Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Heavy Metals Implications To Sediment Microbiome And Coral Response To Arsenic Dosing, Dimitrios G. Giarikos, Amy Hirons, Jose V. Lopez, Abigail Renegar, Jason Gershman

SECLER Data

No abstract provided.

Sarah Pohjola, Senior Art Exhibition Portfolio, Earth's Destruction, Sarah Pohjola

Senior Art Portfolios

This work was created for the Senior Art Exhibition Portfolio 2024. This work includes graphic design and illustration focused on environmental conservation.

Power In Numbers: An Abundance Of Small Corals Responsible For Storing Over Half Of The Carbon Stored By All Alaskan Primnoa Pacifica Deep-Sea Corals, Sylvie Alexander

Scripps Senior Theses

Gorgonian deep-sea corals (DSCs) are biologically linked to ocean carbon cycling converting ocean carbon to gorgonin and calcite in their skeletons. As such, gorgonian DSCs likely accumulate and store carbon in their skeleton throughout their lifespans, acting as carbon sinks on historic timescales. Yet, DSC carbon storage hasn’t been investigated to date. This study evaluates gorgonian DSC carbon storage capacity through an evaluation of the carbon stored by Alaskan Primnoa pacifica corals. The development of a model relating coral height to biomass in specimens with this data available was used to determine biomass values in a suite of Alaskan P. …

Unified Methods In Collecting, Preserving, And Archiving Coral Bleaching And Restoration Specimens To Increase Sample Utility And Interdisciplinary Collaboration, Rebecca Vega Thurber, Emily R. Schmeltzer, Andréa G. Grottoli, Robert Van Woesik, Robert J. Toonen, Mark Warner, Kerri L. Dobson, Rowan H. Mclachlan, Katie Barott, Daniel J. Barshis, Justin Baumann, Leila Chapron, David J. Combosch, Adrienne M.S. Correa, Thomas M. Decarlo, Mary Hagedorn, Laetitia Hédouin, Kenneth Hoadley, Thomas Felis, Christine Ferrier-Pagès, Carly Kenkel, Ilsa B. Kuffner, Jennifer Matthews, Mónica Medina, Christopher Meyer, Corinna Oster, James Price, Hollie M. Putnam, Yvonne Sawall

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Coral reefs are declining worldwide primarily because of bleaching and subsequent mortality resulting from thermal stress. Currently, extensive efforts to engage in more holistic research and restoration endeavors have considerably expanded the techniques applied to examine coral samples. Despite such advances, coral bleaching and restoration studies are often conducted within a specific disciplinary focus, where specimens are collected, preserved, and archived in ways that are not always conducive to further downstream analyses by specialists in other disciplines. This approach may prevent the full utilization of unexpended specimens, leading to siloed research, duplicative efforts, unnecessary loss of additional corals to research …

Law Library Blog (December 2021): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Coral Oxygen Isotopic Records Capture The 2015/2016 El Niño Event In The Central Equatorial Pacific, Gemma K. O'Connor, Kim M. Cobb, Hussein R. Sayani, Alyssa R. Atwood, Pamela R. Grothe, Samantha Stevenson, Et. Al.

Earth and Environmental Sciences

Coral oxygen isotopes (δ18O) from the central equatorial Pacific provide monthly resolved records of El Niño-Southern Oscillation activity over past centuries to millennia. However, calibration studies using in situ data to assess the relative contributions of warming and freshening to coral δ18O records are exceedingly rare. Furthermore, the fidelity of coral δ18O records under the most severe thermal stress events is difficult to assess. Here, we present six coral δ18O records and in situ temperature, salinity, and seawater δ18O data from Kiritimati Island (2°N, 157°W) spanning the very strong 2015/16 El Niño event. Local sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies of …

Reproductive Effort Of Montastraea Cavernosa Across Depth In The Context Of Both Climate Change Refugia And Emergent Disease, Jeanne Bloomberg

