NSERC Steacie Fellowship RTI: Illuminating the Mechanisms of Coral Reef Resilience to Climate Change

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Vibrant coral reefs are the world's most biologically diverse marine ecosystems. They are also the most vulnerable to climate change. Although climate change will significantly impact all ocean life in the coming decades, the future of coral reefs is under imminent threat from pulse heat-stress events like the increasingly frequent and severe El Niños. Heat stress of even 1°C disrupts the vital association between the corals and their microscopic algal symbionts, causing them to bleach. Prolonged bleaching can lead to coral mortality from starvation. ******Heat stress from the 2015-2016 El Niño event triggered the worst global coral bleaching and mass mortality event on record. Christmas Island, the central equatorial Pacific atoll where my team and I have worked for the past decade, was ground zero. Heat stress on its reefs persisted for ten months, resulting in 90% coral mortality. ******This loss is devastating. We must learn from it. This event presents an exceptional opportunity to conduct long-term studies to assess: a) how some coral survived unprecedented heat stress, b) how extensive coral loss impacts reef fishes and overall biodiversity and ecosystem function; c) coral recovery rates, via coral recruitment and growth of survivors, and which factors are vital to enhance recovery; d) how overall ecosystem resilience is changing. The requested Coral Tracking System will provide the necessary equipment to enable my team and I to answer these questions. It includes three inter-related systems: 1) a Dive System, including a new compressor, tanks, gear, and related safety equipment, which will allow us to safely conduct science underwater via SCUBA; 2) a Coral Monitoring System, which includes temperature loggers and current meters for environmental monitoring, cameras to capture reef recovery states over time, and a high-performance computer for image analysis. This system enables us to carry out the underwater science and to process the related data; 3) a Coral Sample Preservation System, which includes scientific freezers and fridges required for preservation of collected coral tissue samples, prior to molecular analysis. The research enabled by this research includes underwater surveys, images and collections; oceanographic monitoring; novel 3D imagery and modeling techniques; and molecular analyses. We will train a large team of undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows in these methods using this new equipment, and we will continue our strong history of providing them with indispensable skills for their careers in science. ******Our work will provide critical insight into the question of whether protecting the ocean from local stressors, like fishing and pollution, enhances its resilience to climate change. It will advance biodiversity and resilience theory, and it will provide Canada with the knowledge and intellectual capacity to develop management solutions that can ensure our oceans are resilient for generations to come. **