[Coral-List] Aquarius Reef Base update

[Ellen Prager]

Dear Coral List members

Recently a friend and colleague asked me if any research is still  
going on at NOAA's Aquarius Reef Base operated by UNCW in Key Largo,  
FL still.  I am happy to report that the program is producing  
excellent work and last year we saw a full slate of missions and at  
least 20 publications based on work at the facility (listed below).

Our mission schedule looks full for the upcoming year as well, with  
projects on best practices in coral restoration, ocean acidification  
impacts on coral reefs along with further development and testing of  
a prototype underwater mass spectrometer, continued work on sponge  
dynamics within a changing coral reef ecosystem, and work on  
herbivore interaction related to coral recovery.  And we hope that  
both the US NAVY and NASA will use the facility for training this  
year as well.

We are currently in discussions with our partners at NOAA, with the  
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, and others so as to  
disseminate the information coming out of our research to managers  
and others that could use it, and to identify topics of priority for  
research in the upcoming years if, as we hope, funding is available.

If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to get in  
touch.

Sincerely

Dr. Ellen Prager
Chief Scientist, Aquarius Reef Base
Author, Chasing Science at Sea (2008)
pragere at earthlink.net
www.uncw.edu/aquarius


2008 Publication List, Aquarius Reef Base

(2008). Diversity Of Plant-eating Fishes May Be Key To Recovery Of  
Coral Reefs. Science News.

(2008). NOAA supports sound science and effective management for the  
conservation and sustainability of deep-sea coral and sponge  
ecosystems. N. D.-S. C. Program.

AAAS (2008). “Redwoods of the Reef”. Science. 321: 19.

Auster, P. J. and J. Lindholm (2008). “Variation in social foraging  
by fishes across a coral reef landscape”. Proceedings of the 11th  
International Coral Reef Symposium, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, 7-11  
July 2008.

Bromage, E., L. Carpenter, et al. (2009). "Quantification of coral  
heat shock proteins from individual coral polyps." MARINE ECOLOGY  
PROGRESS SERIES 376: 123-132.

Burkepile, D. E. and M. E. Hay (2008). "Herbivore species richness  
and feeding complementarity affect community structure and function  
on a coral reef." PNAS 105(42): 16201-16206.

Fiechter, J., Haus, B.K. et al. (2008). "Physical processes impacting  
passive particle dispersal in the Upper Florida Keys." Continental  
Shelf Research 28: 1261-1272.

Leichter, J. J., Stokes, M.D. et al. (2008). "Deep water macroalgal  
communities adjacent to the Florida Keys reef tract." MARINE ECOLOGY  
PROGRESS SERIES 356: 123–138.

López-legentil, S. Song, B et al. (2008). "Bleaching and stress in  
coral reef ecosystems: hsp70 expression by the giant barrel sponge  
Xestospongia muta." Molecular Ecology, 17: 1840–1849.

McMurray, S. E., Blum, J.E. and J.R. Pawlik (2008). "Redwood of the  
reef: growth and age of the giant barrel sponge Xestospongia muta in  
the Florida Keys." Marine Biology, 155: 159-171.

McMurray, S. E. and J. R. Pawlik (2008). "A Novel Technique for the  
Reattachment of Large Coral Reef Sponges." Restoration Ecology.

Miller, M. (2008). Aquarius Coral Restoration/Resilience Experiment  
(ACRRE): 5.

Mohamed, N. M., Colman, A.S. et al. (2008). "Diversity and expression  
of nitrogen fixation genes in bacterial symbionts of marine sponges."  
Environmental Microbiology.

Mohamed, N.M., Enticknap, J.J. et al. (2008). "Changes in Bacterial  
Communities of the Marine Sponge Mycale laxissima on Transfer into  
Aquaculture." APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, 74(4): 1209-1222.

Mohamed, N.M, Mark, V.R. et al. (2008). "Monitoring Bacterial  
Diversity of the Marine Sponge Ircinia strobilina upon Transfer into  
Aquaculture." APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, 74(13): 4133-4143.

Schrope, M. (2008). “Sleeping with the fishes”. Nature Climate  
Change, 2: 159-160.

Schrope, M. (2009). "The lab at the bottom of the sea." Nature, 457:  
141-143.

Southwell, M.W., Popp, B.W. et al. (2008). "Nitrification controls on  
fluxes and isotopic composition of nitrate from Florida Keys  
sponges." Marine Chemistry 108: 96-108.

Valentine, J.F., Kenneth, J., Heck, I. et al. (2008). "Exploited  
species impacts on trophic linkages along reef–seagrass interfaces in  
the florida keys." Ecological Applications 18(6): 1501-1515.

Weisz, J. B., Lindquist, N. and C. Martens (2008). "Do associated  
microbial abundances impact marine demosponge pumping rates and  
tissue densities?" Oecologia 155: 367-376.