RAPID: Collaborative Research: Impact of freshwater runoff from Hurricane Harvey on coral reef benthic organisms and associated microbial communities

珊瑚礁是具有重要生态和经济意义的生态系统，受到各种全球(气候变化)和局部(过度捕捞、污染)压力的威胁。人为气候变化正在增加风暴的频率和严重程度，风暴可能会通过海水质量的变化对珊瑚礁结构造成物理损害，并降低珊瑚礁的健康。2017年8月，飓风哈维在德克萨斯州东南部造成大范围洪灾，释放了超过50万亿升的降雨，然后沿着得克萨斯州大陆架积累。这次径流预计将通过涡流和喷流影响附近的花园滩国家海洋保护区(FGBNMS，墨西哥湾西北部)的珊瑚礁，这些涡流和喷流将沿海水域输送到近海。该项目的结果将使管理者能够通过跟踪低盐度水团以及微生物群落特征和珊瑚健康指标，快速预测极端风暴事件是否可能导致珊瑚礁死亡和生态系统因淡水积累而退化。这些数据对于管理沿海生态系统至关重要，包括FGBNMS中的高珊瑚礁，并将帮助利益攸关方(如潜水和渔业社区)规划这些风暴后对其生计的干扰并将其降至最低。结果将在科学领域、研究生和本科生教育和培训计划中广泛传播，并通过外展向普通公众传播。调查人员拥有7个7平方米的2-D珊瑚礁复制品，描绘了具有代表性的FGBNMS珊瑚礁底部，并将在哈维径流到来后从两岸建造更多的2-D珊瑚礁复制品，允许公众使用样本和识别指南直接体验和量化飓风哈维对当地珊瑚礁的影响。该项目还将与波士顿大学和德克萨斯农工大学的NSF REU项目相结合，为本科生提供变革性的研究体验。1名博士后学者、4名研究生、1名技术人员和5名以上本科生将参与研究的方方面面。所有数据集将免费向公众提供，并将作为未来调查飓风和其他极端风暴影响珊瑚礁健康的过程的一组重要基线。飓风和其他极端风暴事件可能通过海浪驱动的物理破坏来摧毁珊瑚礁。极端风暴产生的淡水径流也可能对珊瑚礁有害，但受到的关注相对较少。这项研究将提供前所未有的解决方案，说明飓风和其他极端风暴事件可能如何引发水化学、后生动物健康下降及其相关微生物群落的变化之间的级联作用，最终导致珊瑚礁的衰落。飓风哈维引发的淡水径流可能会影响FGBNMS内的珊瑚礁，FGBNMS是大加勒比地区为数不多的以珊瑚为主的珊瑚礁之一。哈维径流的影响将与之前记录的风暴驱动的径流事件进行比较，该事件与同一珊瑚礁系统中的无脊椎动物死亡有关。在哈维径流进入FGBNMS之前、之后和六个月后，对海水化学、微生物群落(水柱和底栖动物)以及宿主基因表达和蛋白质组学进行采样，将使我们能够确定大规模淡水径流事件之间的共同点，并跟踪底栖无脊椎动物健康、微生物群落多样性以及珊瑚礁群落恢复或下降的轨迹。研究人员将确定水化学的变化是否会导致浮游微生物的转移，通常与珊瑚和海绵相关的微生物群落是否会发生变化，以及这些潜在的底栖无脊椎动物死亡驱动因素之间是否会发生反馈。

Coral reefs are ecologically and economically important ecosystems, and are threatened by a variety of global (climate change) and local (overfishing, pollution) stressors. Anthropogenic climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of storms, which can physically damage reef structures and reduce reef health through changes in seawater quality. In August of 2017, Hurricane Harvey caused widespread flooding in southeast Texas when it released more than 50 trillion liters of rain, which then accumulated along the Texas Shelf. This runoff is expected to impact nearby coral reefs in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS, northwest Gulf of Mexico) via eddies and jets that transport coastal waters offshore. Findings from this project will allow managers to quickly predict whether extreme storm events are likely to induce reef mortality and ecosystem decline due to freshwater accumulation, by tracking of low salinity water masses coupled with microbial community characterization and metrics of coral health. These data are critical to managing coastal ecosystems, including the high coral cover reefs in the FGBNMS, and will help stakeholders (e.g., diving and fishing communities) plan for and minimize disruption to their livelihoods following these storms. Results will be communicated broadly across scientific arenas, in graduate and undergraduate education and training programs, and to the general public through outreach. The investigators have seven 7 square meter 2-D Reef Replicas from 2014 depicting representative FGBNMS reef bottoms, and will construct additional 2-D Reef Replicas from both banks following the arrival of Harvey runoff, allowing the public to directly experience and quantify the effects of Hurricane Harvey on local reefs using quadrats and identification guides. This project will also synergize with NSF REU programs at Boston University and Texas A&M University, providing transformative research experiences for undergraduates. One post-doctoral scholar, four graduate students, a technician and more than 5 undergraduates will be involved in all aspects of the research. All datasets will be made freely available to the public, and will serve as an important set of baselines for future lines of inquiry into the processes by which hurricanes and other extreme storms impact reef health.Hurricanes and other extreme storm events can decimate coral reefs through wave-driven physical damage. Freshwater runoff from extreme storms is also potentially detrimental to reefs but has received comparatively less attention. This research will provide unprecedented resolution on how hurricanes and other extreme storm events may trigger cascading interactions among water chemistry, declines in metazoan health and shifts in their associated microbial communities, ultimately resulting in coral reef decline. The freshwater runoff initiated by Hurricane Harvey is likely to impact reefs within the FGBNMS, one of the few remaining coral-dominated reefs in the greater Caribbean. The effects of Harvey runoff will be compared to a previously documented storm-driven runoff event that was associated with invertebrate mortality on the same reef system. Sampling seawater chemistry, microbial communities (water column and benthic), and host gene expression and proteomics before, immediately after, and six months after Harvey runoff enters the FGBNMS will allow us to identify commonalities among large-scale freshwater runoff events and track the response of benthic invertebrate health, microbial community diversity, and the trajectory of reef community recovery or decline. The investigators will determine if changes in water chemistry induce pelagic microbial shifts, if microbial communities typically associated with corals and sponges are altered, and whether feedbacks occur between these potential drivers of benthic invertebrate mortality.