RAPID: Consequences of Rapid Environmental Change on Pelagic-to-Benthic Coupling by Sponges on the Continental USAs only Barrier Reef Ecosystem

西大西洋的天气一直很热，创历史新高。在佛罗里达群岛周围的浅海，该地区拥有世界第三长的珊瑚礁，也是美国大陆唯一的珊瑚礁，水温在2023年7月下旬达到了101华氏度的峰值。即使在30英尺深的珊瑚礁上，温度也达到了前所未有的90华氏度，引发了一波鱼类死亡、珊瑚漂白和章鱼和海绵死亡的浪潮。海洋科学家担心这一史无前例的气候事件对加勒比海和佛罗里达珊瑚礁的影响，媒体也蜂拥而至。然而，人们的注意力几乎完全集中在珊瑚上。虽然珊瑚为珊瑚礁提供了结构基础，但珊瑚礁生态系统的运作也取决于其他珊瑚礁生物的健康状况。特别重要的是海绵，它是从周围海洋捕获和循环营养物质和碳的关键--这一过程被称为“浮游-底栖耦合”。该项目(A)评估2023年夏季热浪对佛罗里达群岛浅水和珊瑚礁栖息海绵的损害，(B)测试高海水温度和相关的低氧水平对海绵的影响，以及(C)利用这些数据，开发一个模型，以帮助预测未来热浪对海绵及其为生态系统提供的生态服务的影响。该项目包括在一个为少数群体服务的机构对本科生和研究生进行培训，以及通过一个伙伴非政府组织与K-12学生进行公共宣传和接触。项目结果告知佛罗里达群岛国家海洋保护区的资源经理。2023年夏天，加勒比海的海水温度迅速上升到前所未有的水平，对珊瑚礁生态系统造成了一连串的干扰。这次活动激励了科学家、资源经理和媒体采取行动，但几乎所有的注意力都集中在珊瑚上。珊瑚为珊瑚礁提供了结构基础，但珊瑚礁生态系统作为营养下沉和在其他营养稀少的海洋中的回收者的功能高度依赖于另一个分类群：海绵。海绵是珊瑚礁和沿海珊瑚礁栖息地中上层-底栖生物耦合和营养循环的关键，但对于极端环境应激对海绵生存和珊瑚礁生态系统功能的影响几乎一无所知。该小组正在(A)利用实地调查和利用事件前基线数据来评估佛罗里达群岛近岸到离岸梯度上海绵群落结构的变化；(B)利用中观实验来研究海水温度升高和低溶解氧对微生物的过滤、溶解有机物质的消耗以及海绵对氮的固定的影响，这些海绵在系统发育、形态、微生物群或栖息地方面存在差异；(C)将这些数据整合在一起，以模拟沿海和珊瑚礁浮游到海底耦合的预测变化。该项目的结果促进了对海绵在气候变化中珊瑚礁生态系统中的功能作用的理解。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。

It's been hot, record hot in the Western Atlantic. In the shallow seas surrounding the Florida Keys, a region that harbors the world’s third longest coral barrier reef and the only one in the continental USA, water temperatures peaked in late July 2023 at 101F. Even at 30ft deep on the coral reef temperatures reached an unprecedented 90F, unleashing a wave of fish kills, corals bleaching, and dying octocorals and sponges. Marine scientists are concerned about the effects of this unprecedented climatic event on coral reefs in the Caribbean and Florida, and there has been a flood of media press as well. Yet, the focus has been almost exclusively on corals. Although corals provide the structural foundation for coral reefs, the functioning of coral reef ecosystems also depends on the health of other reef organisms. Of particular importance are sponges, which are key to capturing and recycling nutrients and carbon from the surrounding seas – a process referred to as “pelagic-to-benthic coupling”. This project (a) assesses the damage of the summer 2023 heatwave on shallow water and reef dwelling sponges in the Florida Keys, (b) tests the effects of high seawater temperatures and associated low oxygen levels on sponges, and (c) using those data, develops a model to help predict the effect of future heatwaves on sponges and the ecological services they provide to the ecosystem. The project includes training for undergraduate and graduate students at a minority-serving institution and public outreach and engagement with K-12 students through a partner NGO. Project results inform resource managers with the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.Seawater temperatures in the Caribbean rapidly rose to unprecedented levels in summer 2023, unleashing a cascade of disturbance to coral reef ecosystems. The event galvanized scientists, resource managers, and the media into action but nearly all of that attention focused on corals. Corals provide the structural foundation for coral reefs, but the functioning of coral reef ecosystems as nutrient sinks and recyclers in otherwise oligotrophic seas is highly dependent on another taxon: sponges. Sponges are key to pelagic-to-benthic coupling and nutrient recycling on coral reefs and coastal backreef habitats, yet almost nothing is known of the effect of extreme environmental stress on sponge survival and function on coral reef ecosystems. The team is (a) using field surveys and leveraging pre-event baseline data to assess changes in sponge community structure across an inshore to offshore gradient in the Florida Keys; (b) using mesocosm experiments to examine the effects of elevated seawater temperatures and low dissolved oxygen on filtering of microbes, consumption of dissolved organic material, and fixation of nitrogen by sponges that differ in phylogeny, morphology, microbiome, or habitat; and (c) integrating these data to model projected changes in coastal and coral reef pelagic-to-benthic coupling. The results of this project advance understanding of the functional role of sponges in coral reef ecosystems in a changing climate.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.