[Coral-List] Crumbling Coral: Cold-water Reefs in the Acidic Northeast Pacific and their Implications for Other Regions of the USA

[George Sedberry - NOAA Federal]

"Crumbling Coral: Cold-water Reefs in the Acidic Northeast Pacific and
their Implications for Other Regions of the USA"

Full announcement:
http://files.ctctcdn.com/20c48c5d001/708f7fcc-3b05-40be-a64a-d0e003d627cc.pdf?utm_source=SOCAN%3A+Webinar+May+5&utm_campaign=SOCAN&utm_medium=email


Leslie Wickes, NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science Center for
Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research

Please join SOCAN for the next state-of-the-science webinar Tuesday May 5,
12pm EDT. It is titled "Crumbling Coral: Cold-water Reefs in the Acidic
Northeast Pacific and their Implications for Other Regions of the USA"
presented by Leslie Wickes and Peter Etnoyer, NOAA National Centers for
Coastal Ocean Science Center for Coastal Environmental Health and
Biomolecular Research.

Abstract
Cold-water reefs are fragile, complex ecosystems that extend into the
bathyal depths of the ocean, creating three-dimensional structure and
habitat for deep-water invertebrates and fishes. The most prolific
cold-water reef-building coral is Lophelia pertusa, which occurs at depths
where aragonite saturation is three to four times lower than their
shallow-water reef counterparts. The current study employed an
unprecedented number of ROV dives (n=564, 2003-2014) to document the
widespread distribution of a reef-building coral on the U.S. West Coast for
the first time, providing empirical evidence of species survival but loss
of reef integrity in the naturally acidified conditions. The study found
that while Lophelia can persist in the corrosive waters, framework extent,
linear extension and skeletal densities were greatly reduced relative to
regions such as the North Atlantic and US South Atlantic Bight, where the
coral forms more expansive reefs of robust skeleton. Preliminary findings
in the South Atlantic Bight suggest corrosive water will also be impinging
on Lophelia reefs in this region. The future health of these SAB reefs may
depend on both the degree and rate of change, necessitating new monitoring
efforts to evaluate carbonate chemistry with respect to cold-water reefs in
the Southeast region.


Brief Biography
Leslie Wickes is a marine biologist working at NOAA's National Center for
Coastal Ocean Science in Charleston, SC. Beginning at the Pennsylvania
State University, followed by Temple University and the College of
Charleston, she has researched deep-sea corals off the West Coast, Gulf of
Mexico, Caribbean and South Atlantic Bight. Now at NOAA, she's involved in
multiple projects that relate to coral health and condition, both with
respect to oil exposure following Deepwater Horizon and climate change.

Full announcement:
http://files.ctctcdn.com/20c48c5d001/708f7fcc-3b05-40be-a64a-d0e003d627cc.pdf?utm_source=SOCAN%3A+Webinar+May+5&utm_campaign=SOCAN&utm_medium=email