LSU Master's Theses

As coral populations on shallow reefs decline globally, mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCE) have been suggested as potential coral refugia in the face of climate changes, leading to the development of a comprehensive deep reef refugia hypothesis. The current study assesses the climate and disease refuge potential of MCEs in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) for the gonochoric, broadcast-spawning species Montastraea cavernosa. Polyp, population, and total habitat fecundities were estimated across the species’ depth range, and changes to population oocyte production over time due to recent ecosystem disturbances were considered. The number of gonads producing oocytes in each polyp and oocyte …

How Corals Avoid Mating Between Different Species, Amanda Kempton

Scientific Communication News

No abstract provided.

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 Lighting Regimes For Rearing Orbicella Faveolata And Acropora Cervicornis Recruits, Paul D. Kreh

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Coral reef decline worldwide has led to the need for coral reef restoration. The use of sexual reproduction in restoration efforts is required to increase genetic diversity; however, the procedures for rearing newly-settled coral recruits ex situ still need to be optimized. Recruits initially require low light irradiance, but it is unclear when higher irradiances are required to enhance growth and survival. Here we determined the optimal light regime for Orbicella faveolata and Acropora cervicornis recruits. Newly settled recruits were reared under treatments with varied rates of increasing irradiance (after reaching 5 weeks of age), and their survival, growth, and …

Effects Of Deposited Sediment And Turbidity On Survival And Growth Of Orbicella Faveolata Recruits, Morgan Stephenson

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Corals are frequently exposed to elevated turbidity and deposited sediment caused from coastal construction, dredging, and/or beach renourishment. This study addresses the effects of turbidity and deposited sediment on the survival and growth of newly settled and 6-week-old Orbicella faveolata recruits and disentangles the effects of turbidity and deposited sediment. We conducted two experiments in which newly settled coral recruits were reared in one of ten different turbidity and deposited sediment treatments for five weeks (0 NTU/ 0 mg cm^-2, 3.4 NTU/ 0 mg cm^-2, 8.2 NTU/ 0 mg cm^-2, 16 NTU/ 0 mg …

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 …

Optimization Of Light Irradiance During The Early Life Of Sexually-Produced Porites Astreoides And Agaricia Agaricites Recruits, Nicholas J. Mcmahon

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Current solutions of coral restoration rely mainly on fragmentation. Though a reliable technique, this asexual form of reproduction does not benefit the genetic diversity of the coral reef. With many global and local stressors threatening corals’ existence, the resiliency of corals to future ocean conditions depends highly on sexual reproduction to produce new genotypes. New technology allows coral spawning/larval release, larval settlement and rearing to be carried out in an aquarium system. Many of the techniques necessary to maintain coral recruits are well-established, however the effects of light intensity remain to be studied for these early life stages. Newly …

Spatiotemporal Change In The Benthic Community Of Southeast Florida, Nicholas P. Jones

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

High-latitude reefs have been postulated as refugia, centers for resilience or the first areas to undergo re-organization under climate change. The Southeast Florida Reef Tract (SEFRT) is a high-latitude reef system (>25 °N) running parallel to the highly urbanized coastline of southeast Florida. With a benthic community comprised of a mixture of coral reef associated assemblages, the SEFRT is towards the northern limit of stony coral cover due to temperature constraints. This study analyzed spatial variations in benthic cover, spatiotemporal changes in the benthic community and the impact of spatial and temporal fluctuations in temperature on benthic cover on …

Effects Of Ocean Warming, Sedimentation, And Parental Genotype On The Post-Settlement Survival And Growth Of Acropora Cervicornis Recruits, Jena Robbins

