Coupling water-column bio-optics and coral reef ecology to predict impacts of climate change and coastal zone development
April 26, 2011
2:30 p.m.
Dr. Daniel Roelke
Abstract
Coral reefs of the Red Sea are among the few remaining pristine reef environments on Earth, many of these are located in the coastal waters of western Saudi Arabia. It is unknown how coastal zone development in this region might influence reefs, or the confounding effects of climate change. Both processes may influence water salinity and temperature, thereby influencing nutrient dynamics and vertical mixing. These directly influence corals, and indirectly affect them through shifts in plankton biomass and assemblage composition, and resulting changes to the underwater light field. The long-term objective of this developing project is to evaluate an approach to research that would enable estimation of how these future conditions might influence the dependence of coral reefs on their endosymbiotic algae for energy compared to alternative strategies corals employ for nutrition, i.e., heterotrophic processes, and how this might eventually influence coral reef health.