ORCID Profile
0000-0002-0392-639X
Current Organisations
Northumbria University
,
University of Exeter
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-12-2015
DOI: 10.1038/SREP18289
Abstract: Climate-induced disturbances are contributing to rapid, global-scale changes in coral reef ecology. As a consequence, reef carbonate budgets are declining, threatening reef growth potential and thus capacity to track rising sea-levels. Whether disturbed reefs can recover their growth potential and how rapidly, are thus critical research questions. Here we address these questions by measuring the carbonate budgets of 28 reefs across the Chagos Archipelago (Indian Ocean) which, while geographically remote and largely isolated from compounding human impacts, experienced severe ( %) coral mortality during the 1998 warming event. Coral communities on most reefs recovered rapidly and we show that carbonate budgets in 2015 average +3.7 G (G = kg CaCO 3 m −2 yr −1 ). Most significantly the production rates on Acropora -dominated reefs, the corals most severely impacted in 1998, averaged +8.4 G by 2015, comparable with estimates under pre-human (Holocene) disturbance conditions. These positive budgets are reflected in high reef growth rates (4.2 mm yr −1 ) on Acropora -dominated reefs, demonstrating that carbonate budgets on these remote reefs have recovered rapidly from major climate-driven disturbances. Critically, these reefs retain the capacity to grow at rates exceeding measured regional mid-late Holocene and 20th century sea-level rise and close to IPCC sea-level rise projections through to 2100.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 23-10-2018
DOI: 10.1029/2018GL079589
Abstract: Coral reef islands are considered to be among the most vulnerable environments to future sea level rise. However, emerging data suggest that different island types, in contrasting locations, have formed under different conditions in relation to past sea level. Uniform assumptions about reef island futures under sea level rise may thus be inappropriate. Using chronostratigraphic analysis from atoll rim islands (sand‐ and gravel‐based) in the southern Mal es, we show that while island building initiated at different times around the atoll (~2,800 and ~ 4,200 calibrated years before present at windward and leeward rim sites, respectively), higher than present sea levels and associated high‐energy wave events were actually critical to island initiation. Findings thus suggest that projected sea level rise and increases in the magnitude of distal high‐energy wave events could reactivate this process regime, which, if there is an appropriate sediment supply, may facilitate further vertical reef island building.
Publisher: Research Square Platform LLC
Date: 24-10-2022
DOI: 10.21203/RS.3.RS-1973987/V1
Abstract: As marine species adapt to climate change, their heat tolerance will likely be under strong selection. Yet trade-offs between heat tolerance and other life history traits could compromise natural adaptation or restorative assisted evolution. This is particularly important for ecosystem engineers, such as reef-building corals, which support bio ersity yet are vulnerable to heatwave-induced mass bleaching and mortality. Here, we exposed 70 colonies of the reef-building coral Acropora digitifera to a long-term marine heatwave emulation experiment. We tested for trade-offs between heat tolerance and three traits – colony growth (3D photogrammetry models), fecundity (oocyte counts), and symbiont community composition (ITS2 sequencing). Despite observing remarkable within-population variability in heat tolerance, all coral colonies were dominated by Cladocopium C40 symbionts. We found no evidence for trade-offs between heat tolerance and fecundity or growth. Contrary to expectations, positive associations emerged with growth, such that faster-growing colonies tended to bleach and die at higher levels of heat stress. Collectively, our results suggest that these corals exist on an energetic continuum where some in iduals have co-benefits across multiple traits. Within populations, trade-offs between heat tolerance and either growth or fecundity may not be major barriers to natural adaptation or the success of restorative assisted evolution interventions.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-2022
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.8724
