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Title:
“Efficacy of three formulations of beneficial coral-associated bacteria
for the
control of coral pathogens”
Amount: $30,000
Organization: University of Florida
Contact: Max Teplitski, Assistant Professor, Department of Soil
and
Water Science, Genetics Institute, University of Florida - IFAS,
Gainesville,
Fla.; maxtep@ufl.edu
Summary: This project will investigate how beneficial bacteria
may be used to
control coral diseases — knowledge that could eventually lead to better
management and conservation of coral reefs. Corals around the world are
threatened by diseases caused by harmful bacteria, which often invade
when
corals’ natural defenses are weakened by environmental stress. Previous
research has shown that corals naturally recruit infection-fighting
bacteria.
This project will build upon those findings by investigating how
beneficial
bacteria fight infection and by testing strains of beneficial bacteria
against
specific diseases.
Title: “Marine Ecosystem Event Response and Assessment (MEERA)”
Amount: $14,781
Organization: Mote Marine Laboratory
Contact: Cory Walter, Staff Biologist, Center for Coral Reef
Research, Mote’s
Tropical Research Laboratory, Summerland Key, Fla.; cwalter@mote.org.
Summary: The ongoing MEERA project provides early detection and
assessment of
biological events occurring in the Florida Keys
and surrounding waters. MEERA, which began in 1997, asks members of the
public
to report any unusual marine events, including coral bleaching, algal
blooms
and invasive species. This system provides online reports of
environmental
change to inform marine scientists, resource managers and the public.
Learn more at www.mote.org/meera.
Title: “The Role of
Bacterial-Zooxanthellae Symbiosis and Gene Transfer in Coral Reef
Resilience:
Year 3 Continuation”
Amount: $56,680
Organization: Mote Marine Laboratory
Contact: Dr. Kim Ritchie, Manager, Marine Microbiology Program
in the Center
for Coral Reef Research, Mote Marine Laboratory — Sarasota, Fla. /
Summerland
Key; Ritchie@mote.org
Summary: This project is designed to shed new light on the
relationship between
corals and two beneficial microbes: the symbiotic algae living in their
tissues
and the beneficial bacteria that support reef health. Project scientists
will
study how the algae and bacteria interact and how their relationship
helps
reefs. One key focus is how marine bacteria swap genetic material,
possibly
sharing traits that benefit corals. The current project will investigate
how
this genetic exchange might help coral larvae settle — an important
process for
reef-building. A key question is whether bacteria pass on helpful
genetic
traits to the algae that live within corals.
Title: “Advancing Culture
Methods to Aid in Recovery of a Key Herbivore, Diadema antillarum,
on Florida Coral Reefs”
Amount: $29,316
Organization: Mote Marine Laboratory
Contact: Dr. Ken Leber, Director, Center for Fisheries
Enhancement, Mote Marine
Laboratory — Sarasota, Fla.; Kleber@mote.org
Summary: This ongoing project is dedicated to restoring the sea
urchin species Diadema antillarum to reefs in the
Florida Keys, where its numbers have been depleted since a die-off
throughout
the Caribbean in 1983. This species is important because it grazes on
algae,
preventing overgrowth that can threaten coral reefs. Project scientists
are
currently raising D. antillarum larvae in aquaculture.
They plan to further
develop and refine their techniques to raise large numbers of larvae
into
juvenile urchins, screen them for signs of health, acclimate them for
release
into the sea and develop strategies for restoring them to reefs.
Title: “Spatial
variability in
coral-algal symbiosis within polyps and colonies: Developing methods to
investigate symbiont acquisition and expulsion and assess the management
potential of inoculating corals with resilient algae”
Amount: $20,419
Organization: University of Miami
Contact: Dr. Andrew C. Baker, Associate Professor, Division of
Marine Biology
and Fisheries, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science,
University
of Miami, Fla.; abaker@rsmas.miami.edu
Summary: This study will investigate why some corals recover
from damage better
than others and how much this resilience depends on the species of algae
they
carry within. Research has shown that corals and their symbiotic algae
have a
win-win relationship that allows both to thrive. If corals are stressed,
they
may lose their algae, becoming bleached, and die. This project will
investigate
whether some algae species are likelier to stay, helping corals better
recover
from stress. The researchers will study algae in the genus Symbiodinium
and design protocols for telling different species
apart in nature. Then they will examine how the different algae species
are
distributed among reef-building corals. A key question is whether
resilient
algae from one coral could be transferred to others.
Title: “Continued
Production of
Hard Corals for Coral Reef Restoration and Field Stock Enhancement
Trials Year
3”
Amount: $20,000
Organization: Mote Marine Laboratory
Contact: Dr. David E. Vaughan, Director, Center for Fisheries
Enhancement, Mote
Marine Laboratory — Sarasota, Fla.; dvaughan@mote.org
Summary: This project, entering its third year, is developing
cutting-edge
techniques to raise corals in aquaculture and restore them to depleted
reefs in
the Florida Keys. Corals are declining around the world because of
climate
change, ocean acidification, water pollution and other environmental
threats.
