase confidence in the interpretation of skeletal stress bands as quantitative bleaching proxies and enable the reconstruction of the history of coral reef bleaching and recovery in the CEP.