Abstract: Size is a biological characteristic that drives ecological processes from microscopic to geographic spatial scales, influencing cellular energetics, species fitness, population dynamics, and ecological interactions. Methods to measure size from images (e.g., proxies of body size, leaf area, and cell area) occur along a gradient from manual approaches to fully automated technologies (e.g., machine learning). These methods differ in terms of time investment, expertise required, and data or resource availability. While manual methods can improve accuracy through human recognition, they can be labor intensive, highlighting the need for semi‐automated, and user‐friendly software or workflows to increase the efficiency of manual techniques. Here, we present SizeExtractR, an open‐source workflow that enables faster extraction of size metrics from scaled images (e.g., each image includes a ruler) using semi‐automated protocols. It comprises a set of ImageJ macros to speed up size extraction and annotation, and an R‐package for the quality control of annotations, data collation, calibration, and visualization. SizeExtractR extracts seven common size dimensions, including planar area, min/max diameter, and perimeter. Users can record additional categorical variables relating to their own study, for ex le species ID, by simply adding alphanumeric annotations to in idual objects when prompted. Using a population size structure case study for hard corals as an ex le, we show how SizeExtractR was used to quantify the impact of mass coral bleaching on coral population dynamics. Lastly, the time saving benefit of using SizeExtractR was quantified during a series of timed image analyses, revealing up to a 49% reduction in image analysis time compared to a fully manual approach. SizeExtractR automatically archives results, allowing re‐analysis of size extraction and promoting quality control and reproducibility. It has already been employed in marine and terrestrial sciences to assess population dynamics and demography, energy investment in eggs, and growth of nursery reared corals, with potential to be applied to a wide range of other research fields.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2020
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-09-2021
DOI: 10.1007/S00338-021-02184-W
Abstract: In a time of unprecedented ecological change, understanding natural biophysical relationships between reef resilience and physical drivers is of increasing importance. This study evaluates how wave forcing structures coral reef benthic community composition and recovery trajectories after the major 2015/2016 bleaching event in the remote Chagos Archipelago, Indian Ocean. Benthic cover and substrate rugosity were quantified from digital imagery at 23 fore reef sites around a small coral atoll (Salomon) in 2020 and compared to data from a similar survey in 2006 and opportunistic surveys in intermediate years. Cluster analysis and principal component analysis show strong separation of community composition between exposed (modelled wave exposure 1000 J m −3 ) and sheltered sites ( 1000 J m −3 ) in 2020. This difference is driven by relatively high cover of Porites sp., other massive corals, encrusting corals, soft corals, rubble and dead table corals at sheltered sites versus high cover of pavement and sponges at exposed sites. Total coral cover and rugosity were also higher at sheltered sites. Adding data from previous years shows benthic community shifts from distinct exposure-driven assemblages and high live coral cover in 2006 towards bare pavement, dead Acropora tables and rubble after the 2015/2016 bleaching event. The subsequent recovery trajectories at sheltered and exposed sites are surprisingly parallel and lead communities towards their respective pre-bleaching communities. These results demonstrate that in the absence of human stressors, community patterns on fore reefs are strongly controlled by wave exposure, even during and after widespread coral loss from bleaching events.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-04-2023
DOI: 10.1038/S42003-023-04758-6
Abstract: As marine species adapt to climate change, their heat tolerance will likely be under strong selection. Yet trade-offs between heat tolerance and other life history traits could compromise natural adaptation or assisted evolution. This is particularly important for ecosystem engineers, such as reef-building corals, which support bio ersity yet are vulnerable to heatwave-induced mass bleaching and mortality. Here, we exposed 70 colonies of the reef-building coral Acropora digitifera to a long-term marine heatwave emulation experiment. We tested for trade-offs between heat tolerance and three traits measured from the colonies in situ – colony growth, fecundity, and symbiont community composition. Despite observing remarkable within-population variability in heat tolerance, all colonies were dominated by Cladocopium C40 symbionts. We found no evidence for trade-offs between heat tolerance and fecundity or growth. Contrary to expectations, positive associations emerged with growth, such that faster-growing colonies tended to bleach and die at higher levels of heat stress. Collectively, our results suggest that these corals exist on an energetic continuum where some high-performing in iduals excel across multiple traits. Within populations, trade-offs between heat tolerance and growth or fecundity may not be major barriers to natural adaptation or the success of assisted evolution interventions.
Publisher: Coastal Education and Research Foundation
Date: 03-03-2016
DOI: 10.2112/SI75-118.1
Publisher: Coastal Education and Research Foundation
Date: 03-03-2016
DOI: 10.2112/SI75-116.1
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Holly East.