DNA reveals the past and future of coral reefs
New DNA techniques are being used to understand how coral reacted to the end of the last ice age in order to better predict how they will cope with current changes to the climate. James Cook Univer
From 2005 to 2022, the main node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies was headquartered at James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland (Australia)
Abstract: The vast majority of reef fishes have a life history consisting of a pelagic larval phase of typically 20 to 60 days, followed by larval settlement where they remain through their juvenile and adult phase. It is during the pelagic larval phase that nearly all dispersal is accomplished. Understanding connectivity and dispersal pathways, as well as identifying the underlying mechanisms influencing these patterns are essential to properly understand how biodiversity is generated and maintained in the sea. The scale at which these patterns occur can illuminate evolutionary processes and can inform conservation strategies. Here, I present three case studies that investigate connectivity across various spatial scales (i.e., across ocean basins, an archipelago, the island scale) as well as how fish assemblages are distributed from shallow depths into mesophotic coral habitat.
Biography: Richard is currently a Research Associate and Ford Foundation Fellow at the University of Central Florida. In 2019 he earned his PhD in Zoology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. His research interests look to investigate how diversity is generated across ecological and evolutionary timescales. Richard is also trained as a closed-circuit rebreather diver where he dives to depths as deep as 130 meters to investigate fish assemblages found in mesophotic ecosystems
New DNA techniques are being used to understand how coral reacted to the end of the last ice age in order to better predict how they will cope with current changes to the climate. James Cook Univer
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