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Ocean warming and increased sedimentation from coastal activities are major threats to coral persistence. This study assessed the effects of increased temperature and sedimentation on the survival and growth of Acropora cervicornisrecruits. The potential for adults from different regions and genotypes to confer their offspring with higher or lower tolerance to heat and/or sediment was also determined. Gametes were collected and brought to the laboratory for cross fertilization of different genotypes within the regions collected. Larval rearing and settlement were then performed in the laboratory. Newly settled recruits were reared at 29 and 31°C (current summer temperature for August …

Patterns In Caribbean Coral Spawning, Anna C. Jordan

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Most corals worldwide are broadcast spawners that rely on synchronous gamete release for successful fertilization. Spawning synchrony may also decrease the probability of heterospecific fertilization that may produce maladaptive hybrids. Despite the importance of reproductive timing, researchers have only recently begun to collect spawning data across coral species in the Caribbean, but these data remain to be analyzed. This study investigates interannual, seasonal, and environmental patterns that may influence Caribbean scleractinian spawning times. The number of spawning observations varies widely among location and species. Most spawning observations were collected in Florida, Curaçao, and Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. Acropora …

"The Effects Of Ocean Warming And Sedimentation On The Survival And Growth Of Acropora Cervicornis" And "Differential Prevalence Of Chimerism During Embryogenesis In Corals", Hayley De Marchis

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Part I:

Coral reefs are essential to coastal economies, protecting coastlines from storms, and harboring high biodiversity. However, reefs are declining due to local anthropogenic stressors and ocean warming. Sedimentation, a local stressor, aggravates the impacts of warming on corals and hinders their survival and growth. Therefore, it is important to investigate whether sedimentation and temperature have a synergistic effect on vulnerable coral species, especially during earlier stages of development. To quantify these effects, survival and growth of newly settled Acropora cervicornis corals were measured at two temperatures (29 and 31°C, representing current and predicted for 2050 Summer temperatures) and …

Bacterial Communities Associated With Healthy And Diseased Acropora Cervicornis (Staghorn Coral) Using High-Throughput Sequencing, Charles Walton

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Coral diseases were first noted in the 1960s and 1970s and have had major impacts globally on coral reef community structures. In the Caribbean, a major outbreak of white band disease has been considered responsible for the drastic decline of Caribbean Acroporids since the 1970s. In addition to white band disease, another more recently described condition known as rapid tissue loss (RTL) has had major impacts on Acropora cervicornis populations, specifically offshore Broward County Southeast Florida. While these diseases have contributed to the population decline, determining their etiologies has been elusive.

Coral diseases have been characterized by shifts in their …

The Effect Of Watershed Runoff And Sediment Resuspension On Turbidity And Sediment Deposition In St. John, Us Virgin Islands: Implications For Watershed And Marine Development And Restoration In Bays With Coral Reefs, Stephen E. Campbell

Theses

In the US Virgin Islands (USVI), land-based (terrigenous) sedimentation has been identified as a major cause of coral stress. Development, such as the building of unpaved roads in steep coastal watersheds, has increased sediment yields and marine terrigenous sedimentation by up to an order of magnitude above background levels. When activated during storm events, ephemeral streams transport sediment from the watershed to coastal waters. Once deposited on the seafloor, resuspension of benthic sediments can further increase turbidity and deposition. However, isolating the relative contributions of runoff and resuspension to turbidity and deposition using conventional sediment trap monitoring has been challenging. …

Coral-Excavating Sponge Cliona Delitrix: Current Trends Of Space Occupation On High Latitude Coral Reefs, Ari Halperin, Andia Chaves-Fonnegra, David S. Gilliam

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The recent increase in abundance of coral-excavating sponges is a threat to the health of coral reefs. However, the distribution and growth of these sponges are poorly documented on high latitude reefs where corals live in marginal environmental conditions. In this study, we characterize the current trends of space occupation of Cliona delitrix on high latitude reefs (26°N) in southeast Florida. C. delitrix densities were significantly higher on the deepest habitat of this reef tract (the outer reef) in response to a higher availability of coral substratum. Sponge growth rates increased with depth, and in relation to presence of tunicates …

