Marine Biology Commons^™

Changes In Reef Tourism’S Adaptive Capacity After Severe Climate Disturbances, Henry Bartelet, Michele Barnes, Lalu Bakti, Graeme S. Cumming

Quantitative Methods and Information Technology Faculty Publications

Knowledge about adaptive capacity and its determinants has increased significantly over the last decade. However, most research on adaptive capacity has been static, not considering how adaptive capacity might change over time, particularly after severe disturbances. We studied the adaptive capacity dynamics of Asian-Pacific reef tourism operators affected by coral bleaching and tropical cyclones compared with a control group with non-affected operators. We found that impacts from tropical cyclones were associated with frequent changes in adaptive capacity. Notably, we found a reduction in tangible attributes (assets and flexibility) of adaptive capacity, whereas intangible attributes (agency and social organization) increased. Our …

Disparate Population And Holobiont Structure Of Pocilloporid Corals Across The Red Sea Gradient Demonstrate Species-Specific Evolutionary Trajectories, Carol Buitrago-López, Anny Cárdenas, Benjamin C.C. Hume, Thierry Gosselin, Fabian Staubach, Manuel Aranda, Daniel J. Barshis, Yvonne Sawall, Christian R. Voolstra

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Global habitat degradation heightens the need to better understand patterns of genetic connectivity and diversity of marine biota across geographical ranges to guide conservation efforts. Corals across the Red Sea are subject to pronounced environmental differences, but studies so far suggest that animal populations are largely connected, excepting evidence for a genetic break between the northern-central and southern regions. Here, we investigated population structure and holobiont assemblage of two common pocilloporid corals, Pocillopora verrucosa and Stylophora pistillata, across the Red Sea. We found little evidence for population differentiation in P. verrucosa, except for the southernmost site. Conversely, S. …

Marine Heatwaves Modulate The Genotypic And Physiological Responses Of Reef-Building Corals To Subsequent Heat Stress, Kristen T. Brown, Amatzia Genin, Matheus A. Mello-Athayde, Ellie Bergstrom, Adriana Campili, Aaron Chai, Sophie G. Dove, Maureen Ho, Devin Rowell, Eugenia M. Sampayo, Veronica Z. Radice

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Back-to-back marine heatwaves in 2016 and 2017 resulted in severe coral bleaching and mortality across the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Encouragingly, some corals that survived these events exhibit increased bleaching resistance and may represent thermally tolerant populations that can better cope with ocean warming. Using the GBR as a natural laboratory, we investigated whether a history of minimal (Heron Island) or severe (Lizard Island) coral bleaching in 2016 and 2017 equates to stress tolerance in a successive heatwave (2020). We examined the genetic diversity, physiological performance, and trophic plasticity of juvenile (<10 cm) and adult (>25 cm) corals of two common genera ( …

Potential Interactions Between Diatoms And Bacteria Are Shaped By Trace Element Gradients In The Southern Ocean, Alexa R. Sterling, Laura Z. Holland, Randelle M. Bundy, Shannon M. Burns, Kristen N. Buck, P. Dreux Chappell, Bethany D. Jenkins

OES Faculty Publications

The growth of diatoms in the Southern Ocean, especially the region surrounding the West Antarctic Peninsula, is frequently constrained by low dissolved iron and other trace metal concentrations. This challenge may be overcome by mutualisms between diatoms and co-occurring associated bacteria, in which diatoms produce organic carbon as a substrate for bacterial growth, and bacteria produce siderophores, metal-binding ligands that can supply diatoms with metals upon uptake as well as other useful secondary compounds for diatom growth like vitamins. To examine the relationships between diatoms and bacteria in the plankton (diatom) size class (> 3 mu m), we sampled both …

Decline Of Seagrass (Posidonia Oceanica) Production Over Two Decades In The Face Of Warming Of The Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Victoria Litsi-Mizan, Pavlos T. Efthymiadis, Vasilis Gerakaris, Oscar Serrano, Manolis Tsapakis, Eugenia T. Apostolaki

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

* The response of Posidonia oceanica meadows to global warming of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, where the increase in sea surface temperature (SST) is particularly severe, is poorly investigated. * Here, we reconstructed the long-term P. oceanica production in 60 meadows along the Greek Seas over two decades (1997–2018), using lepidochronology. We determined the effect of warming on production by reconstructing the annual and maximum (i.e. August) SST, considering the role of other production drivers related to water quality (i.e. Chla, suspended particulate matter, Secchi depth). * Grand mean (±SE) production across all sites and the study period was 48 …

