Diving into the Reef Conservation UK Conference
The Oxford Seascape Ecology Lab attended the annual Reef Conservation UK conference at ZSL, London, to present our latest work on coral reef ecology and restoration.
This year’s Reef Conservation UK (RCUK) conference took place at the Zoological Society of London. Members of the Seascape Ecology lab attended to showcase their work on reef ecosystems, with PhD student Courtney Stuart receiving an honourable mention for her presentation highlighting the results of her MSc research focused on modeling seascape connectivity and informing reef restoration.
Courtney shared her recent MSc research, where she evaluated ongoing coral reef restoration efforts seeking to fortify ecological connectivity in the Florida Keys, USA. Her presentation was titled “Seascape connectivity modeling predicts potential hotspots of fish-derived nutrient provisioning to restored coral reefs”. This collaborative work was led by the Change Lab at the University of Alberta in partnership with the Oxford Seascape Ecology Lab and many other local stakeholders. Courtney developed a novel spatial graph-theoretic model to estimate likely movement pathways for two key reef fish species, gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus) and bluestriped grunt (Haemulon sciurus), known to transport nutrient subsidies from nearshore mangrove and seagrass nurseries to oligotrophic offshore reefs during their ontogenetic migrations. Her analyses revealed disparities between fish species with respect to their potential for beneficial interactions with outplanted corals, owing to selective patterns of habitat use across the seascape. Overlaying connectivity model outputs pinpointed locations that may serve as multi-species connectivity hotspots, highlighting candidate sites for future restoration. Courtney’s study illustrates the utility of spatial graphs for quantifying and communicating complex ecological connectivity information to support spatial planning for coastal restoration.
PhD student Pirta Palola presented her research from a recent Bertarelli Foundation expedition where she collected coral reef reflectance data for lagoonal coral reef systems in Tetiaroa, French Polynesia. Her research presentation titled “Coral reef reflectance for remote sensing applications: a case study from French Polynesia”, shared the hyperspectral radiometric data and water column optical properties results that will support the development of a bio-optical model for very shallow reef ecosystems. Physics-based approaches such as these allow for the development of remote sensing applications that can be scaled up beyond the local case study site. This study is a first step towards mapping and monitoring spatial-temporal dynamics of the nutrientscape and ecological connectivity in very shallow coral reef environments.
Geography Graduate Ben Yuen shared findings from his undergraduate dissertation titled "Mapping habitat suitability for elkhorn coral to support coral reef restoration in the US Virgin Islands", which received a distinction. Ben’s project used MaxEnt predictive habitat suitability modelling for a threatened species of coral in St Croix, US Virgin Islands to quantify an environmental niche for this species and predict suitable habitat conditions. These model predictions help to better understand the potential portfolio of restoration sites around St Croix and evaluate current and future outplanting sites. This study helps to advance the field of seascape ecology by illustrating how a multi-scalar modelling approach may combine physico-chemical variables and ecological data to inform restoration action in the marine realm.
Biodiversity, Conservation and Management MSc graduate Emily Peterson shared her master's research in her poster, titled “Identifying Connectivity Hotspots for Herbivorous Reef Fishes in a Tropical Island System”. Emily’s dissertation quantified potential functional connectivity for herbivorous reef fishes in Tetiaroa, French Polynesia, and she received a distinction for her work. Building upon Seascape Ecology lab member Courtney's methodological framework that established an approach for modeling potential functional connectivity in the Florida Keys, Emily quantified seascape wide and local scale connectivity for two ecologically important herbivorous reef fishes, the Pacific bullethead parrotfish (Chlorurus spilurus) and convict tang (Acanthurus triostegus). This study highlighted which motu (islets) within the Tetiaroa atoll system would have the most potential for bolstering connectivity for the species, with implications for spatially explicit conservation action.
Seascape Ecology Lab Research Assistant, Rosalie Wright, shared her initial findings from a Fell Fund supported baseline survey of the lagoonal coral reefs of Tetiaroa (French Polynesia), prior to island-wide restoration efforts, titled “Establishing a baseline for coral reef communities prior to large-scale island restoration efforts”. After conducting benthic video transects at sites across the lagoon, Rosalie synthesized pre-restoration baseline data on coral reef communities. Her initial findings highlighted that turf algae and Porites coral dominated the current benthic cover across sites. This work also demonstrated the utility of machine learning tools such as CoralNet in aiding image annotation for reef surveys.
You can stay up to date with what the Oxford Seascape Ecology Lab are doing next by following us on Twitter, @OxfordSeaEcoLab.
Find out more about Reef Conservation UK (RCUK) here: http://www.reefconservationuk.org/