Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2003. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2003. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Geology, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Coral reefs, the planet’s most diverse marine ecosystems, are threatened globally by climate change and locally by overfishing and pollution. The dynamic partnership between coral and their endosymbiotic algae (Symbiodinium) is the foundation of all tropical reef ecosystems. Symbiodinium provide coral with nutrients for growth, but stress can break down this symbiosis, causing coral bleaching. There are also life-history trade-offs amongst Symbiodinium types - some provide coral with more nutrition, while others are better able to cope with environmental stressors. Although these symbioses are believed to be a critical element of reef resilience, little is known about how local and global stressors alter these partnerships. In this thesis, I combine synthetic literature reviews and a meta-analysis, with field research, molecular analyses, bioinformatics, and statistical analyses to investigate environmentally-driven mechanisms of change in coral-symbiont interactions with the aim of advancing understanding of how corals will adapt to the stressors they now face. First, I conducted a review of coral-Symbiodinium interactions, from molecules to ecosystems and summarized the current state of the field and knowledge gaps. Next, I conducted a meta-analysis of coral bleaching and mortality during El Niño events and created an open-source coral heat stress data product. I found that the 2015-2016 El Niño instigated unprecedented thermal stress on reefs globally, and that, across all El Niño events, coral bleaching and mortality were greater at locations with higher long-term mean temperatures. I provided recommendations for future bleaching surveys, and in a related perspectives piece, highlighted the importance of survey timing during prolonged coral bleaching events. The latter three empirical chapters are based on my six field expeditions to Kiritimati (Christmas Island). Taking advantage of the atoll’s natural ecosystem-scale experiment, I tagged, sampled and tracked over 1,000 corals across its chronic human disturbance gradient. Since corals can uptake Symbiodinium from the surrounding environment, I first investigated the effect of local disturbance and winter storm waves on Symbiodinium communities in coral, sediment, and seawater. Greater variability in Symbiodinium communities at highly disturbed sites suggests that local disturbance destabilizes symbiont community structure. Since local disturbance influences Symbiodinium community structure and coral-associated microbial communities, I next examined the covariance of coral-associated Symbiodinium and microbial communities for six coral species across Kiritimati’s disturbance gradient. Most strikingly, I found corals on Kiritimati that recovered from globally unprecedented thermal stress, experienced during the 2015-2016 El Niño, while they were still at elevated temperatures. This is notable, because no coral has previously been documented to recover from bleaching while still under heat stress. Only corals protected from local stressors exhibited this capacity. Protected corals had distinct pre-bleaching algal symbiont communities and recovered with different algal symbionts, suggesting that Symbiodinium are the mechanism of resilience and that protection governs their communities. Together, this research provides novel evidence that local protection may be more important for coral resilience than previously thought, and that variability in symbiotic and microbial communities provides a potentially flexible mechanism for corals to respond to both local and global stressors. / Graduate / 2019-11-26

Caribbean coral reefs have undergone changes in coral cover, structural complexity and assemblage composition since the 1970s. Although some of the ecological consequences associated with these changes have been well documented, the consequences for ecosystem functions dependent on reef structure are less well understood. In particular, there has been little research into the effects of change, on carbonate production and bioerosion; both are critical controls of structural complexity. Currently, there is only a very limited understanding of how both processes vary within and between different habitat types and what this means for ecosystem functioning. Carbonate framework production and bioerosion were investigated within three habitat types (hardgrounds, Acropora palmata reef and Orbicella reef) under sheltered and exposed wave energy regimes on Grand Cayman. Census based assessments were used, allowing the identification of functionally important species. Additionally, habitat specific calcification rates were measured for calcareous encruster communities to improve estimations of carbonate production; mean rates of calcification ranged from 0.19 to 1.14 G (1G = 1 kg CaCO3 m-2 yr-1) within hardgrounds (4–7 m), Acropora palmata reef (1–8 m) and Orbicella reef habitats (8–15 m) and were significantly higher at wave exposed sites. The rates of bioerosion for two sponge species, Siphonodictyon brevitubulatum and Cliona tenuis, were also measured and new approaches to estimating excavating sponge community bioerosion were developed to improves bioerosion estimates. Mean carbonate framework production was 0.38 G within hardgrounds, 2.65 G within Acropora palmata reef habitat and 3.54 G within Orbicella reef habitat but not significantly different between wave exposure regimes. Calcareous encruster communities, dominated by coralline algae, were identified as key carbonate producers within shallow reef habitats on the exposed south coast. They may be important to the maintenance of reef structure in these degraded reef habitats. Orbicella species were the most important carbonate producers within all reef habitats. Mean total bioerosion was 1.32, 2.27 and 2.28 G within hardgrounds, Acropora palmata reef and Orbicella reef habitats respectively. 4 Total bioerosion was not significantly different between wave exposure regimes for any habitat type, but almost completely dominated by parrotfish (29–86 %). On Grand Cayman, both carbonate framework production and bioerosion were less than that measured in comparative habitats, across the Caribbean, despite the presence of a well-managed marine protected area on the sheltered west coast. The highest rates of net carbonate production occurred in the deepest habitat - Orbicella reef (exposed: +1.45 G, sheltered: +1.07 G). Sheltered and exposed Acropora palmata reef habitat had net production rates of +0.53 and +0.30 G respectively. Hardgrounds were net erosional (-0.94 G). Overall the results suggest a change in the focal point for reef accumulation on Grand Cayman that may alter geomorphology over time. Additionally, Acropora palmata reef habitats are likely to be in a state of accretionary stasis, which may have shutdown reef growth in reef crest environments as carbonate framework produced within these habitats is a major contributor to reef accumulation at the reef crest.