Phytoplankton Thermal Trait Parameterization Alters Community Structure And Biogeochemical Processes In A Modeled Ocean, Stephanie I. Anderson, Clara Fronda, Andrew D. Barton, Sophie Clayton, Tatiana A. Rynearson, Stephanie Dutkiewicz

OES Faculty Publications

Phytoplankton exhibit diverse physiological responses to temperature which influence their fitness in the environment and consequently alter their community structure. Here, we explored the sensitivity of phytoplankton community structure to thermal response parameterization in a modelled marine phytoplankton community. Using published empirical data, we evaluated the maximum thermal growth rates (μ_max) and temperature coefficients (Q₁₀; the rate at which growth scales with temperature) of six key Phytoplankton Functional Types (PFTs): coccolithophores, cyanobacteria, diatoms, diazotrophs, dinoflagellates, and green algae. Following three well-documented methods, PFTs were either assumed to have (1) the same μ_max and …

A Trait‐Based Framework For Assessing The Vulnerability Of Marine Species To Human Impacts, Nathalie Butt, Benjamin S. Halpern, Casey S. O'Hara, A. Louise Allcock, Beth Polidoro, Samantha Sherman, Maria Byrne, Charles Birkeland, Ross G. Dwyer, Melanie Frazier, Bradley K. Woodworth, Claudia P. Arango, Michael J. Kingsford, Vinay Udyawer, Pat Hutchings, Elliot Scanes, Emily Jane Mcclaren, Sara M. Maxwell, Guillermo Diaz-Pulido, Emma Dugan, Blake Alexander Simmons, Amelia S. Wenger, Christi Linardich, Carissa J. Klein

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Marine species and ecosystems are widely affected by anthropogenic stressors, ranging from pollution and fishing to climate change. Comprehensive assessments of how species and ecosystems are impacted by anthropogenic stressors are critical for guiding conservation and management investments. Previous global risk or vulnerability assessments have focused on marine habitats, or on limited taxa or specific regions. However, information about the susceptibility of marine species across a range of taxa to different stressors everywhere is required to predict how marine biodiversity will respond to human pressures. We present a novel framework that uses life-history traits to assess species’ vulnerability to a …

Vignette 12: The Blob, Nicholas Bond

Institute Publications

A marine heat wave of unprecedented severity, areal extent and duration occurred in the Northeast Pacific Ocean during 2014-2016. This event, known as the “Blob,” had a wide variety of far- ranging effects on physical, chemical, and biological ocean properties. Because the Blob was such a massive perturbation, it represents an attractively large signal for inquiry in the Salish Sea. It represents a dress rehearsal for typical conditions in future decades due to global climate change.

Section 5: Cumulative Ecosystem Effects, Kathryn L. Sobocinski, Jennifer Boldt, Todd Sandell, Jaclyn Cleary, Michael Schmidt, Isobel Pearsall, Iris Kemp, Brian Riddell, Lynda V. Mapes

Institute Publications

Section 5 introduces cumulative effects and brings in brief case discussions focused on herring, salmon, and orcas. Understanding the layers of stressors the ecosystem faces is integral to gaining a full picture of declines in ecosystem function.

Vignette 13: The Salish Sea Model, Tarang Khangaonkar P.E.

Institute Publications

Given numerous concerns related to the health of the ecosystem and the possibility of anthropogenic impacts—from population growth to climate impacts, such as sea level rise—scientists, engineers, and planners seek an improved basic understanding of the biophysical behavior of the Salish Sea. The Salish Sea Model (SSM) development was motivated by this urgent need for a comprehensive predictive model that could diagnose water quality issues and concerns and serve as a planning tool in support of Puget Sound restoration efforts. The SSM was developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in collaboration with the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) …

Section 4: Climate Change: A Global Problem With Local Impacts, Kathryn L. Sobocinski

Institute Publications

Section 4 shifts from the local impacts of urbanization to the locally realized impacts of global climate change, including ocean acidification and sea level rise, followed by evidence of climate change in the ecosystem, ranging from phytoplankton and kelp, to wetlands, salmon, and marine birds.

Vignette 02: Lower Trophic Levels In The Salish Sea, Ian Perry

Institute Publications

Plankton form the base of the pelagic marine food web in the Salish Sea, and are eaten by fishes, marine mammals, and seabirds. Plankton include microscopic plants (phytoplankton) and very small animals (zooplankton). This vignette presents an overview of monitoring observations of phytoplankton and zooplankton distribution and biomass in the Strait of Georgia. Climate change may lead to unusual and unexpected patterns of phytoplankton and zooplankton in the future.

