Understanding bioerosion from individuals to ecosystems: the impacts of biotic and abiotic stressors on sponge erosion of oyster reefs
I have been awarded funding by the National Science Foundation to study the effects of ocean acidification and nudibranch predation on sponge bioerosion (OCE Biological Oceanography Award number 2048449) with Amber Stubler and Morgan Kelly.
Bioeroding sponges are one of the most destructive eroding taxa in carbonate ecosystems. While many abiotic stressors are known to influence sponge bioerosion (e.g., acidification, temperature, etc.), how these sponges respond to biotic stressors, such as predation, remains unexplored. In this project we use manipulative experiments, transcriptome sequencing, and mathematical modeling of a nudibranch-sponge predator-prey system to evaluate the responses of the bioeroding sponge, Cliona celata, to biotic and abiotic stressors. In this project we: (i) explore whether predator presence elicits bioerosion as an inducible defense in sponges, (ii) quantitatively assess the phenotypic and transcriptomic response of sponges to predation and acidification over different temporal scales, and (iii) determine whether sponge responses to abiotic and biotic factors are similar across phylogenetic and geographic scales.
Our project design strategically links undergraduate students at a small liberal arts college (Occidental College) with collaborators at an R1 institution (Louisiana State University) and an R2 Hispanic-Serving Institution (University of California Merced), and will incorporate over 40 students in various aspects of the project, including intensive field and lab experiences, bioinformatics workshops, and classroom-based projects.
The results of this project will advance our knowledge of sponge bioerosion in non-tropical, non-coral, carbonate ecosystems and test the ubiquity of this process across heterogeneous geographic regions. Our research has the capacity to transform our understanding of the biotic and abiotic interactions between boring sponges and the ecosystems where they reside.
I have been awarded funding by the National Science Foundation to study the effects of ocean acidification and nudibranch predation on sponge bioerosion (OCE Biological Oceanography Award number 2048449) with Amber Stubler and Morgan Kelly.
Bioeroding sponges are one of the most destructive eroding taxa in carbonate ecosystems. While many abiotic stressors are known to influence sponge bioerosion (e.g., acidification, temperature, etc.), how these sponges respond to biotic stressors, such as predation, remains unexplored. In this project we use manipulative experiments, transcriptome sequencing, and mathematical modeling of a nudibranch-sponge predator-prey system to evaluate the responses of the bioeroding sponge, Cliona celata, to biotic and abiotic stressors. In this project we: (i) explore whether predator presence elicits bioerosion as an inducible defense in sponges, (ii) quantitatively assess the phenotypic and transcriptomic response of sponges to predation and acidification over different temporal scales, and (iii) determine whether sponge responses to abiotic and biotic factors are similar across phylogenetic and geographic scales.
Our project design strategically links undergraduate students at a small liberal arts college (Occidental College) with collaborators at an R1 institution (Louisiana State University) and an R2 Hispanic-Serving Institution (University of California Merced), and will incorporate over 40 students in various aspects of the project, including intensive field and lab experiences, bioinformatics workshops, and classroom-based projects.
The results of this project will advance our knowledge of sponge bioerosion in non-tropical, non-coral, carbonate ecosystems and test the ubiquity of this process across heterogeneous geographic regions. Our research has the capacity to transform our understanding of the biotic and abiotic interactions between boring sponges and the ecosystems where they reside.