Transgenerational Effects Of Thermal Stress: Impacts On And Beyond Coral Reproduction, Alyson Kuba

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Ocean warming causes stress to corals and records reveal that periods of thermal stress are increasing in frequency and severity. Previous studies show that thermal stress negatively impacts the reproductive output of corals. However, the transgenerational impacts of coral bleaching have never been quantified. As a consequence, it is unclear how ocean warming may alter population dynamics due to effects on reproduction and recruitment. This study quantified the transgenerational impacts of thermal stress in Montastraea cavernosa. To assess transgenerational effects of temperature stress during gametogenesis, colonies were exposed to elevated temperature for two weeks four months prior to spawning, …

Gross And Microscopic Lesions In Corals From Micronesia, T. M. Work, G. S. Aeby, K. A. Hughen

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The authors documented gross and microscopic morphology of lesions in corals on 7 islands spanning western, southern, and eastern Micronesia, sampling 76 colonies comprising 30 species of corals among 18 genera, with Acropora, Porites, and Montipora dominating. Tissue loss comprised the majority of gross lesions sampled (41%), followed by discoloration (30%) and growth anomaly (29%). Of 31 cases of tissue loss, most lesions were subacute (48%), followed by acute and chronic (26% each). Of 23 samples with discoloration, most were dark discoloration (40%), with bleaching and other discoloration each constituting 30%. Of 22 growth anomalies, umbonate growth anomalies composed …

Modeling Of Epizootics On Four Genera Of Arabian Gulf Corals, John Alexander Kluge

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Coral colonies, from a reef near Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), were counted and assessed for condition using photo-transects. An epidemic model, used to track how a communicable disease moves through a population, was constructed to help predict the future condition of this coral reef. In situ data from a disease outbreak that occurred in September 2011 provided a baseline for the model. Coral Populations of Porites, Platygyra, Acropora and Dipsastrea were modelled using condition categories that included Healthy, Black Band Disease Infected, Cyanobacteria Infected, Recovered, Recruits or Dead. Results from the modelling indicate that populations of Platygyra and …

Uranium-Series Ages Of Fossil Corals From Mallorca, Spain: The “Neotyrrhenian” High Stand Of The Mediterranean Sea Revisited, Daniel R. Muhs, Kathleen R. Simmons, Joaquín Meco, Naomi Porat

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The emergent marine deposits of the Mediterranean basin have been recognized as an important record of Quaternary sea level history for more than a century. Previous workers identified what have been interpreted to be two separate high stands of sea in the late Quaternary, namely the “Eutyrrhenian” (thought to be ~120 ka) and the “Neotyrrhenian” (thought to be either ~100 ka or ~80 ka). On Mallorca, Spain, both of these named deposits lie close to present sea level, implying paleo-sea levels slightly above present during both marine isotope stages (MIS) 5.5/5e and either 5.3/5c or 5.1/5a. If these interpretations are …

Marginal Coral Populations: The Densest Known Aggregation Of Pocillopora In The Galápagos Archipelago Is Of Asexual Origin, Iliana B. Baums, Meghann Devlin-Durante, Beatrice A. A. Laing, Joshua S. Feingold, Tyler B. Smith, Andrew Bruckner, Joao Monteiro

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Coral populations at distributional margins frequently experience suboptimal and variable conditions. Recurrent El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) warming events have caused extensive mortality of reef-building corals in the Eastern Pacific, and particularly impacted branching pocilloporid corals in the Galápagos Islands. Pocillopora spp. were previously more common and formed incipient reefs at several locations in the archipelago but now occur as scattered colonies. Here, we report an unusually concentrated aggregation of colonies and evaluate their current genetic diversity. In particular we focus on a large population of 1614 live Pocillopora colonies found in a volcanic lagoon along the southern shore of Isabela …

