Galapágos Corals: Canaries in the Coal Mine, Dr. Cheryl Logan
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McGowan MG102McGowan Building
411 Pacific St
Monterey, CA 93940 View in Campus Map
Free
Open to the Public
The Galápagos islands may provide a critical ‘early warning’ case study for understanding the long-term effects of bleaching impacts and mechanisms of survival.
The Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) represents a marginal habitat for coral reefs due to high temperature variability and low aragonite saturation state. The Galápagos islands represents a good case study for understanding the future of coral reefs, given its extended history of bleaching; the 1982-‘83 El Nino event killed 97% of corals. Yet some Galápagos corals have persevered and may be uniquely thermally resistant. Regions like these may provide a critical ‘early warning’ case study for understanding the long-term effects of bleaching impacts and mechanisms of survival. We surveyed coral thermal tolerance across the archipelago for the first time using a portable coral bleaching autonomous stress system, targeting locations where recovery has been strongest. Here, we present results on both heat and cold tolerance in two common coral types (Pocillopora sp. and Pavona sp.) found in across the Galápagos archipelago. Identification of thermally “tough” corals in this unique region will provide critical information to resource managers about which coral communities may be more resilient to future climate impacts.
Galapágos Corals: Canaries in the Coal Mine
Dr. Cheryl Logan
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
6:00pm to 7:30pm
McGowan Building, room 102
411 Pacific Street, Monterey, CA 93940
Free, open to the public. No registration required.
About the Speaker
Dr. Cheryl Logan is an Associate Professor in the School of Natural Sciences at California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB). Her research lab focuses on the physiological mechanisms that marine animals use to survive in their environments, from the biochemical to the whole organismal level. In the face of climate change, understanding the mechanistic basis for why species ranges are shifting is fundamental to predicting which species will be the “winners” and “losers” in our changing environment. Dr. Logan and her team study how ecologically important fish and invertebrate species regulate their physiology in response to temperature, hypoxia and ocean acidification associated with climate change. She advises graduate students in the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories graduate program.
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Lecture Location: McGowan 102
The McGowan Building is located at 411 Pacific Street, Monterey, CA 93940, on the corner of Franklin and Pacific. Enter from Pacific street through a set of glass double-doors (use set of doors on the right), MG102 is straight ahead across a small seating atrium. View the campus map.
Parking
Parking is available in any Middlebury Institute campus lot after 5 p.m., or on the street (time limits on surrounding streets end at 6 p.m.)
Questions
Contact Rachel Christopherson at the Center for the Blue Economy at cbe@miis.edu or (831) 647-4183.