EAPSI:Examining the Connectivity of Fish Populations Between Mesophotic and Shallower Reefs of Southern Japan

虽然全世界的珊瑚礁都受到气候变化、过度捕捞和污染的威胁，但一个巨大的、未经开发的珊瑚礁区可能为许多这些威胁提供避难所。大多数珊瑚生态系统研究都集中在不到30米深的浅水珊瑚礁上，尽管在许多地区，光合珊瑚延伸到165米。这种差异是由于传统水肺的生理限制，限制了研究人员在浅水区。 本研究将利用水下仪器回收、闭路再呼吸器和标准潜水员断面方面的新技术，首次对日本的MCE进行全面分析。研究将与日本冲绳琉球大学MISE实验室的著名遗传学专家James Reimer博士合作进行。结果将产生经验数据，以评估MCE和浅水珊瑚礁之间的鱼类和无脊椎动物种群的遗传分析的连接水平。并将提供宝贵的洞察MCE栖息地组成，将证明有利于海洋资源管理人员。中光珊瑚生态系统（MCEs）是热带依赖光的珊瑚礁群落，从30米延伸到透光带底部（165米）。值得注意的是，MCE占虫黄藻珊瑚栖息地的三分之二，但几乎完全未被探索。特别是浅和深社区之间的关系是未知的; MCE鱼类种群可能与较浅的珊瑚礁重叠，如深礁避难所假说（DRRH）所示，使MCE成为环境压力的潜在避难所。本研究的目标有两个方面。首先，将在四个地点评估MCE底栖覆盖物的多样性。第二，DRRH将进行检查，以评估MCE在提供幼鱼和无脊椎动物新兵浅，深礁的作用，并确定垂直基因流的整体程度。这个NSF EAPSI奖是与日本科学促进协会合作资助的。

While coral reefs worldwide are threatened by climate change, overfishing, and pollution, an enormous and unexplored coral reef zone may provide a refuge from many of these threats. Most coral ecosystem research has focused on shallow reefs less than 30m depth, though photosynthetic corals extend to 165m in many areas. This disparity is due to the physiological limitations of conventional scuba that confines researchers to the shallows. This study will utilize new technology in subsea instrument recovery, closed circuit rebreathers and standard diver-based transects to provide the first comprehensive analysis of MCEs of Japan. Research will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. James Reimer, a noted expert on genetics at the MISE Lab of the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan. Results will yield empirical data to assess the level of connectivity of fish and invertebrate populations between MCEs and shallower reefs by genetic analysis. and will provide valuable insight into MCE habitat composition that will prove beneficial to marine resource managers. Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems (MCEs) are tropical light-dependent reef communities that extend from 30m to the bottom of the photic zone (165m). Remarkably MCEs account for two-thirds of zooxanthellate coral habitat, yet remain almost entirely unexplored. In particular the relationships between shallow and deep communities are unknown; MCE fish populations may overlap with those of shallower reefs, as suggested by the Deep Reef Refugia Hypothesis (DRRH), making MCEs a potential refuge from environmental stress. The objectives of this study are two-fold. First, the diversity of benthic covers of MCEs will be assessed at four sites. Second, the DRRH will be examined to assess the role of MCEs in providing larval fish and invertebrate recruits to shallow and deep reefs and to determine the overall extent of vertical gene flow. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.