Scientists in the current study have developed techniques to grow
several coral
species in aquaculture, and in 2010 they released corals of four species
into
two sites in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Now, project
goals
include monitoring and expanding these field efforts, expanding
production of
corals on land and maintaining a growing “seed bank” of coral fragments
from several
species.
Title: “Development of
Ocean
Acidification Flow-Thru Experimental Raceway Units (OAFTERU): Simulating
the
Future Reefs in the Keys Today”
Amount: $32,405
Organization: Mote Marine Laboratory
Contact: Dr. Emily Hall, Staff Scientist, Chemical Ecology
Program, Mote Marine
Laboratory — Sarasota/Summerland Key, Fla.; emily8@mote.org
Summary: Researchers plan to show how a unique water system at
Mote Marine
Laboratory’s Florida Keys facility can be used to study ocean
acidification and
its effect on corals. Ocean acidification caused by carbon dioxide from
manmade
sources is a major concern for corals and other species whose hard
skeletons
could be damaged by acidic water. Project scientists hope to study this
process
using a special deep well system to supply water with a controlled range
of
acidity. This system could provide a unique and permanent site for
studying how
acidification affects corals.
Title: “The influence of
marine microbes on coral recruitment
in the Florida Keys”
Amount: $32,984
Organization: Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce
Contact: Dr. Valerie Paul, Head Scientist, Smithsonian Marine
Station at Fort
Pierce, Fla.; paul@si.edu
Summary: This study is designed to show how “biofilms” — thin
layers of
bacteria on reef surfaces — might help coral larvae settle and grow. New
reefs
cannot grow unless drifting larvae can settle and begin the next stage
in their
life cycle. Project scientists will investigate whether corals in the
Florida
Keys National Marine Sanctuary — and potentially other regions in the
Caribbean — settle and metamorphose in response to
specific strains of bacteria living in the biofilm.
Title: “Upper Keys Coral Reef Classroom”
Amount: $8,006
Organization: Marine Resources Development Foundation
Contact: Jessica Pulfer, Director, MarineLab Education Program,
Marine
Resources Development Foundation – Key Largo, Fla.; Jessica.pulfer@marinelab.org
Summary: The Coral Reef Classroom, piloted in 1991 by the
Florida Keys National
Marine Sanctuary, will continue as an integral part of the curriculum
for
Monroe County students. Program leaders hope to bring coral reefs to
life for about 220 students and teachers through a
class and field program focused on
coral reefs in the Keys and the importance of water-quality monitoring.
The
2011 program will be offered to five schools in the Upper Keys.
Title: “Coral connectivity between deep and shallow sites in
the Upper Florida
Keys: Identifying deep water refugia and assessing
their importance as sources
of coral replenishment following bleaching”
Amount: $19,409
Organization: University of Miami
Contact: Dr. Andrew C. Baker, Associate Professor, Division of
Marine Biology
and Fisheries, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science,
University
of Miami, Fla.; abaker@rsmas.miami.edu
Summary: This project, in its third year, is designed to reveal
whether corals
in deepwater sites can help those in nearby shallow sites recover from
disturbances such as bleaching. Shallow-water corals are more
susceptible to
problems like warming sea surface temperatures, which can cause corals
to
bleach and die. The current project is investigating whether more
sheltered
deepwater reefs supply larvae to shallower sites in the Upper
Florida Keys. Project scientists will use genetic techniques to
study dispersal by five coral species. Understanding the
relationship between
shallow and deep coral populations could lead to more effective
management and
conservation of reefs.
Title: “The Sanctuary Reef Traveling Exhibit: Teaching School
and Public
Audiences to Protect Our Reefs”
Amount: $10,000
Organization: Mote Marine Laboratory
Contact:
Elizabeth Metz-Kirk, Director,
Center for Digital Learning, Mote
Marine Laboratory — Sarasota, Fla; emetz@mote.org
Summary: Sanctuary Reef, a unique traveling exhibit designed by
Mote Marine
Laboratory, will educate students about coral reefs by visiting sites
such as
schools, public libraries and museums. The exhibit gives students a
shrimp’s-eye view of coral reefs by allowing them to explore a
large-scale
model of a reef. Students can learn about reefs of the Florida Keys
National
Marine Sanctuary, the value of coral reefs, human impacts on reefs,
research
and conservation efforts. Sanctuary Reef includes a videoconference
screen that
connects students with Mote’s science educators in real time. This grant
provides for repairs and upgrades and will support the costs to move the
exhibit to new sites.
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