Epibenthic Mobile Invertebrates Along The Florida Reef Tract: Diversity And Community Structure, Kristin Netchy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Benthic mobile invertebrates are important components of coral-reef diversity and community structure, though, in most cases, their ecological contributions are poorly known. Baseline information on their diversity, prevalence, assemblages, and ecological roles is needed to aid in the conservation of coral-reef habitats. The objectives of this study are to 1) describe diversity and assemblages of epibenthic, mobile invertebrates in shallow water coral-reef communities in Florida, 2) evaluate their ecological roles by reviewing published literature on diet, and 3) measure the degree of linear dependence between mobile invertebrates and scleractinian corals. Underwater surveys were conducted in the summer of 2013 at …

Metabolism In Corals From Antarctica, The Deep-Sea, And The Shallow Subtropics: Contrasts In Temperature, Depth, And Light, Lara Henry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coral habitats span the range from tropical to polar, extremely shallow to thousands of meters deep. The differences in light and temperature experienced in these varied habitats likely affect the metabolic rates of the corals residing there. The metabolism of three coral species from different habitats have been examined to elucidate the effects of these environmental parameters on metabolism, an under-studied aspect of coral biology. For all three species, measurements of oxygen uptake, ammonium excretion, and activity of the enzymes lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), malate dehydrogenase (MDH), and citrate synthase (CS) were used to characterize their metabolism. Off Florida's Gulf coast, …

Assessing The Reproducibility Of Coral Oxygen And Carbon Isotope Time Series From Fiji And Tonga And Their Application To The Reconstruction Of South Pacific Convergence Zone Movements Since The Mid-1800s, Emilie Pauline Dassie

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

A major feature affecting the hydrology of the southern hemisphere is the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ); a band of high rainfall extending southeastward from the Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP). It is a key source of atmospheric water vapor and latent heating. While it is clear that the SPCZ plays a fundamental role in Earth's climate, little is known about the patterns and mechanisms responsible for interannual to century-scale changes in its position and how it may respond to global climate change.

Assessing Delta Oxygen-18 In The Coral Genus Isopora For Reconstructing Indo-Pacific Regional And Seasonal Climate, Gavin Lemley

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Paleoclimate reconstructions often utilize coral reefs with very long time spans such as the genus Porites and Diploastrea, because of their potential to provide centuries of continuous climate records via geochemical signatures. Smaller corals, such as the genus Isopora, have been essentially unexplored as climate archives because their small skeletons (<1 m) and short lifespans (years to decades) do not provide such continuous geochemical records. There has not been a practical application for such corals until recently. In early 2010, the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Leg 325 (IODP-325) cored drowned fossil reefs off the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) with the objectives of reconstructing sea level and surface ocean conditions since the Last Glacial Maximum. Out of 213 massive fossil corals that were recovered, most were massive Isoporan colonies. A 30-specimen subset of these fossils range in age from ~32,000 to ~11,500 years before present with even temporal spacing, based on preliminary U/Th dating of core catcher samples. This age distribution is excellent for meeting IODP-325 objectives, but the suitability of Isopora for paleoclimate analyses remains unknown.

Sampling Methods For Acropora Corals, Other Benthic Coral Reef Organisms, And Marine Debris In The Florida Keys: Field Protocol Manual For 2011-2012 Assessments, Steven Miller, Leanne M. Rutten, Mark Chiappone

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

The 2011-2012 sampling of Acropora corals, other coral reef benthic invertebrates, and marine debris in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) is being undertaken as a spatially intensive effort to provide updated population distribution and abundance information. The particular focus of surveys in the Florida Keys, as well as in the U.S. Caribbean (Puerto Rico and the U.S.V.I.), concerns the habitat distribution, colony density, size, condition, and population abundance of Acropora corals. Surveys in the Florida Keys also include assessments of urchins, mollusks, anemones, corallimorpharians, and marine debris. These additional assessments are relatively fast and easy to perform. Annual …