Collaborative Research: EAGER: Solving Darwins paradox: combining emerging technologies to quantify energy fluxes on coral reefs

合作研究：EAGER：解决达尔文悖论：结合新兴技术来量化珊瑚礁上的能量通量

• 批准号: 2210202
• 负责人: Joshua Madin
• 金额: $ 2.62万
• 依托单位: University of Hawaii
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-07-01 至 2024-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2210202&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; EAGER; Solving; Darwins

Coral reefs are among the most diverse and productive ecosystems, but they are located in nutrient-poor tropical oceans that are ill-suited to sustain their iconic abundance. This paradox has puzzled scientists for centuries. While several organisms have been suggested to support life on reefs, when, where, or why they emerge as critical players for coral reefs is largely unknown. This project examines how the characteristics of a coral reef shape its reliance on different organisms to sustain all the large fishes typically associated with reefs. By quantifying fine-scale features of small reef patches, such as their temperature, wave energy, architecture, and small, hidden species assemblages, and combining these findings with a detailed analysis of what large fishes residing on the reef have eaten over time, this research reveals the circumstances under which different coral reef organisms – from minute algae to corals, plankton, sponges, microscopic invertebrates, or tiny fishes – take on important roles in feeding larger fishes. Using aerial drone surveys to scale up these fine-scale patterns to the area of an entire reef, the project then provides a whole-reef estimate for the contributions of different organisms to life on a reef. In doing so, the research offers a new opportunity for coral reef stewardship: if the most important organisms for coral reef productivity can be identified reliably from a few features, a much more targeted, context-specific management framework is possible. Finally, the project yields training opportunities for young, emerging reef scientists from coral reef nations, and a plethora of attractive digital coral reef media to engage the general public and increase awareness of the fragility of coral reef ecosystems.The movement and storage of energy underpins the functioning of all ecosystems on Earth. The extreme diversity and productivity of coral reefs, despite their location in oligotrophic waters, has long generated substantial interest in the role of different organisms for coral reef energy fluxes. Yet, to date, these findings appear to be highly context-specific, and no general understanding exists concerning the environmental, structural, or biological drivers that cause reliance on one or more sources or pathways of productivity on coral reefs. As the first project to combine underwater data loggers, structure-from-motion photogrammetry, biological collections, underwater stereo-video, and compound-specific isotope analyses of amino acids, this research investigates how various interdependent attributes of small reef patches–such as wave exposure, rugosity, and cryptobenthic community structure–affect the relative contributions of different organisms to coral reef energy fluxes. By integrating the resulting relationships with aerial drone surveys and an exploration procedure based on quantitative color pattern analyses, the research then scales up the uncovered patch-dynamics to the area of an entire reef, ultimately revealing the contributions of different sources and pathways to reef fish biomass at the scale of the ecosystem. This reveals the potential pathways that can sustain coral reefs and their environmental and structural drivers. In doing so, the project offers a more general solution to a centuries-old question, while providing a new lens through which coral reefs can be managed in the Anthropocene.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.

珊瑚礁是最具多样性和生产力的生态系统之一，但它们位于营养贫乏的热带海洋，不适合维持其标志性的丰富性。这个悖论困扰了科学家几个世纪。虽然有几种生物被认为可以支持珊瑚礁上的生命，但它们何时、何地或为何成为珊瑚礁的关键参与者在很大程度上是未知的。这个项目研究了珊瑚礁的特征如何塑造其对不同生物的依赖，以维持所有与珊瑚礁有关的大型鱼类。通过量化小珊瑚礁斑块的精细尺度特征，如它们的温度，波浪能，建筑和小的隐藏物种组合，并将这些发现与居住在珊瑚礁上的大鱼随时间推移所吃的详细分析相结合，这项研究揭示了不同珊瑚礁生物-从微小藻类到珊瑚，浮游生物，海绵，微观无脊椎动物，或小鱼-在喂养大鱼方面发挥重要作用。利用无人机进行空中调查，将这些精细的模式扩大到整个珊瑚礁的面积，然后该项目提供了一个整体珊瑚礁的估计，以评估不同生物对珊瑚礁上生命的贡献。在这样做的过程中，这项研究为珊瑚礁管理提供了一个新的机会：如果能够从一些特征中可靠地确定对珊瑚礁生产力最重要的生物体，就有可能建立一个更具针对性的、针对具体情况的管理框架。最后，该项目为来自珊瑚礁国家的年轻、新兴的珊瑚礁科学家提供了培训机会，并提供了大量有吸引力的数字珊瑚礁媒体，以吸引公众参与，提高对珊瑚礁生态系统脆弱性的认识。尽管珊瑚礁位于贫营养沃茨，但其极端多样性和生产力长期以来一直引起人们对不同生物体在珊瑚礁能量通量中的作用的极大兴趣。然而，到目前为止，这些发现似乎是高度特定的背景下，并没有普遍的理解存在的环境，结构或生物驱动因素，导致依赖一个或多个来源或途径的生产力的珊瑚礁。作为第一个项目，结合联合收割机水下数据记录仪，结构从运动摄影测量，生物收集，水下立体视频，和化合物特定的氨基酸同位素分析，本研究探讨了各种相互依存的属性小礁补丁，如波曝光，粗糙度，和隐底栖生物群落结构，影响不同的生物对珊瑚礁能量通量的相对贡献。通过将所产生的关系与空中无人机调查和基于定量颜色模式分析的探索程序相结合，该研究将未发现的斑块动态扩展到整个珊瑚礁的区域，最终揭示了不同来源和途径对珊瑚礁鱼类生物量的贡献。这揭示了维持珊瑚礁及其环境和结构驱动因素的潜在途径。通过这样做，该项目为一个百年老问题提供了一个更普遍的解决方案，同时提供了一个新的透镜，通过它可以在人类世管理珊瑚礁。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。