[Coral-List] ICRS 2021 Session 9G: How do open-ocean processes influence coral reefs now and in the future?

[Katie Shamberger]

Dear Colleagues,
We would like to invite resubmitted and new abstracts to our ICRS 2021
session:

9G - Thinking outside the reef: How do open-ocean processes influence coral
reefs now and in the future?

Abstracts are due 15 September 2020.  Full session description below, thank
you!

Katie Shamberger 1,  Kristen Davis 2, Andrea Kealoha 3, Andrew King 4
1 Texas A&M University (College Station, TX, USA)
2 University of California, Irvine (Irvine, CA, USA)
3 University of Hawaii (Maui, HI, USA)
4 University of Melbourne (Victoria, Australia)

Open-ocean waters flow onto coral reefs, supplying reef ecosystems with
food, nutrients, heat, energy, and the chemical components that fuel
calcification. The initial conditions of adjacent open-ocean surface waters
strongly influence coral reef ecosystem health and functioning. For
example, rising temperatures and declining pH in the open ocean are
sparking mass coral bleaching events and driving reductions in ecosystem
calcification rates. Circulation patterns on and off reefs influence larval
dispersal and recruitment, thereby playing a key role in population
connectivity and reef recovery following major disturbances. Upwelling of
deep, cool waters via internal waves or the interaction of currents with
topography can provide intermittent refuge to help mitigate thermal stress.
Offshore biological productivity impacts the delivery of inorganic and
organic nutrients that serve as critical energy sources for biological
processes within coral reef ecosystems. Yet, once on shallow reefs, the
open-ocean source waters can be dramatically altered by physical, chemical,
and biological processes. Therefore, understanding coral reef ecosystem
sensitivity and resilience to climate change requires studies focused on
the large-scale oceanography outside the reef, small-scale dynamics within
the reef, and interactions between the two. This interdisciplinary session
invites observational, laboratory, and modeling-based studies investigating
connections between coral-reef and open-ocean processes now and in the
future. These processes may include, but are not limited to, ocean
acidification and warming; open-ocean productivity and nutrient cycling;
and regional and local circulation and physical phenomena. We also
encourage submissions aimed at identifying coral reefs whose oceanographic
setting provides inherent resilience to climate change, and are therefore
top candidates for conservation efforts.

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Kathryn E. F. Shamberger
Assistant Professor
Department of Oceanography
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843
1-979-845-5752
katie.shamberger at tamu.edu
she, her, hers
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