[Coral-List] March 1: NOAA Seminar: Kissing Coral: Measuring coral metabolic rates in situ with a novel diver-portable underwater respirometer - CISME

[Tracy Gill - NOAA Federal]

OneNOAA Science Seminar Series <https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/seminars/>
Please forward this announcement to folks who might be interested; thanks!

*Title: Kissing Coral: Measuring coral metabolic rates in situ with a novel
diver-portable underwater respirometer - CISME (Coral in Situ Metabolism
and Energetics) *

Speaker: Dr. Alina M. Szmant, Retired Professor, Adjunct Professor, Center
for Marine Science, University of North Carolina Wilmington, presenting
from Wilmington, NC.
Co-author, co-developer: Dr. Robert F. Whitehead, Research Specialist,
Center for Marine Science, University of North Carolina Wilmington.

When: Thursday, March 1, 2018, 12-1pm ET

Where: Via webinar (see login info below), or for NOAA folks in Silver
Spring, SSMC4, Rm 8150

Sponsor: NOAA's National Ocean Service Science Seminar series; seminar host
is Tracy.Gill at noaa.gov

Webinar Access: Mymeeting webinar uses phone for and internet. Audio is
available only over the phone: dial toll-free from US or CAN:
1-877-708-1667. Enter code 7028688#
For the webcast, go to www.mymeetings.com  Under "Participant Join", click
"Join an Event", then add conf no: 744925156. No passcode is needed for the
web. Be sure to install the correct plug‐in for WebEx before seminar starts
- the temporary app works fine.

Abstract: CISME is a new tool that was developed to non-destructively
measure coral and algal bioenergetics in situ. Such a tool facilitates
research and monitoring of corals and similar benthic organisms affected by
ocean acidification, global warming, and other anthropogenic disturbances.
CISME is deployed over the organism of interest, and held in place by
locking retractors. A foam layer at the bottom of the sensor package seals
CISME against the coral, and isolates a small volume of seawater for the
incubation. Changes over time in dissolved oxygen (O2, measured with a
PreSens optode), and pH (measured with a Honeywell Durafet electrode) in
the incubation seawater are used to calculate rates of respiration (R) and
photosynthesis (P). A sample port is used to withdraw water samples for
discrete analyses such as total alkalinity used to calculate calcification
rates, and can also be used to introduce experimental reagents (e.g.
metabolic inhibitors, CO2 enriched seawater). The instrument can be
deployed over coral species with fairly smooth surface structure, as well
as benthic reef organisms such as algal turf, coralline algae and
macroalgae. Field tests show that CISME can produce quick, consistent and
non-destructive (to the coral) measurements of R (5 minutes), P (5-10
minutes), P vs I (irradiance) response curves (30-40 minutes), and
calcification rates (G; 15-20 minutes) on corals and reef algae in their
natural environment. Among the technical innovations of CISME is control of
the instrument by an underwater tablet connected by WiFi which displays a
real-time strip chart of the run so that the investigator can see the
incubation trend in real time. CISME was used to measure seasonal changes
in the metabolic rates of 40 tagged colonies of the Caribbean coral
Orbicella faveolata on two coral reefs in La Parguera, PR. Measurements
were repeated 4 times over an annual cycle. Results show elevated R during
late summer, but no change in P, and thus lower P/R ratios during the late
summer. P, CA and P/R ratios were ≥ than published laboratory measured
rates, suggesting that in situ conditions were better than those provided
in land-based seawater systems. CISME represents a valuable new technology
that will help expand the scope of in situ physiological ecology research.

About the Speaker: Dr. Alina Szmant is among the pioneers in the study of
the physiology, reproduction and larval biology of Caribbean reef corals.
Other areas of expertise include nutrition and skeletogenesis of reef
corals, ecological interactions central to coral reef function, and
nutrient dynamics of coral reef ecosystems. Her current research is focused
on the development and commercialization of a new diver portable
respirometer to measure the ‘vital signs’ of corals in their natural
environment. She remains active in conservation issues regarding coral
reefs, particularly with regard to the impact of climate change. She was a
member of the Scientific Technical Advisory Committee to the Water Quality
Plan for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary from 1994 to 2004, and
has participated in numerous regional, national and international workshops
organized to consider nutrients and other environmental issues affecting
coral reef ecosystems. Before joining UNCW in 1999, Szmant was a Professor
of Marine Biology at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine
and Atmospheric Science from 1983 to 1999, a research faculty at Florida
State University and on the staff of the University of Puerto Rico and the
Puerto Rico Nuclear Center.  She obtained a B.S. in Biology from the
University of Puerto Rico in 1966, a M.S. in Marine Biology from Scripps
Institution of Oceanography in 1970, and a Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography
from the University of Rhode Island in 1980. She was a member of the first
all-female team of aquanauts to conduct scientific research in an
underwater habitat, during the Tektite II Program in 1970.

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(Dr. Alina M. Szmant, Retired Professor, Adjunct Professor, enter for
Marine Science, University of North Carolina Wilmington, presenting from
Wilmington, NC. Co-author, co-developer: Dr. Robert F. Whitehead, Research
Specialist, Center for Marine Science, University of North Carolina
Wilmington)