Submitted by Irene Nascimento (irene.kessia@ufpe.br) on 2016-10-11T18:18:10Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Versao atualizada Dissertação Camila Rodrigues da Silva.pdf: 4283237 bytes, checksum: b94bb3be2af7e3271536a1b017f891c6 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-10-11T18:18:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Versao atualizada Dissertação Camila Rodrigues da Silva.pdf: 4283237 bytes, checksum: b94bb3be2af7e3271536a1b017f891c6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-05-27 / Cnpq / A idade e o crescimento do budiãoSparisomafrondosum capturado em Pernambuco, nordeste do Brasil, foram estimados utilizando 251 otólitos (121 machos e 130 fêmeas), observando-se 1 a 9 anéis em indivíduos de 13,1 a36,8 cm CT. A análise do incremento marginal nos otólitos indicou que a menor distância do último anel à borda ocorreu no mês de janeiro, sugerindo a formação de um anel a cada ano. Os parâmetros de crescimento foram estimados para os modelos de von Bertalanffy, Gompertz e Richards. O critério de informação de Akaike (AIC) foi utilizado para verificar qual modelo melhor se ajustava aos dados, demonstrando que a equação de crescimento de von Bertalanffy(L∞= 34,28 cm; K= 0,36; t0= - 0,17)para sexos agrupados foi o melhor modelo,descrevendo adequadamente o crescimento da espécie.A composição etária para a amostra total (n =251) indicou que 55% dos indivíduos estiveram concentrados entre 3 e 4 anos, com idade máxima de 9 anos. As fêmeas estiveram presentes em todas as classes etárias e os machos de 2 a 7 anos. As fêmeas maduras representaram 45% da composição das capturas, com idade de primeira maturação gonadal de 1,5 anos (17,62 cm CT), baseado na curva de crescimento estimada no presente estudo. A estrutura etária, os parâmetros de crescimento e o tamanho de primeira maturação gonadal estimados pela primeira vez para Sparisomafrondosum constituem contribuição essencial a planos de manejo devido a explotação dessaespécie hermafrodita protogínica cuja estratégia requer o alcance do tamanho mínimo para a reversão sexual. / Age and growth of parrotfish Sparisomafrondosum captured in Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil, were estimated using otoliths 251 (121 males and 130 females), looking up 1 to 9 rings in individuals from 13.1 to 36.8 cm CT. The analysis of marginal increase in otolith indicated that the shortest distance of the last ring on the edge occurred in January, suggesting the formation of a ring each year. Growth parameters were estimated for models of von Bertalanffy, Gompertz and Richards. The Akaike information criteria (AIC) was used to determine which model best fit the data, showing that the growth equation of von Bertalanffy (L∞ = 34.28 cm; K = 0.36; t0 = - 0, 17) for grouped sexes was the best model adequately describes the growth of the species. The age composition for the total sample (n = 251) indicated that 55% of individuals were concentrated between 3 and 4 years, with a maximum age of 9 years. The females were present in all age groups and males from 2 to 7 years. Mature females accounted for 45% of the catch composition, age of first sexual maturity of 1.5 years (17.62 cm CT) based on the growth curve estimated in this study. The age structure, growth parameters and the size of the first gonadal maturation estimated for the first time Sparisomafrondosum an essential contribution to management plans due to exploitation of this species hermaphrodite protogynous whose strategy requires the achievement of the minimum size for sex reversal.

