School of Life Sciences Seminar

February 20, 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Mānoa Campus, Bilger 150

"Will Coral Restoration Save Hawaiian Reefs?" - Speaker: Dr. Mark Hixon, Professor and Hsiao Endowed Chair of Marine Biology, School of Life Sciences, UH ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ ***Abstract: Coral reefs — the rainforests of tropical seas — support the greatest concentrations of species on Earth, and they provide many ecosystem goods and services to humans. These biodiversity hotspots account for <<1% of the world ocean, yet support about 25% of all marine species. Unfortunately, human actions have already resulted in the loss of about half of all coral reefs. In Hawai'i, reefs have historically been killed by poor coastal land-use practices, especially the leaching of sewage and run-off of fertilizers stimulating benthic algal growth that smothers corals. More recently, coral bleaching events caused by inexorable ocean warming has killed reefs. These mortality events are predicted to become annual occurrences within the next couple decades. Such distressing trends have led the marine science community to advocate for active interventions to increase the ecological resilience of corals in terms of both recovery from past mortality and resistance to future disturbances. After summarizing a variety of approaches being developed in Hawaii, I will focus on a case study: the REEFrame project to build a permanent undersea coral nursery off Waikiki, one of the most degraded reefs on Oahu.


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School of Life Sciences, Mānoa Campus

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