Implications Of Increased Sst On Sula Dactylatra In Rapa Nui Marine Park, Flavia Soctto D'Antuono, Hayden E. Dubniczki

Student Publications

Marine protected areas are a relatively new conservation tool intended to remove harmful anthropogenic practices and influences to enable ecological processes to occur normally, but they cannot protect ecosystems from global impacts like climate change. One such MPA, Rapa Nui Marine Park in Chile, is home to the Masked Booby, Sula dactylatra. Though not currently endangered, their population numbers decrease annually, and seabirds are among the most threatened species in the face of climate change. This study seeks to examine the spatial ecology of the Sula dactylatra against the context of the MPA and examines whether increasing sea surface temperatures …

Atlantic Sailfish (Istiophorus Albicans) Distribution Off The East Coast Of Florida From 2003 To 2018 In Response To Sea Surface Temperature, Meredith M. Pratt

Mako: NSU Undergraduate Student Journal

The Atlantic sailfish (Istiophorus albicans) ranges from 40°N to 40°S in the Western Atlantic Ocean and has great economic and recreational value for sport fishers. Off the east coast of Florida, recreational fishing boats often target this species due to its size, speed and strength. This project aimed to determine the relationship between sea surface temperature (SST) and the distribution of Atlantic sailfish caught and released over a fifteen-year period (2003 to 2018). Tagging information was collected from The Billfish Foundation and NOAA who have the most extensive programs for billfish. Using the time and location of each …

Variation In Coral Thermotolerance Across A Pollution Gradient Erodes As Coral Symbionts Shift To More Heat-Tolerant Genera, Melissa S. Naugle, Thomas A. Oliver, Daniel J. Barshis, Ruth D. Gates, Cheryl A. Logan

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Phenotypic plasticity is one mechanism whereby species may cope with stressful environmental changes associated with climate change. Reef building corals present a good model for studying phenotypic plasticity because they have experienced rapid climate-driven declines in recent decades (within a single generation of many corals), often with differential survival among individuals during heat stress. Underlying differences in thermotolerance may be driven by differences in baseline levels of environmental stress, including pollution stress. To examine this possibility, acute heat stress experiments were conducted on Acropora hyacinthus from 10 sites around Tutuila, American Samoa with differing nutrient pollution impact. A threshold-based heat …

Thermal Stress-Related Spatiotemporal Variations In High-Latitude Coral Reef Benthic Communities, Nicholas P. Jones, Joana Figueiredo, David S. Gilliam

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

High-latitude coral reef communities have been postulated as the first areas to undergo reorganisation under climate change. Tropicalisation has been identified in some high-latitude communities and is predicted in others, but it is unclear how the resident benthic taxa are affected. We conducted a long-term (2007–2016) assessment of changes to benthic community cover in relation to thermal stress duration on the Southeast Florida Reef Tract (SEFRT). Thermal stress events, both hot and cold, had acute (thermal stress duration affected benthic cover that year) and chronic (thermal stress duration affected benthic cover the following year) impacts on benthic cover. Chronic heat …

Uncovering The Role Of Symbiodiniaceae Assemblage Composition And Abundance In Coral Bleaching Response By Minimizing Sampling And Evolutionary Biases, Timothy D. Swain, Simon Lax, Vadim Backman, Luisa A. Marcelino

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Background

Biodiversity and productivity of coral-reef ecosystems depend upon reef-building corals and their associations with endosymbiotic Symbiodiniaceae, which offer diverse functional capabilities to their hosts. The number of unique symbiotic partners (richness) and relative abundances (evenness) have been hypothesized to affect host response to climate change induced thermal stress. Symbiodiniaceae assemblages with many unique phylotypes may provide greater physiological flexibility or form less stable symbioses; assemblages with low abundance phylotypes may allow corals to retain thermotolerant symbionts or represent associations with less-suitable symbionts.