Submitted by Caroline Falcao (caroline.rfalcao@ufpe.br) on 2017-05-25T17:27:38Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) Dissertacao Alejandro.pdf: 2660688 bytes, checksum: 955f967f57cbed1266ae0f604a24c884 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-25T17:27:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) Dissertacao Alejandro.pdf: 2660688 bytes, checksum: 955f967f57cbed1266ae0f604a24c884 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-06 / A presente dissertação de mestrado é composta por três capítulos, cada um constituindo um artigo a ser submetido para publicação. O primeiro deles consiste de uma revisão do conhecimento que se tem a respeito dos ciliados tintinídeos de águas nordestinas brasileiras. Para isso se consultou trabalhos publicados ao longo das quatro ultimas décadas, e que possuíam alguma relação com os tintinídeos, mesmo não tendo esses ciliados como principal objeto de estudo. Assim foram levantadas todas as espécies de tintinídeos que já possuem registro de ocorrência publicado para a região Nordeste do Brasil. Além das fontes bibliográficas utilizadas, também foram realizadas análises de amostras coletadas em algumas regiões costeiras dos Estados da Paraíba, Pernambuco e Bahia, aumentando a lista de espécies registradas para a região. A partir da consulta dos trabalhos publicados, um total de 91 espécies de tintinídeos foi registrado em águas nordestinas do Brasil. Com a análise das amostras esse número aumentou para 111 espécies, pertencentes a 32 gêneros e 16 famílias. Neste primeiro capítulo é apresentada uma lista das espécies registradas, identificando as regiões nas quais elas ocorrem e os trabalhos utilizados como fonte bibliográfica. O segundo capítulo consiste de um trabalho desenvolvido a fim de se estudar a estrutura da comunidade dos tintinídeos em três áreas recifais na região de Abrolhos, no Estado da Bahia. Em cada área foram delimitados dois pontos de coleta, um sobre os recifes e outro a 1 km de distancia dos recifes. As coletas foram realizadas a cada 6 horas, ao longo de um período de 24 horas, totalizando 8 amostras por área e 3 dias de amostragens (um para cada área). Os tintinídeos foram coletados através de arrastos subsuperficiais de rede de plâncton (20 m de abertura de malha, 30 cm de diâmetro de boca e 2 m de comprimento). Três hipóteses foram testadas: i) a estrutura da comunidade dos tintinídeos varia entre os períodos diurno/noturno; ii) a estrutura da comunidade dos tintinídeos varia em uma escala espacial curta (diferentes pontos em uma mesma área recifal); e iii) a estrutura varia em uma escala espacial de grande extensão (entre as diferentes áreas recifais amostradas). Um total de 24 espécies foi encontrado, sendo todas de distribuição nerítica, típica de águas quentes e cosmopolitas. Apenas a hipótese relacionada com a variabilidade em uma maior escala espacial não foi rejeitada. Existem diferenças significativas entre essas áreas (ANOVA p = 0,017). A existência de duas comunidades distintas de tintinídeos ficou bem evidenciada através de análises de agrupamentos realizadas com amostras e espécies. Existe uma comunidade típica das áreas mais próximas à costa, composta basicamente por espécies de lorica aglutinante e de distribuição nerítica, e outra típica das áreas mais “oceânicas”, formadas basicamente por espécies de lorica hialina e de distribuição cosmopolita e de águas quentes. O grande fator influenciando a comunidade dos tintinídeos na região de Abrolhos é a distância em relação à costa. No terceiro capítulo se estudou a estrutura da comunidade dos tintinídeos na região de Tamandaré, no Estado de Pernambuco. As coletas foram realizadas em uma estação, a cada maré vazante, ao longo de um período de 26 dias. Dados de temperatura, salinidade, teor de clorofila-a e quantidade de material particulado em suspensão foram coletados. Os tintinídeos foram coletados através de arrastos horizontais subsuperficiais de rede de plâncton (20 m de malha). Com o desenvolvimento do estudo tentou se responder as seguintes perguntas: i) existe variação na comunidade dos tintinídeos em um curto intervalo de tempo (período diurno/noturno) na região de Tamandaré? ii) existe algum tipo de influência do ciclo lunar sobre a comunidade dos tintinídeos nessa região? iii) qual fator hidrológico possui mais influência sobre a comunidade desses ciliados? Um total de 20 espécies de tintinídeos foi identificado, sendo a maioria de distribuição nerítica e do gênero Tintinnopsis. A estrutura da comunidade dos tintinídeos não variou em uma escala de tempo curta. Foram detectadas diferenças significativas entre as amostras das diferentes fases do ciclo lunar (Kruskal-Wallis p = 0,005), com as espécies respondendo de diferentes formas. Tintinnopsis nana, T. schotti e T.nucula apresentaram as variações mais pronunciadas. O material particulado em suspensão foi o parâmetro hidrológico de maior influência sobre a comunidade dos tintinídeos, tendo sido encontrada correlação negativa. Por outro lado, foi encontrada correlação positiva entre o material particulado em suspensão e o teor de clorofila-a presente na água. Contudo, o aumento da clorofila-a está associado a uma resposta de organismos fitoplanctônicos a maior atenuação da luz na água e não a um aumento