Ecological dynamics of coral reef ecosystems over broad spatial and temporal scales
1) Long-term ecology of coral reefs
The overarching goal of this research program is to integrate long-term ecological and environmental time series data over broad spatial scales to discover the major past and predicted future influences of natural variability, human impact, and climate change on coral reef resilience. This research program enables direct linkage among physical variables and biological responses, attempts to parse out the effects of human versus natural variability, provide natural baselines with which managers can use as goals for restoration, unveils processes that contribute to the resilience of coral reefs over long time frames and changing environmental conditions, and fosters new understanding of the role of climate change in coral reef ecology.
2) Using Historical Ecology to guide reef management actions
Recent findings from sites distributed throughout the tropical world point to the immense importance of understanding historical events when attempting to tease apart factors that have or may influence present coral reef biodiversity. For example, large-scale changes in climate that have occurred in the past 400,000 years (e.g. Younger Dryas event; 11.6 ka) have the potential to help us understand the current rapid changes in global climate. Data will be obtained using the Quaternary fossil record (past 2 MA), archaeological records (thousands to tens of thousands of years), historical records, government records of fishing practices and stocks, environmental proxies derived from living and fossil corals, and modern ecological surveys. Taken together, these databases provide a holistic view of changing environments and ecology on coral reefs against which the acquisition of present day data can be evaluated. Correlation of reef decline with specific human and environmental impacts over time provides an insight into the processes that are most important in local reef settings. When these processes are uncovered, specific steps can be taken to ameliorate or reverse the decline. Major projects will gather data from the Great Barrier Reef, from across a species diversity and sea surface temperature gradient from Indonesia in the west to Fiji in the eastern part of the Indo-Pacific ocean, and from a latitudinal gradient along the Western Australian coastline.
3) The palaeoecological, evolutionary, and extinction dynamics of Indo-Pacific reef corals
The Miocene epoch, 24 - 5 million years before present (mybp), was a time of great environmental and evolutionary change in coral reefs - whole oceans with their component reef biota were obliterated, extinction rates were high, and, near the end of the epoch, the modern Atlantic and Indo-Pacific coral faunas evolved separately. In the Indo-Pacific Ocean, major global climatic and tectonic events resulted in the breakdown of established reef ecosystems and an overall loss of species diversity. The subsequent recovery, during the Miocene to Pliocene transition (10 - 5 mybp), was characterized by increased rates of speciation and the overall ecological re-organization of coral reef communities. The major result of this community re-organization was a dramatic shift from reefs dominated by corals with a massive growth form to those dominated by coral species with a branching architecture. This post-Miocene ascendance of large scale Acropora assemblages opened up new ecospace for the evolution of the myriad of creatures that now comprise our modern coral reefs - not only the most complex and diverse communities in the sea, but also some of the most threatened.
In this research programme we examine the ecological context of the great architectural shift in community structure in Indo-Pacific coral reefs that occurred during the Miocene to Pliocene. Studies will document changes in the patterns of coral species associations, and the rate at which those changes occurred, from a number of reef environments. The decline in coral species with a massive growth form and the rapid evolution of branching coral species and their rise to dominance within reef communities will be studied in relation to concurrent broad scale geological events (tectonic, climatic and oceanographic). This research will increase our understanding of how ecological factors influence the survival of coral reef ecosystems when they are subject to significant environmental fluctuations over prolonged intervals of time. Because the Pliocene coral fauna has very similar characteristics to living coral reefs, the study will help us to understand the nature and significance of shifts in community composition in modern reefs affected by human activities.
4) Hybridization, extinction, and evolution in a Caribbean reef coral species complex
Recent molecular analyses indicate that many reef coral species belong to hybridizing species complexes or ‘‘syngameons.’’ Such complexes consist of numerous genetically distinct species or lineages, which periodically split and/or fuse as they extend through time. During splitting and fusion, morphologic intermediates form and species overlap. Here we focus on processes associated with lineage fusion, and the recognition of such hybridization in the fossil record. Our approach involves comparing patterns of ecologic and morphologic overlap in genetically characterized modern species with fossil representatives of the same or closely related species. We also consider the long-term consequences of past hybridization on the structure of modern-day species boundaries. Our studies involve the species complex Montastraea annularis s.l., where we also conduct parallel studies on its long-term evolutionary history, palaeoecology, and rates of origination and extinction.