Results

Here we demonstrate that true richness of Symbiodiniaceae phylotype assemblages is generally not discoverable from …

Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Analysis Of Mangrove Ecosystems Using Gis, Kayla Caldwell

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Climate change is accelerating beyond what is natural due to excessive emissions from human activities. The sea level has been rising for many years and is currently at a rate of 3.6 mm/yr. Mangroves are known to only keep pace with a sea level rate of less than 1.2 mm/yr. Mangroves are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels if they are not able to keep pace through vertical sediment accretion or inland migration. To test the vulnerability of the south Florida mangrove ecosystems to sea level rise, this study analyzed changes in the mangrove forest coverage of the Oleta River …

Urgent Need For Coral Demography In A World Where Corals Are Disappearing, Peter J. Edmunds, Bernhard Riegl

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Coral reefs have long attracted attention because of their biological and economic importance, but this interest now has turned to examining the possibility of functional extirpation. Widespread declines in coral abundances have fueled the shift in motivation for studying reefs and catalyzed the proliferation of monitoring to record the changes underway. Despite appreciation of monitoring as a scientific endeavor, its primary use has continued to be the quantification of cover of coral, macroalgae, and a few other space holders. The limitations of coral cover in evaluating the consequences of changing coral abundance were highlighted decades ago. Yet neglect of the …

Assessing The Hierarchy Of Long-Term Environmental Controls On Diatom Communities Of Yellowstone National Park Using Lacustrine Sediment Records, Victoria Chraibi, Sherilyn C. Fritz

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

An ecosystem’s ability to maintain structure and function following disturbance, defined as resilience, is influenced by a hierarchy of environmental controls, including climate, surface cover, and ecological relationships that shape biological community composition and productivity. This study examined lacustrine sediment records of naturally fishless lakes in Yellowstone National Park to reconstruct the response of aquatic communities to climate and trophic cascades from fish stocking. Sediment records of diatom algae did not exhibit a distinct response to fish stocking in terms of assemblage or algal productivity. Instead, 3 of 4 lakes underwent a shift to dominance by benthic diatom species from …

No Evidence Of Fine Scale Thermal Adaption In Green Turtles, Taylor Apter

Scientific Communication News

No abstract provided.

Standardized Short-Term Acute Heat Stress Assays Resolve Historical Differences In Coral Thermotolerance Across Microhabitat Reef Sites, Christian R. Voolstra, Carol Buitrago-López, Gabriela Perna, Anny Cárdenas, Benjamin C. C. Hume, Nils Rädecker, Daniel J. Barshis

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Coral bleaching is one of the main drivers of reef degradation. Most corals bleach and suffer mortality at just 1–2°C above their maximum monthly mean temperatures, but some species and genotypes resist or recover better than others. Here, we conducted a series of 18‐hr short‐term acute heat stress assays side‐by‐side with a 21‐day long‐term heat stress experiment to assess the ability of both approaches to resolve coral thermotolerance differences reflective of in situ reef temperature thresholds. Using a suite of physiological parameters (photosynthetic efficiency, coral whitening, chlorophyll a , host protein, algal symbiont counts, and algal type association), we assessed …

Enhanced Acidification Of Global Coral Reefs Driven By Regional Biogeochemical Feedbacks, Tyler Cyronak, Kai G. Schulz, Isaac R. Santos, Bradley D. Eyre

Tyler Cyronak

Physical uptake of anthropogenic CO₂ is the dominant driver of ocean acidification (OA) in the open ocean. Due to expected decreases in calcification and increased dissolution of CaCO₃ framework, coral reefs are thought to be highly susceptible to OA. However, biogeochemical processes can influence the pCO₂ and pH of coastal ecosystems on diel and seasonal time scales, potentially modifying the long‐term effects of increasing atmospheric CO₂. By compiling data from the literature and removing the effects of short‐term variability, we show that the average pCO₂ of coral reefs throughout the globe has increased ~3.5‐fold …

Fallen Pillars: The Past, Present, And Future Population Dynamics Of A Rare, Specialist Coral–Algal Symbiosis, Andrea Chan, Cynthia L. Lewis, Karen L. Neely, Iliana B. Baums

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

With ongoing changes in climate, rare and ecologically specialized species are at increased risk of extinction. In sessile foundation fauna that reproduce asexually via fragmentation of existing colonies, the number of colonies does not reflect the number of genets and thus can obscure genotypic diversity. Colonies that are the product of fragmentation are not visually distinguishable from colonies that stem from sexual recruits. For this reason, molecular markers are necessary to assess genotypic variation and population structure in clonal organisms such as reef-building corals and their endosymbiotic dinoflagellates. For the rare Caribbean pillar coral, Dendrogyra cylindrus, and its endosymbiotic …

Indirect Legacy Effects Of An Extreme Climatic Event On A Marine Megafaunal Community, Robert Nowicki, Michael Heithaus, Jordan Thompson, Derek Burkholder, Kirk Gastrich, Aaron Wirsing

