BRC-BIO: High nutrient submarine groundwater discharge delivery effects on coastal primary productivity on coral reefs in Maunalua Bay, Hawaii

评估多种压力源对沿海群落动态的影响至关重要。通过这样做，研究人员可以了解这些生态系统的恢复能力，为未来情景的海岸管理做好准备，并帮助确定恢复工作的优先次序。由于至少52%的美国人口居住在流入沿海流域的地区，研究人员必须研究营养污染对沿海系统的影响。海底地下水排放（SGD）被定义为从海底到沿海海洋的任何和所有水流。在沿海地下水营养物质浓度因土地利用变化而大幅增加的地区，通过SGD向沿海水域输送的营养物质与藻类大量繁殖和群落组成的变化有关。这项研究将描述营养物污染的陆地来源及其对珊瑚礁生产力和群落组成的影响。这项研究的结果将与国家实体共享。此外，研究结果将有助于一个专注于恢复研究地点的非营利组织确定和优先考虑恢复地点。该项目将招收10名本科生和1名硕士研究生。将采用同行评议的策略来招募和留住代表性不足的少数民族学生，例如财政奖励和暑期实地研究。毛纳鲁阿湾（夏威夷岛欧胡岛）在过去的100年里经历了巨大的发展和人口的增加。这影响了近岸珊瑚礁的水质。由于现场污水处理系统的密度、离散的SGD及其珊瑚礁栖息地的范围，Maunalua湾是研究陆地对水质和初级生产对珊瑚礁群落影响的模型系统。Maunalua Bay陆基无机营养物的主要来源是SGD，它提供淡水和无机营养物。这项研究将使用新颖的方法来表征两个珊瑚礁的水柱（无人机热成像）和底栖生物（系泊在珊瑚礁上的传感器）的SGD输送。这项工作还将量化以藻类为主的珊瑚礁上主要初级生产者的碳吸收量。最后，将模拟有SGD和没有SGD的珊瑚礁上藻类的生产力。这项工作将阐明SGD对珊瑚礁底栖生物和水柱藻类生产力的影响程度。不仅仅是了解沿海生物的丰度、分布和生产力，拟议的研究将在珊瑚礁生态系统的局部和区域尺度上推动这些模式的物理和化学机制。本项目由环境生物学部生物新学院研究能力建设项目和海洋科学学部生物基础设施与生物海洋学项目共同资助。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。

Evaluating the effects of multiple stressors on coastal community dynamics is crucial. In doing so, researchers can understand the resilience of these ecosystems, prepare coastal management for future scenarios, and aid in prioritizing restoration efforts. With at least 52% of the US population living in areas that drain into coastal watersheds, it is imperative for researchers to study the effects of nutrient pollution in coastal systems. Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is defined as any and all flow of water from the seabed to the coastal ocean. In areas where the nutrient concentration of coastal groundwater has been substantially increased by changing land use, nutrient loading to coastal waters via SGD has been associated with algae blooms and shifts in the community composition. This research will characterize land-based sources of nutrient pollution and its effects on coral reef productivity and community composition. The results from this research will be shared with state entities. Additionally, the results will aid a non-profit organization focused on restoring the study site in identifying and prioritizing restoration sites. This program will engage up to 10 undergraduates and one post baccalaureate. Peer-reviewed strategies for recruitment and retainment of underrepresented minority students, such as financial incentives and summer-long field-based research, will be used. Maunalua Bay (O‘ahu, HI) has experienced dramatic development and increase in population over the last 100 years. This has affected the water quality in near shore coral reefs. Due to the range of onsite sewage disposal systems density, discrete SGD, and its coral reef habitats, Maunalua Bay is a model system to study land-based effects on water quality and primary production on coral reef communities. The main source of land-based inorganic nutrients in Maunalua Bay is SGD, which delivers both freshwater and inorganic nutrients. This research will use novel methods to characterize SGD delivery to both the water column (drone thermal imagery) and benthos (sensors moored to the reef) of two reefs. The work will also quantify carbon uptake of the main primary producers on algal-dominated reefs. Finally, the productivity of the algae on a reef with SGD and without SGD will be modeled. This work will clarify the magnitude of the effect of SGD on both benthic and water column algal productivity of reefs. More than just understanding the abundance, distribution, and productivity of coastal organisms, the proposed research will get to the physical and chemical mechanisms driving these patterns on a local and regional scale in coral reef ecosystems.This project is cofunded by the Building Research Capacity of New Faculty in Biology Program in the Division of Environmental Biology and the Division of Biological Infrastructure and Biological Oceanography Program in the Division of Ocean Sciences.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.