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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Desperate Coral Larvae? Behavioral Responses To Settlement Cues In Aging Agaricia Agaricites Larvae, Helena Sasha Fulmore
Desperate Coral Larvae? Behavioral Responses To Settlement Cues In Aging Agaricia Agaricites Larvae, Helena Sasha Fulmore
HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations
The global stressors of ocean warming and acidification, as well as local stressors such as eutrophication, overfishing, and coastal construction, have all contributed to the severe decline in coral populations worldwide. Recovery of coral reefs depends partly on recruitment, which relies on the response of larvae to settlement cues indicative of habitat quality; however, it remains unclear whether recruitment in disturbed areas will be compromised. Specifically, as reefs become more disturbed and dominated by macroalgae, it is important to understand larval behavior in response to changes in habitat quality. In this study, we first assessed the settlement success of newly …
Optimizing Restoration Site Selection Along The Florida Reef Tract For The Coral Species Acropora Cervicornis And Acropora Palmata, Samantha King
Optimizing Restoration Site Selection Along The Florida Reef Tract For The Coral Species Acropora Cervicornis And Acropora Palmata, Samantha King
HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations
The decline of Acropora cervicornis and Acropora palmata populations and consequent listing as endangered species has prompted the need for restoration. Since financial resources are limited, optimal sites for restoration should not only be environmentally suitable for outplant survival, but also have a greater capacity to replenish surrounding reefs with larvae. However, in Florida coral larval dispersal patterns and reef connectivity remain poorly studied. Here, we measured long term larval survival and competency of A. cervicornis to calibrate a high resolution (100m) biophysical larval dispersal model of Acropora in the Florida Reef Tract (FRT). This model revealed that there is …