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

While extreme climatic events (ECEs) are predicted to become more frequent, reliably predicting their impacts on consumers remains challenging, particularly for large consumers in marine environments. Many studies that do evaluate ECE effects focus primarily on direct effects, though indirect effects can be equally or more important. Here, we investigate the indirect impacts of the 2011 “Ningaloo Niño” marine heatwave ECE on a diverse megafaunal community in Shark Bay, Western Australia. We use an 18‐year community‐level data set before (1998–2010) and after (2012–2015) the heatwave to assess the effects of seagrass loss on the abundance of seven consumer groups: sharks, …

Thresholds And Drivers Of Coral Calcification Responses To Climate Change, Niklas Kornder, Bernhard Riegl, Joana Figueiredo

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Increased temperature and CO₂ levels are considered key drivers of coral reef degradation. However, individual assessments of ecological responses (calcification) to these stressors are often contradicting. To detect underlying drivers of heterogeneity in coral calcification responses, we developed a procedure for the inclusion of stress–effect relationships in ecological meta‐analyses. We applied this technique to a dataset of 294 empirical observations from 62 peer‐reviewed publications testing individual and combined effects of elevated temperature and pCO₂ on coral calcification. Our results show an additive interaction between warming and acidification, which reduces coral calcification by 20% when pCO₂ levels exceed …

Providing Modeling Tools On Extreme Events Of Climate Change To Puget Sound Managers, Andrea Copping, Zhaoqing Yang, Ian Miller, Jude K. Apple, Guillaume Mauger, Nathalie Voisin, Aimee Fullerton, Ning Sun, Mikaela Freeman

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

As climate change becomes a reality for the management of Puget Sound, water resource and fisheries managers should consider incorporating predictions and outcomes of future climate drivers into their long-range plans and daily operations. Modeling tools that focus on climate impacts and predictions show that extreme events are more often responsible for large impacts than the long-term press of climate change. Working with water resource and fisheries managers in the Dungeness and Skagit watersheds, this project uses outputs of existing climate and estuarine models to define thresholds and metrics associated with extreme climate-driven events that are of importance to the …

Recent Conditions Highlight Regional Differences In Temperature, Salinity And Dissolved Oxygen Between Strait Of Juan De Fuca And Puget Sound Sites Under Anomalous 2014-2017 Climate Patterns, Julia Bos, Christopher Krembs, S. L. Albertson, Mya Keyzers, Allison Brownlee, Carol Maloy

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Understanding impacts of climate change on Salish Sea water quality is critical yet challenging due to the complexity, strength and diversity of influences on circulation and mixing. Different extreme climate conditions in recent years (2014-2017) include record warm temperatures with reduced snow pack in 2014-2015 followed by a few years of alternating summer droughts with record rainy seasons. These conditions influenced marine water temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen (DO) throughout the Salish Sea. Analyses reveal distinct differences in these key physical and chemical characteristics between Strait of Juan de Fuca sites and sites within Puget Sound basins. Extremely low DO …

Space Matters: Incorporating Mechanistically Determined Spatial Patterns Into Projected Impacts Of Climate Change On Stream Temperature, Se-Yeun Lee, Aimee H. Fullerton, Ashley Steel, Christian Torgersen

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

River temperatures are increasing as a results of climate change, and combined with decreased summertime flows, coldwater species are becoming increasingly stressed. In order to conserve sensitive species, managers need an estimate of how the availability of summertime thermal refuges in rivers will change in the future. Here, we applied the DHSVM-RBM, an existing process-based water temperature model that has been shown to accurately represent temporal variance in water temperature over hours to years. We calibrated this model to empirical data for two case study watersheds (Siletz River, Oregon and Snoqualmie River, Washington) to also ensure representation of observed spatial …

Zooplankton Ecology Of The Fraser River Estuary, Joanne Breckenridge, Evgeny Pakhomov

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Zooplankton are critical components of the pelagic food web. This presentation will discuss zooplankton ecology in the Fraser River Estuary, drawing on the preliminary results of a monitoring study, which ran from August 2013 to May 2016, as well as specific investigations into the life history and behaviour of one of the dominant species, the copepod Eurytemora affinis. Data analysis is ongoing, but, for most of the year, estuarine zooplankton appear limited by the estuary’s short residence time. Due to the advective nature of their environment, estuarine zooplankton have evolved mechanisms to retain populations within the estuary. Our results suggest …