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

RAPID：合作研究：哈维飓风淡水径流对珊瑚礁底栖生物和相关微生物群落的影响

• 批准号: 1800913
• 负责人: Kathryn Shamberger
• 金额: $ 6.84万
• 依托单位: Texas A&M University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-12-01 至 2020-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1800913&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAPID; Collaborative; Research; Impact; freshwater

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.

珊瑚礁是生态和经济上重要的生态系统，受到各种全球（气候变化）和地方（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，这可能会通过海水质量的变化对珊瑚礁结构造成物理破坏，并降低珊瑚礁的健康状况。2017年8月，飓风哈维在德克萨斯州东南部造成了大范围的洪水，当时它释放了超过50万亿升的雨水，然后沿着德克萨斯州大陆架积累了沿着。预计这些径流将通过将沿海沃茨输送到近海的漩涡和喷射流，影响到花园银行国家海洋保护区（FGBNMS，墨西哥湾西北部）附近的珊瑚礁。该项目的研究结果将使管理人员能够通过跟踪低盐度水体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衰退。这些数据对于管理沿海生态系统至关重要，包括FGBNMS中高珊瑚覆盖率的珊瑚礁，并将帮助利益相关者（例如，潜水和捕鱼社区）计划并尽量减少风暴后对他们生计的破坏。研究结果将在科学领域、研究生和本科生教育和培训项目中广泛传播，并通过外联活动向公众传播。调查人员从2014年开始制作了7个7平方米的二维珊瑚礁复制品，描绘了代表性的FGBNMS珊瑚礁底部，并将在哈维径流到达后从两岸建造更多的二维珊瑚礁复制品，让公众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得克萨斯州A M大学的NSF REU项目协同，为本科生提供变革性的研究经验。一名博士后学者，四名研究生，一名技术人员和五名以上的本科生将参与研究的各个方面。所有数据集都将免费向公众提供，并将作为一套重要的基线，供今后调查飓风和其他极端风暴影响珊瑚礁健康的过程。飓风和其他极端风暴事件可通过波浪驱动的物理破坏来毁灭珊瑚礁。极端风暴产生的淡水径流也可能对珊瑚礁有害，但相对较少受到关注。这项研究将为飓风和其他极端风暴事件如何引发水化学之间的级联相互作用，后生动物健康状况的下降及其相关微生物群落的变化提供前所未有的解决方案，最终导致珊瑚礁衰退。飓风哈维引发的淡水径流可能会影响FGBNMS内的珊瑚礁，这是大加勒比地区为数不多的珊瑚礁之一。哈维径流的影响将比较以前记录的风暴驱动的径流事件，与无脊椎动物的死亡率在同一个珊瑚礁系统。采样海水化学，微生物群落（水柱和底栖生物），宿主基因表达和蛋白质组学之前，之后立即和六个月后，哈维径流进入FGBNMS将使我们能够识别大规模淡水径流事件之间的共性，并跟踪底栖无脊椎动物健康，微生物群落多样性的响应，以及珊瑚礁群落恢复或衰退的轨迹。研究人员将确定水化学的变化是否会引起浮游微生物的变化，通常与珊瑚和海绵相关的微生物群落是否会改变，以及这些潜在的底栖无脊椎动物死亡率驱动因素之间是否会发生反馈。

项目成果

Localized hypoxia may have caused coral reef mortality at the Flower Garden Banks

• DOI: 10.1007/s00338-019-01883-9
• 发表时间: 2020-02-01
• 期刊: CORAL REEFS
• 影响因子: 3.5
• 作者: Kealoha, Andrea K.;Doyle, Shawn M.;DiMarco, Steven F.
• 通讯作者: DiMarco, Steven F.

Gene Expression of Endangered Coral (Orbicella spp.) in Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary After Hurricane Harvey

哈维飓风过后花园岸国家海洋保护区内濒危珊瑚（Orbicella spp.）的基因表达

• DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00672
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: Frontiers in marine science
• 影响因子: 3.7
• 作者: Wright, Rachel M.;Correa, Adrienne M.;Quigley, Lucinda A.;Santiago-Vázquez, Lory Z.;Shamberger, Kathryn E.;Davies, Sarah W.
• 通讯作者: Davies, Sarah W.