Collaborative Research: ORCC: Saltwater Rising: Understanding how sea level rise affects coastal amphibians

合作研究：ORCC：盐水上升：了解海平面上升如何影响沿海两栖动物

• 批准号: 2307832
• 负责人: Molly Womack
• 金额: $ 39.99万
• 依托单位: Utah State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-12-01 至 2026-11-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2307832&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; ORCC; Saltwater; Rising

Climate change is increasing the amount of salt of coastal freshwater habitats, driven by sea-level rise and intensified storm surges. Anurans (frogs and toads) play a pivotal role in wetland ecosystems and are presumed to be intolerant of saltwater, but recent syntheses indicate more salt tolerance than previously thought. This project improves our understanding of the limits of salt tolerance in anuran species occupying coastal habitats on two sea level rise fronts (Gulf and Atlantic coasts). The project uses an experimental approach that investigates multiple salinities, species, life stages, and levels of biological organization, providing data that can guide coastal managers and practitioners in improving coastal resilience and preventing biodiversity loss. Specifically, the study will identify life stage-specific mortality from salt stress across species to predict vulnerable life stages and breeding times. This research will determine whether species relatedness and ecological traits can predict salinity vulnerability and characterize the extent that the effects of saltwater at one life stage cascade across life stages. Finally, this study aims to understand how saltwater affects amphibian physiology across species and life stages, focusing on membrane permeability, hormones, and cellular processes. In summary, this research will produce diverse physiological, life history, phylogenetic, and genomic datasets that span across life stages and species to determine the salinity tolerance of anuran species that occupy coastal habitats with the goal of informing conservation actions and predicting climate change impacts. The project will also educate students and the public on various topics such as conservation and physiology. Climate change-driven sea level rise is increasing salinization of coastal habitats. Sea levels along the United States coastlines are predicted to rise between 50 and 100 cm in the next 70 years, with the east and gulf coasts facing intensified impacts. Anurans, or frogs and toads, are expected to be severely affected by salinity increases, as they are considered largely saltwater intolerant. However, salinity tolerance among amphibians is more variable than commonly considered, leaving uncertainty in the predictions of seawater inundation effects on coastal communities. To address these gaps, this research will focus on 10 anuran species with known populations within five miles of coastlines near Houston, Texas and Sapelo Island, Georgia. These locations are dual sea level rise fronts with low-elevation coastlines and freshwater wetlands expected to be inundated by the year 2050 under moderate sea level rise scenarios. The project will use a comparative approach to investigate how life history traits and evolutionary history affect stage-specific survival in higher salinities, how chronic saltwater exposure affects long-term growth, development, and fitness, and the physiological responses to saltwater exposure. This research will inform questions on how complex life cycles affect persistence in novel environments, how physiological mechanisms facilitate saltwater tolerance, and how chronic versus acute exposure affect survival and persistence. Additionally, this research will provide baselines for predicting how different coastal species will fare as sea level rise pushes saltwater further upriver and inland, which can guide coastal managers and practitioners to improve coastal resiliency and prevent biodiversity losses.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.

在海平面上升和风暴潮加剧的推动下，气候变化正在增加沿海淡水栖息地的盐分。无尾两栖动物(青蛙和蟾蜍)在湿地生态系统中扮演着关键角色，被认为对咸水不耐受，但最近的合成表明，它们比之前认为的更耐盐。该项目提高了我们对占据两个海平面上升前沿(墨西哥湾和大西洋海岸)沿海栖息地的无尾两栖动物物种耐盐性极限的了解。该项目使用一种实验方法，调查多种盐度、物种、生命阶段和生物组织水平，提供数据，指导沿海管理人员和从业人员提高海岸复原力，防止生物多样性丧失。具体地说，这项研究将确定不同物种因盐胁迫而导致的特定生命阶段的死亡率，以预测脆弱的生命阶段和繁殖时间。这项研究将确定物种相关性和生态特征是否可以预测盐分脆弱性，并表征一个生命阶段的咸水影响在整个生命阶段中的级联程度。最后，这项研究旨在了解咸水如何影响跨物种和生命阶段的两栖动物生理，重点是膜通透性、激素和细胞过程。总之，这项研究将产生跨越生命阶段和物种的不同生理、生活史、系统发育和基因组数据集，以确定占据沿海栖息地的无尾两栖动物物种的耐盐性，目的是为保护行动和预测气候变化影响提供信息。该项目还将教育学生和公众各种主题，如保护和生理学。气候变化导致的海平面上升正在加剧沿海栖息地的盐碱化。预计未来70年，美国海岸线的海平面将上升50至100厘米，东部和墨西哥湾海岸将面临更强烈的影响。无尾两栖动物，或青蛙和蟾蜍，预计将受到盐度上升的严重影响，因为它们在很大程度上被认为是不耐盐水的。然而，两栖动物对盐度的耐受性比通常认为的更不稳定，这给海水淹没对沿海社区影响的预测留下了不确定性。为了解决这些差距，这项研究将集中在德克萨斯州休斯顿和佐治亚州萨佩洛岛附近海岸线5英里范围内已知种群的10种无尾两栖动物。这些地点是双重海平面上升前沿，在适度海平面上升的情况下，低海拔海岸线和淡水湿地预计到2050年将被淹没。该项目将使用比较的方法来研究生活史特征和进化史如何影响较高盐度下的特定阶段存活，长期接触盐水如何影响长期生长、发育和健康，以及对盐水暴露的生理反应。这项研究将为以下问题提供信息：复杂的生命周期如何影响新环境中的持久性，生理机制如何促进盐水耐受性，以及慢性和急性暴露如何影响生存和持久性。此外，这项研究将提供基线，以预测随着海平面上升将咸水进一步推向上游和内陆时不同的沿海物种将如何生存，这可以指导沿海管理人员和从业人员提高海岸复原力，防止生物多样性丧失。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。