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

珊瑚礁是最多样化和最多产的生态系统之一，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。这个悖论困扰了科学家几个世纪。虽然有几种生物被认为支持珊瑚礁上的生命，但它们何时、何地、为何成为珊瑚礁的关键角色，在很大程度上是未知的。该项目研究了珊瑚礁的特征如何影响其对不同生物的依赖，以维持通常与珊瑚礁相关的所有大型鱼类。通过量化小珊瑚礁斑块的精细尺度特征，例如它们的温度、波浪能、建筑和小的、隐藏的物种组合，并将这些发现与长期居住在珊瑚礁上的大型鱼类所吃的东西的详细分析相结合，本研究揭示了不同珊瑚礁生物的环境-从微小的藻类到珊瑚、浮游生物、海绵、微观无脊椎动物或小鱼-在喂养大型鱼类方面发挥重要作用。该项目利用空中无人机调查，将这些精细的模式扩大到整个珊瑚礁的面积，然后提供一个对珊瑚礁上不同生物的贡献的全珊瑚礁估计。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：如果能够从几个特征中可靠地识别出对珊瑚礁生产力最重要的生物，那么就有可能建立一个更有针对性的、具体环境的管理框架。最后，该项目为来自珊瑚礁国家的年轻新兴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，以吸引公众并提高对珊瑚礁生态系统脆弱性的认识。能量的移动和储存是地球上所有生态系统运作的基础。珊瑚礁的极端多样性和生产力，尽管它们位于少营养水域，长期以来引起了人们对不同生物对珊瑚礁能量通量的作用的极大兴趣。然而，迄今为止，这些发现似乎是高度具体的，对于导致依赖于珊瑚礁的一种或多种生产力来源或途径的环境、结构或生物驱动因素，还没有普遍的认识。作为第一个结合水下数据记录仪、动态结构摄影测量、生物采集、水下立体视频和氨基酸化合物特异性同位素分析的项目，本研究探讨了小珊瑚礁斑块的各种相互依赖属性（如波浪暴露、粗糙度和隐底生物群落结构）如何影响不同生物对珊瑚礁能量通量的相对贡献。通过将结果与空中无人机调查和基于定量颜色模式分析的勘探程序相结合，该研究然后将未发现的斑块动力学扩展到整个珊瑚礁区域，最终揭示生态系统尺度上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。在这样做的过程中，该项目为一个存在了几个世纪的问题提供了一个更通用的解决方案，同时提供了一个新的视角，通过它可以在人类世中管理珊瑚礁。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

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.