Description du projet
Les récifs coralliens peuvent-ils survivre dans un environnement en mutation?
Les récifs coralliens sont menacés par les pressions environnementales mondiales actuelles. Le projet CoralChange, financé par l’UE, se penchera sur les effets des changements mondiaux sur les espèces coralliennes, sur plusieurs générations, afin de voir comment la dynamique et la viabilité de leur population sont compromises à long terme. À l’aide de modèles démographiques prédictifs, il déterminera comment l’adaptation au réchauffement et à l’acidification des océans peut nuire aux jeunes coraux. Les résultats du projet aideront à élaborer des stratégies efficaces de gestion et de conservation, ainsi qu’à identifier les espèces de coraux les plus susceptibles de survivre à l’avenir.
Objectif
Coral reefs are among the most diverse, spectacular and productive ecosystems on the planet. However, coral reefs are also among the marine ecosystems more susceptible to the adverse effects of the on-going global change. The frequency and severity of coral bleaching and mass mortality events increases every year, with serious consequences on the long-term viability of coral populations. However, during the last years, few studies have investigated the future of coral populations under different global change scenarios using demographic models. Moreover, these studies have not considered the capacity of corals to adjust their physiology to maintain performance despite environmental change (acclimatization) with the additional energetic cost of this adaptive mechanisms and their consequent transgenerational effects on the viability of future offspring. The CoralChange project will investigate, for the first time, the transgenerational effects induced by global change in stony coral and octocoral species in order to determine how their population dynamics and viability is compromised in the long-term. To achieve this goal, I will develop demographic predictive models combining field and experimental data that include coral physiological condition, trophic plasticity, reproductive success and larval viability. This new approach will identify the possible energetic costs of adaptive mechanisms to ocean warming and acidification that may undermine the early, and most vulnerable, life stages of corals. The results of this study will be essential to develop effective management and conservation strategies to safeguard coral reefs under multiple stressors, as well as identify coral species and populations with higher probability to survive in future conditions.
Champ scientifique
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinateur
08007 Barcelona
Espagne