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Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Marine Biology

Species-Specific Coral Calcification Responses To The Extreme Environment Of The Southern Persian Gulf, Emily Howells, Glenn Dunshea, Dain Mcparland, Grace O. Vaughan, Scott F. Heron, Morgan S. Pratchett, John A. Burt, Andrew G. Bauman Feb 2018

Species-Specific Coral Calcification Responses To The Extreme Environment Of The Southern Persian Gulf, Emily Howells, Glenn Dunshea, Dain Mcparland, Grace O. Vaughan, Scott F. Heron, Morgan S. Pratchett, John A. Burt, Andrew G. Bauman

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Sustained accretion of calcium carbonate (mostly by scleractinian corals) is fundamental for maintaining the structure and function of coral reef ecosystems, but may be greatly constrained by extreme and rapidly changing environmental conditions. Corals in the southern Persian Gulf already experience extreme temperature ranges (<20 to >34°C), chronic hypersalinity (>43 psu) and frequent light limitation (<100 μmol photons m−2 s−1). We compared annual rates of calcification for two of the most common coral species in the region (Platygyra daedalea and Cyphastrea microphthalma) along marked gradients in environmental conditions in the southern Persian Gulf and into the Oman Sea. Overall calcification rates were 32% higher in P. daedalea colonies (x = 1.103 g cm−2 y−1, n = 46) than in …


Fish Communities On The World's Warmest Reefs: What Can They Tell Us About The Effects Of Climate Change In The Future?, David A. Feary, John A. Burt, Andrew G. Bauman, Paolo Usseglio, Peter F. Sale, Georgenes Cavalcante Oct 2010

Fish Communities On The World's Warmest Reefs: What Can They Tell Us About The Effects Of Climate Change In The Future?, David A. Feary, John A. Burt, Andrew G. Bauman, Paolo Usseglio, Peter F. Sale, Georgenes Cavalcante

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

To examine the role of climatic extremes in structuring reef fish communities in the Arabian region, reef fish communities were visually surveyed at four sites within the southern Persian Gulf (also known as the Arabian Gulf and The Gulf), where sea-surface temperatures are extreme (range: 12–35° C annually), and these were compared with communities at four latitudinally similar sites in the biogeographically connected Gulf of Oman, where conditions are more moderate (range: 22–31° C annually). Although sites were relatively similar in the cover and composition of coral communities, substantial differences in the structure and composition of associated fish assemblages were …


Markov Models For Linking Environments And Facies In Space And Time (Recent Arabian Gulf, Miocene Paratethys), Bernhard Riegl, Samuel J. Purkis Jan 2009

Markov Models For Linking Environments And Facies In Space And Time (Recent Arabian Gulf, Miocene Paratethys), Bernhard Riegl, Samuel J. Purkis

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

If, as comparative sedimentology maintains, knowledge of the Recent can sometimes be helpful to explain the past (and vice-versa), common quantitative denominators might exist between Recent and fossil systems. It may also be possible to describe dynamics and find linkages between space and time with a unique set of quantitative tools. To explore such conceptual links, spatial facies patterns mapped using satellite imagery were compared with temporal patterns in analogous ancient outcropping facies using Markov chains and graphs. Landsat and Ikonos satellite imagery was used to map benthic facies in a nearshore carbonate ramp (Ras Hasyan) and offshore platform system …


Spatial Patterns In Arabian Gulf Coral Assemblages (Jebel Ali, Dubai, U.A.E.) In Response To Temperature-Forcing, Bernhard Riegl, Samuel J. Purkis, Kevin E. Kohler, Richard E. Dodge Jan 2006

Spatial Patterns In Arabian Gulf Coral Assemblages (Jebel Ali, Dubai, U.A.E.) In Response To Temperature-Forcing, Bernhard Riegl, Samuel J. Purkis, Kevin E. Kohler, Richard E. Dodge

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

We evaluated spatial and temporal patterns using maps from Ikonos satellite imagery in combination with 8 years of line transects and photosquares and the HadISST1 sea-surface temperature data set to explain why coral assemblages in the southern Arabian Gulf (Dubai) are impoverished and mostly do not build framework reefs. Analysis of archive sea surface temperature (SST) data confirms that the area is subjected to recurrent temperature anomalies. Frequencies of anomalies might suggest at least a partial link to the El Niño Southern Oscillation possibly via the Indian Ocean Zonal Mode. The dominant driver of local temperature was oscillations in the …