Climate Change & Coral Reefs: Integrating Calcification, Photosynthesis & Symbiosis Flexibility into Species Survival Trajectories for Caribbean Reef Corals

Drs。贝克和兰登将调查气候变化对珊瑚礁生态系统的威胁，分析高温胁迫对造礁珊瑚-藻类共生的影响，以及大气中二氧化碳含量增加对热带浅海文石饱和度越来越低的硬石珊瑚有效钙化和造礁能力的影响。本项目使用一个受控的室外实验实验室来研究热带西大西洋（加勒比海）的一组常见珊瑚物种对高二氧化碳分压和高温的综合影响的反应。研究人员将研究这些珊瑚的光合作用、钙化、白化和共生体群落结构，以响应各种实验处理，这些处理都在保守的气候预期范围内。研究人员将利用这些结果确定未来30- 50年加勒比珊瑚礁的潜在物种生存轨迹和珊瑚礁珊瑚群落组成的变化。这些研究的广泛影响是多方面的：了解和预测珊瑚礁群落的变化，加强迈阿密大学的当地研究基础设施，培训和参与高中，本科生和研究生，以及培训博士后助理。

Drs. Baker and Langdon will investigate the threats of climate change on coral reef ecosystems by analyzing the effects of high-temperature stress on reef-building coral-algal symbioses and the impacts of increased atmospheric CO2 (pCO2) on the ability of scleractinian (stony) corals to effectively calcify and build reefs in shallow tropical seas at increasingly low aragonite saturation states. This project uses a controlled outdoor experimental laboratory to investigate the responses of a suite of common coral species from the tropical western Atlantic (Caribbean) to the combined effects of high pCO2 and high temperature. The investigators will study photosynthesis, calcification, bleaching and symbiont community structure for these corals in response to a variety of experimental treatments that fall within the scope of conservative climate expectations. The investigators will use these results to identify potential species survival trajectories and changes in reef coral community composition for Caribbean coral reefs over the next 30- 50 years. The broader impacts of these studies are diverse: understanding and predicting changes in coral reef communities, enhancing local research infrastructure at the University of Miami, training and involvement for high-school, undergraduate, and graduate students, and training for a postdoctoral associate.