[Coral-List] Session invitation ECRS 2017: Symbiodinium - Sentinels of coral resilience

[Benjamin Hume]

Dear colleagues,

We would like to draw your attention to our Symbiodinium session at the
European Coral Reef Symposium 2017. We hope this session will provide a
platform to share and discuss recent advances in our understanding of these
remarkable organisms. We encourage submissions that cover any aspect of the
biology, ecology, and taxonomy of Symbiodinium to provide new insights into
host-algal symbioses and their role in the success of reefs in the future.

Abstracts for session 23 can be submitted here: http://www.reefconservat
ionuk.co.uk/abstract-submission.html

The deadline for abstract submissions is the 30th of June.

Session details:
Session 23 - DIVERSITY AND FUNCTION OF CORAL SYMBIONTS OF THE GENUS
SYMBIODINIUM- SENTINELS OF CORAL RESILIENCE

Organizers: Christian R. Voolstra, Ben Hume & Edward Smith

Corals and the ecosystems they support have been among the most sensitive
to climate change. However, considerable variations in their response to
environmental stressors are observed. One important factor that contributes
to coral reef resilience is the identity of the coral-harbored algal
symbionts in the genus Symbiodinium. Dinoflagellate algae of the genus
Symbiodinium are important endosymbionts of corals and many other tropical
marine invertebrates. Focus of research over the past few decades has
highlighted how genetic diversity within this genus may be critical to the
longer term survival of coral reefs. However, it is only through recent
technical and conceptual advances that we are beginning to understand the
functional complexity of Symbiodinium populations and how coral reef
communities may adapt to prevailing environmental conditions. Despite this
progress, it is currently unclear how flexible host-symbiont associations
may be and by what mechanisms different algal symbionts may confer
physiological advantages to their hosts. Such knowledge is critical in
gaining further insight into the global capacity of corals to develop
symbioses that will allow them to persist during future shifts in climate.
In this session we invite contributions that explore how  of host-algal
symbioses are challenging established paradigms and shedding light on the
role these symbioses will play in mitigating further loss of coral cover in
reef ecosystems globally. This session will bring together researchers
focusing on basic and applied aspects of Symbiodinium biology and encourage
submissions from across all disciplines.

We look forward to seeing you in Oxford!

Kind regards,

Ben Hume

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