Developing
the capacity to better predict the composition of reef communities in a
future of intensifying climate change based on the analysis of Symbiodinium communities. The economic and ecological
importance of coral reef ecosystems make it pivotally important to
understand the biological capacity and mechanisms that corals possess to
resist, acclimatize and or adapt to the dynamically changing coastal
environments predicted with climate change. Our research is aimed at
understanding how functional attributes and environmental tolerance in
corals relate to the nature and taxonomic composition of the algal
symbiont (Symbiodinium) communities they harbor, at a reef community scale. We are explicitly focused on the characterization of Symbiodinium
diversity with the goal of developing the framework necessary to
examine how diversity in the taxonomic unions influences the functional
biology and environmental thresholds of corals. To this end, we designed
a project to use the unique thermal attributes of the back reef pools
on the south coast of Ofu island that lie within the National Park of
American Samoa to examine which corals have been selected for by
thermally challenging environments and to determine whether the
taxonomic composition of the Symbiodinium communities in corals is a good predictor of environmental range. CURRENT RESEARCHER INVOLVEMENT Dr. Ruth Gates Dr. Denise Yost PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH in prep FUNDING AGENCY OR AGENCIES USGS |
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