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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
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 …
Indirect Effects Of Ocean Warming And Acidification On The Realized Recruitment Of Agaricia Agaricites, Allan Anderson
Indirect Effects Of Ocean Warming And Acidification On The Realized Recruitment Of Agaricia Agaricites, Allan Anderson
HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations
Over the past few decades, coral cover has declined worldwide due to overfishing, disease, and storms, and these effects have been exacerbated by ocean warming and acidification. Corals are extremely susceptible to these changes because they are already living close to their thermal and aragonite saturation thresholds. Ocean warming and acidification (OAW) may also impact coral survival and growth by impacting their settlement cues. Coral larvae use crustose coralline algae (CCA) and their associated biofilms as cues for settlement, i.e., habitat selection. Settlement cues can also be negatively affected by increased water temperature and acidity. It was hypothesized that the …
Early Life History Response Of Reef Building Coral, Orbicella Faveolata, To Ocean Acidification And Warming, Kelly A. Pitts
Early Life History Response Of Reef Building Coral, Orbicella Faveolata, To Ocean Acidification And Warming, Kelly A. Pitts
HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations
Ocean warming and acidification pose major threats to coral reef organisms. It is unknown how the early life history stages of Atlantic corals cope with the combined effects of these two global environmental stressors. Here, I investigate how these stressors influence the fertilization success, larval survivorship, and settlement of the threatened Atlantic coral, Orbicella faveolata. Gametes from O. faveolata were subjected to a factorial combination of present and future scenarios of oceanic temperatures (28.5° C and 30° C) and pH (8.2 and 8.0) predicted to occur by 2050. Results indicate that treatment type did not significantly affect fertilization success. …
Variation In Coral Recruitment And Juvenile Distribution Along The Southeast Florida Reef Tract, Leah M. Harper
Variation In Coral Recruitment And Juvenile Distribution Along The Southeast Florida Reef Tract, Leah M. Harper
HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations
Coral recruitment in Southeast Florida is being outpaced by mortality, resulting in population declines in many species. Identifying the coral species most likely to recruit and survive on Southeast Florida reefs and evaluating spatial variation in recruitment and survivorship is crucial for managing decreasing coral populations. This study focuses on 12 sites in Broward and Miami-Dade counties that have served as long-term stations for monitoring adult coral cover and demographics. At each site, thirty-two 225cm2 grooved terracotta settlement tiles were attached to the substrate in winter of 2015 and retrieved in winter of 2016 to evaluate scleractinian and octocoral …
Exploring The Potential For Artificial Reefs In Coral Reef Restoration: Responses And Interactions Of Associated Biota To Varying Experimental Treatments In The Mexican Caribbean, Audie Kirk Kilfoyle
Exploring The Potential For Artificial Reefs In Coral Reef Restoration: Responses And Interactions Of Associated Biota To Varying Experimental Treatments In The Mexican Caribbean, Audie Kirk Kilfoyle
HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations
Coral reefs are being negatively impacted by various causes worldwide, and direct intervention is often warranted following disturbance to restore or replace lost ecosystem structure and function. An experimental coral reef restoration study involving standardized artificial reef modules (ReefballsTM) was conducted in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula in the towns of Puerto Morelos and Akumal. The purpose was to explore the use of artificial structure for restoration and mitigation applications in a highly diverse and dynamic Caribbean coral reef environment by applying and evaluating the performance of select experimental treatments hypothesized to accelerate development of the associated biota. The first …
Effects Of Sedimentation On The Physiology And Oxidative Stress Of Two Common Scleractinian Corals, Margaret E. Rushmore
Effects Of Sedimentation On The Physiology And Oxidative Stress Of Two Common Scleractinian Corals, Margaret E. Rushmore
HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations
This study examined the effect of a growing environmental stressor, sedimentation, on the physiology and oxidative stress throughout the different life stages of two common scleractinian corals Montastraea cavernosa and Porites astreoides. Physiology, oxidative stress, and settlement success of newly released P. astreoides larvae were measured after exposure to various turbidity treatments. No significant effects were seen on larval settlement and photosynthetic efficiency, however carbonyl content and catalase activity were significantly higher in 2015 compared to 2014; highlighting a possible inter-annual variability in susceptibility. Larval settlement deterrence in the presence of a layer of accumulated fine- or coarse-grained sediment …