na produtividade. Dessa forma, existe aumento no teor de clorofila, sem que haja aumento na disponibilidade de alimento para os tintinídeos, podendo chegar a haver diminuição nessa disponibilidade, o que levaria a redução da comunidade desses ciliados. / The following master thesis is composed of three chapters; each one of them is a complete scientific paper which is going to be submitted for publication. The first one consists of a review of the knowledge related to the tintinnid ciliates in Brazilian northeastern waters. We consulted not only papers directly focused on the tintinnid ciliates, but also papers related to the microzooplankton, but that mentioned the tintinnids in the results. These papers were published during the last four decades. We assembled all the tintinnid species that had been registered in these papers, as well as worked with samples collected in some coastal regions in the State of Paraíba and Pernambuco, in addition to samples collected in the region of Abrolhos, in the State of Bahia. Through the published papers, we found a total of 91 registered tintinnid species in the northeastern region of Brazil. With the analysis of the samples, this number was raised to 111 species, belonging to 32 genera and 16 families. In this first chapter we present a list of the registered species, providing also the regions where they were found and the papers used as the bibliographical source. The second paper consists of a work developed in order to study the tintinnid community structure in the Abrolhos region, in the State of Bahia. Three reef areas in the Abrolhos region were sampled. In each area, we delimited two sampling points; one located directly above the coral reefs, and the other nearly 1 km away from the reefs. The samplings were performed in each 6 hours, during 24 hours, totalizing 8 samples per area, and three days of field work (one for each area). The tintinnids were collected through subsurface hauls of a plankton net (20 m mesh-size, 30 cm of mouth diameter, and two meters of length). Three hypotheses related to possible variations in the community structure of these ciliates were tested: i) the tintinnid community structure varies in a short temporal scale (between diurnal and nocturnal periods); ii) the community structure varies in a short spatial scale (between different points within a same area); and iii) the community structure varies in a broad spatial scale (between different sampled areas). A total of 24 species was found. All the species was of neritic, warm-water and cosmopolitan distribution. Only the hypothesis related to the variation in a broader spatial scale was not rejected. There are significant differences between the three studied areas (ANOVA p = 0,017). A continent-ocean gradient was highlighted by the clustering of the samples and species. There is a community typical of the areas closer to the coast, which is composed mainly by neritic species of agglutinated loricae, and other community typical of the “more oceanic” areas, which is composed mainly by warm-water and cosmopolitan species of hyaline loricae. The main factor influencing the tintinnid community in the Abrolhos region is the distance from the coast. In the third chapter we studied the tintinnid community structure in the Tamandaré region, Pernambuco State. The samplings were performed each 12 hours in a fixed point during 26 days. Temperature, salinity, chlorophyll-a content and the quantity of particulate material in suspension were evaluated. The tintinnids were collected through horizontal subsurface plankton net (20 m mesh width) hauls. We tried to answer the following questions in the present study: i) Is there any degree of variation in the tintinnid community in a temporal short scale (diurnal and nocturnal periods) in the region of Tamandaré? ii) Does the lunar cycle influence the tintinnid community in some way in this region? iii) Which is the main hydrologic parameter influencing the tintinnid community structure in the Tamandaré region? A total of 20 tintinnid species was identified. Most of them are of neritic distribution, and belongs to the genus Tintinnopsis. No variation in the tintinnid community under a temporal short scale was detected. We found significant differences in the tintinnid community structure in relation to different stages of the lunar cycle (Kruskal-Wallis p = 0,005). The species present different patterns of variation following the lunar cycle. Tintinnopsis nana, T. schotti and T. nucula displayed the most noticeable variations. We found a negative correlation between the tintinnid and the particulate material in suspension; it was the hydrologic parameter with the strongest effect on the tintinnid community. We also found a positive correlation between the particulate material in suspension and the chlorophyll-a content in the water. The increase in the chlorophyll-a content is associated with a response of the phytoplanktonic organisms to the increased light attenuation, and is not related with an increase in production. There is then an increase in chlorophyll-a content, without any increase in the food availability for the tintinnids; a reduction in the food availability is also possible, what could lead to the biomass reduction of the tintinnid community.

