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

RAPID：飓风艾尔玛对浅水海洋生态系统的影响：评估佛罗里达群岛海绵和大型无脊椎动物群落的恢复能力

• 批准号: 1854644
• 负责人: Malcolm Hill
• 金额: $ 2.48万
• 依托单位: Bates College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-09-14 至 2020-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1854644&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAPID; Effects; Hurricane; Irma; shallow

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.

艾尔玛飓风是一场巨大的破坏性风暴，直接在佛罗里达下部的钥匙上行驶。虽然上述水损坏是显而易见的，但飓风对佛罗里达钥匙中浅底栖海洋栖息地的影响尚不清楚。浅水栖息地，这是对经济上重要渔业的重要苗圃，可能会带来暴风雨的强烈影响。这些生态系统中的海绵群落由于其喂养行为而执行重要的生态功能，这涉及从水柱中抽大量的水和过滤材料。该项目检验了有关海绵对飓风造成的生态破坏的反应的重要假设。在许多礁石生态系统中，海绵很丰富，并且扮演着重要的生态角色，因此学习对海绵社区骚乱的系统反应很重要。该工作培训了现场研究，数据管理和分析以及科学传播的本科生。作为该项目的一部分开发的一些活动纳入了里士满大学综合科学经验（URISE）以及第一年的科学，数学和研究培训（SMART）课程，这两种课程旨在增加代表性不足群体的个人的参与。此外，该研究在各种公共论坛上进行了提出，以尽可能广泛地传播。海绵代表了热带礁栖息地中的一个重要的底栖 - 螺旋耦合点。最近提出的海绵环假说预测，这些动物释放了碎屑作为其生物滤器能力的函数，然后在食物网的底部被生物消耗。 Irma飓风可能破坏了海绵循环的组成部分，调查人员正在探索与风暴影响有关的四个假设。首先，拟议的工作测试是暴风雨的海绵损伤是否非随机损害，对较大的海绵产生了不成比例的影响。第二个假设研究了暴风雨对这些栖息地中大型无脊椎动物群落的影响。这项工作建立在海绵和大型无脊椎动物调查的基础上，该调查人员在暴风雨前几年进行。第三，测试了飓风通过破坏海绵喂养影响细菌群种群的假设。 PIS还使用流式细胞仪比较了使用流式细胞仪，使用吸入的水样样品作为对海绵喂养行为的正在进行的研究的一部分收集的吸入式水样样品。最后，从不同大小类别的几个海绵的浅水种群中收集吸入水样样品，以确定喂养行为是否显示了基于海绵大小的人口统计学变化。处理样品以检查使用流式细胞仪的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。初步的海绵抽水活动也会发生。 2018年5月至7月，再次进行大规模调查，随后几年进行进一步的监控。