Awards:
Discover Magazine Science Story of the Year, awarded 10/1/2002
Smithsonian Institution Science Achievement Award, awarded 15/5/2004
Selected Publications:
Roy, K and Pandolfi, J.M. in press. Responses of marine species and ecosystems to past climate change. In: Lovejoy, T.E. and L. Hannah (eds.). Climate change and biodiversity. Yale University Press.
Budd, A.B. and Pandolfi, J.M. (2004). Overlapping species boundaries within the Montastraea”annularis” species complex in the late Pleistocene of the Bahamas Islands. Paleobiology 30: 396–425.
DiMichele, W.A., A.K. Behrensmeyer, T.D. Olszewski, C.C. Labandeira, J.M. Pandolfi, S.L. Wing, and R. Bobe. (2004). Long-term stasis in ecological assemblages: evidence from the fossil record. Annual Review Ecology Evolution and Systematics 35:285–322.
T.P. Hughes, A.H. Baird, D.R. Bellwood, M. Card, S.R. Connolly, C. Folke, R. Grosberg, O. Hoegh-Guldberg, J.B.C. Jackson, J. Kleypas, J.M. Lough, P. Marshall, M. Nyström, S.R. Palumbi, J.M. Pandolfi, B. Rosen, J. Roughgarden. (2003). Climate change, human impacts, and the resilience of coral reefs. Science 301: 929-933.
Pandolfi, J.M., R.H. Bradbury, E. Sala, T.P. Hughes, K. A. Bjorndal, R. G. Cooke, D. Macardle, L. McClenahan, M.J.H. Newman, G. Paredes, R.R. Warner, and J.B.C. Jackson. (2003). Global trajectories of the long-term decline of coral reef ecosystems. Science 301: 955-958.
Professional Associations:
International Society for Reef Studies
Australian Coral Reef Society
International Association on Fossil Cnidaria
The Paleontological Society
Funded Projects:
Causes of decline in FijiÕs coral reefs: palaeoecological baseline, historical degradation, and modern bleaching
Coral bleaching, mortality and recovery: modern signatures and past occurrences
Dating and mapping historical changes in GBR coral communities
Ecological consequences of global climate change on coral reefsUQ New Research Start-Up, 2005, $12,000
Ecological effects of climate change on regional diversity patterns of Western Australian reef corals
Innovative Science for Sustainable Management of Coral Reef BiodiversityARC Centre of Excellence, 2005-2010, $12 M
Student Projects Available:
Genotypic variation of non-geniculated coralline algae over a latitudinal gradient Student Level: Honours Start Year:
Historical and ecological analysis of long-term decline in coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific Student Level: Honours Start Year:
Long-term ecological change on coral reefs from Carrie Bow Cay, Belize: 1985-2004 Student Level: Honours Start Year:
Phenotypic variation of non-geniculated coralline algae over a latitudinal gradient Student Level: Honours Start Year:
Student Level: Honours Start Year:
Using 3-D morphometrics to differentiate coral species
Postdoctoral Staff:
MOORE Pippa - The University of Queensland - Ecological effects of climate change on regional diversity patterns of coralline algal communities
Students:
MARION Guy - PhD
DIAZ-RUIZ Ayax - PhD
BROMFIELD Kate - PhD
BECK Brian - PhD
ROFF Jez - SCHOL - "Historical ecology of coral communities from the central inshore Great Barrier Reef: a palaeoecological approach"
HERNE Matthew - PhD
LYBOLT Matthew - PhD - Causes of change in coastal ecosystems, past, present and future
NARAYAN Roshni - PhD
PIETSCH Cameron - PhD
REYMOND Claire Reymond - PhD
ENGELHARDT Udo - PhD
CLARK Tara - PhD
HART Simon - PhD
BARR Lissa - PhD
Research Visitors:
Anne Hermsen, University of Utrecht
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Research Description