A detailed investigation into the life histories of Chrysoblephus laticeps and c. cristiceps in exploited and unexploited marine environments on the south-east coast of southern Africa is presented. The study provided information necessary for the evaluation of marine reserves as a management option for these and similar reef species. Visual underwater assessments showed a clear spatial separation between adults and juveniles of both species, suggesting a recruitment of juveniles into shallow water followed by a gradual outward migration into deeper water with age. Denslty estlmates of C. laticeps in the Noordhoek (0.0064 fish/m²) and Tsitslkamma (0.0254 fish/m²) areas were significantly different and were attributed to exploitation. Within area differences in density were also significantly correlated with temperature) depth and substratum relief. Similar comparisons for C. cristiceps were not possible because these fish shied away from divers. Habitat preferences were mirrored in the diets of both species which fed on a wide variety of reef associated benthic animals. Size of prey appeared to be gape limited, only larger fish being able to manipulate prey. Quantitative differences between the diets of fish sampled in different areas were a reflection of differences in available prey and not related to the relative density of predators. The dietary characteristics recorded in these fish were typical of search hunters. An age and growth study based on the examination of sectioned otoliths showed that both species were slow growing and long lived. Maximum recorded ages were 18 and 22 years for C. laticeps and C. cristiceps respectively. Growth rates in exploited and unexploited areas were not significantly different although there was an indication that growth was slower in the exploited areas for C. cristiceps. Several inconsistencies in otolith interpretation and terminology were evaluated. Contrary to other South African studies the results suggested that somatic growth was fastest just after spawning. This coincided with the winter months and was reflected by the deposition of a hyaline zone in the otolith. Two independent estimates, the Pauli derivation and visually assessed length frequency analysis, produced the same value for total mortality of C. laticeps in the Tsitsikamma area (0.2). This result, together with a significant difference in the rate of fishing mortality at different areas along the coast suggested that the populations sampled were discrete and supported the postulate that both species were sedentary. Further support was obtained from a mark-recapture study. Although sample numbers were low the results showed no evidence of large scale migratory patterns in these fish. An investigation of the reproductive biology of both fish showed that they were protogynous hermaphrodites, all males being derived from females with no evidence for polyandry. Males were shown to be capable of mating with a number of females and this, together with monandry, monochromatism and a small testis size, suggested a polygynous mating system in both species. Observations of the courtship behaviour in captive c. laticeps also supported polygyny. A significant difference in the mean size at sex reversal between unexploited and exploited populations supported the postulate that sex reversal was independent of the size or age of the animal. The size at which sex reversal occurred appeared to be dependent on sex ratio. A detailed yield per recruit analysis of the response of the population to different levels of fishing mortality and size at recruitment (t [subscript]r), showed that sex reversing species were particularly vulnerable to over fishing. This was due to a dramatic decline in the number of surviving individuals past t[subscript]r which resulted in a skewing of the sex ratio towards females. Evidence is presented to show that current legislation is inadequately protecting the spawner stock of both species. In conclusion it is shown that longevity, sex reversal, restricted movements and the occupation of a demersal habitat make these species particularly vulnerable to over exploitation in a size- selective fishery. The sustained yield in the linefishery is suggested to be a result of distant recruitment from relatively unexploited populations rather than the adequacy of current conservation measures. The need to protect the spawner stock is emphasised and the use of marine reserves as an additional protection for sedentary reef-dwelling species is therefore advocated.

Doctor Scientiae (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology) / The purpose of this thesis was to provide a revision and characterization of the species of nongeniculate coralline algae previously ascribed to the now defunct genus Porolithon; to provide a modern account of selected taxa from the genus Hydrolithon and descriptions of taxa found to conform the generic delimitation of Hydrolithon and to use a phenetic cluster analysis to determine the taxonomic relationships between the various taxa ascribed to the genera Polorithon and Hydrolithon. / South Africa