RAPID: Effects of Hurricane Irma on shallow-water marine ecosystems: Assessing resiliency of sponge and macroinvertebrate communities in the Florida Keys

飓风厄玛是一场破坏力巨大的风暴，直接袭击了佛罗里达群岛下游地区。虽然上述水害是显而易见的，但飓风对佛罗里达群岛浅层底栖海洋栖息地的影响尚不清楚。浅水栖息地是经济上重要的渔业的重要温床，可能受到了风暴的强烈影响。这些生态系统中的海绵群落由于其摄食行为而发挥着重要的生态功能，包括从水柱中抽取大量的水和过滤物质。该项目测试了关于海绵对飓风造成的生态破坏的反应的重要假设。海绵在许多珊瑚礁生态系统中都很丰富，并发挥着重要的生态作用，因此了解系统对海绵群落干扰的响应具有重要意义。这项工作训练本科生实地研究、数据管理和分析以及科学传播。作为该项目的一部分开发的一些活动被纳入里士满大学综合科学体验（URISE）和第一年的科学，数学和研究培训（SMART）课程，这两门课程都旨在增加来自代表性不足群体的个人对STEM学科的参与。此外，该研究还在各种公共论坛上提出，以尽可能广泛地传播。海绵是热带珊瑚礁生境中重要的底-上层联轴点。最近提出的海绵环假说预测，这些动物释放的碎屑是它们生物过滤能力的一种功能，然后被食物网底部的生物消耗。飓风厄玛可能破坏了海绵环的组成部分，调查人员正在探索与风暴影响有关的四种假设。首先，拟议的工作测试了风暴对海绵的破坏是否是非随机的，对较大的海绵的影响是否不成比例。第二个假设考察了风暴对这些栖息地中大型无脊椎动物群落的影响。这项工作建立在调查人员在风暴前几年进行的海绵和大型无脊椎动物调查的基础上。第三，对飓风通过破坏海绵摄食影响浮游细菌种群的假设进行了检验。pi还通过流式细胞仪比较了飓风前和飓风后浮游生物的结构，流式细胞仪使用的是作为正在进行的海绵摄食行为研究的一部分收集的吸入-呼出水样。最后，从不同大小类别的几种海绵的浅水种群中收集吸入-呼出水样，以确定摄食行为是否显示基于海绵大小的任何人口统计学变化。使用流式细胞术对样品进行处理，以检查宿主海绵的保留效率和猎物选择性。2017年12月对海绵（大小、密度、多样性）和大型无脊椎动物进行了初步调查。这时也会发生初步的海绵泵送活动。2018年5月至7月再次进行广泛的调查，并在随后的几年中进行进一步的监测。

Hurricane Irma was a massively destructive storm that traveled directly over the lower Florida Keys. While the above water damage was obvious, effects from the hurricane on shallow benthic marine habitats in the Florida Keys is unknown. Shallow water habitats, which are important nurseries for economically important fisheries, likely experienced the strong effects from the storm. Sponge communities in these ecosystems perform vital ecological functions due to their feeding behavior, which involves pumping large quantities of water and filtering material from the water column. The project tests important hypotheses about sponge responses to ecological disruptions that are caused by hurricanes. Sponges are abundant in many reef ecosystems, and play essential ecological roles, so learning about system responses to sponge community disturbances is important. The work trains undergraduates in field research, data management and analysis, and science communication. Some of the activities developed as part of this project are incorporated in the University of Richmond Integrated Science Experience (URISE), and the first-year Science, Math and Research Training (SMART) course, both of which are designed to increase participation in STEM disciplines by individuals from underrepresented groups. Furthermore, the research is presented in a variety of public forums to disseminate as widely as possible. Sponges represent a significant benthic-pelagic coupling point in tropical reef habitats. The recently proposed sponge loop hypothesis predicts that these animals release detritus as a function of their biofiltering capabilities, which is then consumed by organisms at the base of the food web. Hurricane Irma may have disrupted components of the sponge loop, and the investigators are exploring four hypotheses related to the storm's effects. First, the proposed work tests whether sponge damage from the storm was non-random, disproportionately affecting larger sponges. The second hypothesis examines the effects of the storm on macroinvertebrate communities in these habitats. This work builds on sponge and macroinvertebrate surveys conducted by the investigators in the years preceding the storm. Thirdly, the hypothesis that the hurricane influenced bacterioplankton populations through disruption of sponge feeding is tested. The PIs also compare pre- and post-hurricane plankton structure via flow cytometery using inhalant-exhalent water samples collected as part of an on-going study of sponge feeding behavior. Finally, inhalant-exhalent water samples are collected from shallow-water populations of several sponges from different size categories to determine if feeding behavior shows any demographic shifts based on the size of the sponge. Samples are processed to examine the retention efficiencies and prey selectivity of the host sponges using flow cytometry. Initial surveys are conducted of sponges (size, density, diversity) and macroinvertebrates in December, 2017. Preliminary sponge pumping activity occurs then too. Extensive surveys take place again in May-July, 2018 with further monitoring to occur in subsequent years.