RAPID: Coral reproduction following mass corallivore outbreak and offspring tolerance during El Nino modulates reef recovery

自然和人为影响越来越多地同时发生，对海洋系统，特别是珊瑚礁造成不利后果。自然掠食者的爆发，如珊瑚虫的荆棘之冠海星，可以迅速杀死珊瑚。此外，气候和海洋变暖产生的压力正在推动珊瑚漂白，或珊瑚-甲藻营养共生关系的崩溃，这可能导致珊瑚饥饿和大规模死亡。法属波利尼西亚莫奥雷亚的珊瑚礁目前正在经历荆棘冠海星的爆发，珊瑚死亡率很高。与此同时，目前的厄尔尼诺现象正在推高海洋温度，有可能加剧珊瑚的季节性热应力峰值。特别是，Pocilloppora属，这是主要的珊瑚礁建设者在莫雷阿岛，正在优先食用的皇冠荆棘海星，并在历史上显示珊瑚漂白在最温暖的月份。鉴于珊瑚对Mo'orea前礁上生态上占优势的Pocilloppora spp的快速和广泛的捕食，以及厄尔尼诺热应力的复合，本项目研究了泻湖礁Pocilloppora spp繁殖、补充和温度耐受力在珊瑚礁恢复中的作用。这项工作提供了量化特定物种繁殖和耐热性的能力，以更好地了解和预测对珊瑚礁恢复和复原力的影响。该项目的更广泛影响包括为早期职业科学家培训提供研究支持，以及为法属波利尼西亚和罗得岛的大学生和高中生课程模块和研究项目提供数据和材料。该项目是一个迫切需要评估的影响，多个共存的干扰事件的珊瑚虫爆发和热应力对珊瑚礁。沿着量化荆棘海星星丰度和分布的王冠，研究人员正在完成泻湖中成年和幼年Pocillopora物种多样性和丰度的遗传和生态表征，以确定产卵和热峰之前的种群，量化Pocillopora物种的繁殖和幼虫的耐热性，在季节性热应力高峰期和厄尔尼诺年后的几个月内，确定泻湖和前礁中Pocillopora spp新兵的密度和耐热性。这些结果促进了对自然干扰后珊瑚产卵和补充的后果的了解。重要的是，该项目提供了关于占主导地位的Pocilloppora物种如何在敏感的早期生命阶段应对海洋变暖和海洋热浪的慢性和急性压力的信息。该项目的结果提供了对生态，经济和文化上重要的珊瑚礁生态系统的压力遗产的更深层次的理解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得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的支持。

Natural and anthropogenic impacts are increasingly co-occurring with negative consequences for marine systems, specifically coral reefs. Natural predator outbreaks, such as the corallivorous Crown of Thorns Sea stars, can rapidly kill corals. Further, the stress generated by climate and ocean warming is driving coral bleaching, or the breakdown of the coral-dinoflagellate nutritional symbiosis, which can cause coral starvation and mass mortality. The reefs of Mo’orea, French Polynesia, are currently experiencing an outbreak of Crown of Thorns sea stars, with high coral mortality. In conjunction, the current El Niño warming is driving up ocean temperatures, with the potential to exacerbate peak seasonal thermal stress on corals. In particular, Pocillopora spp, which are dominant reef builders in Mo’orea, are being preferentially eaten by Crown of Thorns Sea stars and have historically displayed coral bleaching during the warmest months. In light of the rapid and extensive coral predation on the ecologically dominant Pocillopora spp on the forereef in Mo’orea and compounding El Niño thermal stress, this project examines the role of lagoon reef Pocillopora spp reproduction, recruitment, and temperature tolerance in reef recovery. This work provides the capacity to quantify species-specific reproduction and thermal tolerance to better understand and forecast legacy effects on reef recovery and resilience. Broader impacts of this project include research support for early career scientist training, as well as data and materials for undergraduate and high school student curriculum modules and research projects for schools in French Polynesia and Rhode Island. This project represents an urgently needed assessment of the impact of multiple co-occurring disturbance events of corallivore outbreaks and thermal stress on coral reefs. Along with quantifying the Crown of Thorns Sea star abundance and distribution, researchers are completing a genetic and ecological characterization of the diversity and abundance of adult and juvenile Pocillopora spp in the lagoon to determine the population prior to spawning and thermal peak, quantifying reproduction of Pocillopora spp and larval thermal tolerance, and determining the density and thermal tolerance of Pocillopora spp recruits in the lagoon and forereef during the peak of seasonal thermal stress and several months after, in an El Niño year. The results advance understanding of the consequences of coral spawning and recruitment immediately following a natural disturbance. Importantly, the project provides information on how the dominant Pocillopora spp are contending with the chronic and acute stress of ocean warming and marine heat waves at sensitive early life stages. The results of this project provide a deeper understanding of the legacy of stress on the ecologically, economically, and culturally significant coral reef ecosystem.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.