RUI: Pattern and process in four decades of change on Caribbean reefs

RUI：加勒比珊瑚礁四十年变化的模式和过程

基本信息

批准号：
2019992
负责人：
Peter Edmunds
金额：
$ 70.51万
依托单位：
The University Corporation, Northridge
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2020
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2020-10-01 至 2025-09-30
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2019992&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
RUI Pattern process four decades

项目摘要

The coral reef crisis refers to the high rates of death affecting tropical reef-building corals throughout the world, and the strong likelihood that coral reefs will become functionally extinct within the current century. Knowledge of these trends comes from the monitoring of coral reefs to evaluate their health over time, with the most informative projects providing high-resolution information extending over decades. Such projects describe both how reefs are changing, and answer questions addressing the causes of the changes and the form in which reefs will persist in the future. This project focuses on coral reefs in United States waters, specifically around St. John in the US Virgin Islands. These reefs are protected within the Virgin Islands National Park, and have been studied more consistently and in greater detail than most reefs anywhere in the world. Building from 33 years of research, this project extends monitoring of these habitats by another five years, and uses the emerging base of knowledge, and the biological laboratory created by the reefs of St. John, to address the causes and consequences of the bottleneck preventing baby corals from repopulating the reefs. The work is accomplished with annual expeditions, staffed by faculty, graduate students, undergraduates, and teachers, coupled with analyses of samples at California State University, Northridge, and Florida State University, Tallahassee. The students and teachers assist with the research goals at the center of this project, but also engage in independent study and integrate with the rich and diverse societal context and natural history of the Caribbean. The scope of the science agenda extends to schools in California, where students are introduced to the roles played by marine animals in ecosystem health, concepts of long-term change in the biological world, and the role of science engagement in promoting positive environmental outcomes. In addition to generating a wide spectrum of project deliverables focusing on scientific discovery, the project promotes STEM careers and train globally aware scientists and educators capable of supporting the science agenda of the United States in the 21st Century. This project leverages one of the longest time-series analyses of Caribbean coral reefs to extend the time-series from 33 to 38 years, and it tests hypotheses addressing the causes and consequences of changing coral reef community structure. The project focuses on reefs within the Virgin Islands National Park (VINP) and along the shore of St. John, US Virgin Islands, and is integrated with stakeholders working in conservation (VINP) and local academia (University of the Virgin Islands). Beginning in 1987, the project has addressed detail-oriented analyses within a small spatial area that complements the large-scale analyses conducted by the VINP. The results of these efforts create an unrivaled context within which ecologically relevant hypotheses can be tested to elucidate mechanisms driving ecological change. Building from image- and survey- based analyses, 33 years of data reveal the extent to which these reefs have transitioned to a low-abundance coral state, and the importance of the bottleneck preventing coral recruits from contributing to adult size classes. The intellectual merits of this project leverage these discoveries to address eight hypotheses: (H1) long-term changes are defining a cryptic regime change, with the low coral abundance reinforced by, (H2) enhanced community resilience, (H3) low post-settlement success, (H4) negative effects of peyssonnelid algal crusts (PAC) on juvenile corals, (H5) inability of juvenile corals to match their phenotypes to future conditions, (H6) impaired population growth caused by reduced genetic diversity, (H7) the premium placed on PAC-free halos around Diadema sea urchins for coral recruitment, and (H8) biotic homogenization occurring on a landscape-scale.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

珊瑚礁危机是指影响世界各地热带礁石建造珊瑚的高死亡率，以及珊瑚礁在当前世纪的功能灭绝的强可能性。对这些趋势的了解来自对珊瑚礁的监测来评估其健康状况，最有用的项目提供了数十年来延伸的高分辨率信息。这样的项目既描述了礁石的变化，又描述了解决变化原因的问题以及将来珊瑚礁持续存在的形式的问题。该项目着重于美国水域的珊瑚礁，特别是在美国维尔京群岛的圣约翰附近。这些珊瑚礁受到维尔京群岛国家公园内的保护，比世界上任何地方的大多数礁石都更加一致，更详细地研究了这些礁石。该项目从33年的研究开始，将这些栖息地的监测延长了五年，并利用了新兴的知识基础以及圣约翰礁石造成的生物实验室，以解决防止婴儿珊瑚的瓶颈的原因和后果。这项工作是通过年度探险来完成的，由教职员工，研究生，本科生和老师组成，并在加利福尼亚州立大学的诺斯里奇大学和塔拉哈西佛罗里达州立大学的样品分析。学生和教师协助该项目中心的研究目标，但也从事独立研究，并与加勒比海的丰富和多样化的社会背景和自然历史融为一体。科学议程的范围扩展到加利福尼亚的学校，在那里向学生介绍了海洋动物在生态系统健康中扮演的角色，生物学世界中长期变化的概念以及科学参与在促进积极的环境成果中的作用。该项目除了产生集中在科学发现上的各种项目可交付成果外，还促进了STEM职业，并培训能够在21世纪支持美国科学议程的全球知名科学家和教育工作者。该项目利用了加勒比珊瑚礁最长的时间序列分析之一，将时间表从33年延长至38年，并测试了一种假设，该假设解决了不断变化的珊瑚礁社区结构的原因和后果。该项目着重于维尔京群岛国家公园内的礁石（VINP）和美国维尔京群岛的圣约翰岸边，并与从事保护的利益相关者（VINP）和当地学术界（维尔京群岛大学）融合在一起。从1987年开始，该项目已经解决了一个小型空间区域内的面向细节的分析，该分析补充了VINP进行的大规模分析。这些努力的结果创造了无与伦比的背景，可以在其中测试与生态相关的假设，以阐明驱动生态变化的机制。从基于图像和调查的分析中构建了33年的数据，揭示了这些礁石已过渡到低丰度的珊瑚状态的程度，以及瓶颈的重要性，阻止了珊瑚新兵对成人规模的类别的贡献。 The intellectual merits of this project leverage these discoveries to address eight hypotheses: (H1) long-term changes are defining a cryptic regime change, with the low coral abundance reinforced by, (H2) enhanced community resilience, (H3) low post-settlement success, (H4) negative effects of peyssonnelid algal crusts (PAC) on juvenile corals, (H5) inability of juvenile corals to match their phenotypes to future conditions, (H6) impaired population growth caused by reduced genetic diversity, (H7) the premium placed on PAC-free halos around Diadema sea urchins for coral recruitment, and (H8) biotic homogenization occurring on a landscape-scale.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review 标准。