Collaborative Research: Resiliency of corals to changing saturation state: A field study.

摘要（Swart 0550588）证据表明，不断变化的碳酸盐饱和状态，大气中二氧化碳的上升所引发的，可能有一个负面的影响后，石珊瑚的钙化。 然而，迄今为止，从珊瑚骨骼中提取的岩芯中尚未发现这种减少。该提案将探讨珊瑚是否能够适应饱和度降低的条件下生长的问题，以帮助解决这一难题，方法是利用在碳酸钙饱和度范围很广的边缘环境中生长的珊瑚。 环境，如佛罗里达湾，包含一个小的，但显然是强大的幸存者珊瑚社区保持扩展速度相当的珊瑚在附近的珊瑚礁道，尽管大的和记录的变化饱和状态。 PI计划使用生长在佛罗里达湾的Solenastrea sp.属的大型菌落进行一项独特的实验，在实验中，他们将允许自然环境操纵饱和状态。 在18个月期间，每两个月测量一次钙化和其他生理参数。 叠加在这种自然变化上，PI将施加饱和度的变化，旨在解开盐度和饱和状态对钙化和扩展的竞争影响。 最后，他们将检查珊瑚骨架内的密度和地球化学记录，以确定是什么影响了pCO2的变化，以及是否可以从骨架记录中读取pCO2的过去变化。

Abstract (Swart 0550588)Evidence has shown that the changing carbonate saturation state, triggered by the rise in atmospheric CO2, may have a negative influence upon the calcification of scleractinian corals. However, such decreases have to date not been recognized in cores taken from coral skeletons. This proposal will explore the question of whether corals are able to adapt their growth to reduced saturation conditions to help solve this dilemma by using corals growing in marginal environments, which exhibit wide ranges in calcium carbonate saturation. Environments, such as Florida Bay, contain a small but apparently robust community of survivor corals maintaining extension rates comparable to corals on the nearby reef tract in spite of large and documented changes in saturation state. The PIs plan to use large colonies of the genus Solenastrea sp. that grow in Florida Bay to conduct a unique experiment in which they will allow the natural environment to manipulate the saturation state. Every two months over an 18 month period, calcification will be measured together with other physiological parameters. Superimposed upon this natural variation, the PIs will impose changes in saturation aimed at unraveling the competing influences of salinity and saturation state on calcification and extension. Finally, they will examine the density and geochemical record within the coral skeleton in order to determine what influences the changing pCO2 and whether past changes in pCO2 can be read from the skeletal record.