| |
| author |
Kyra Jean Cipolla
| | title |
Investigating the relationship between coral species diversity, most abundant coral growth form, and live coral cover with habitat structural complexity in the Caribbean
| | abstract |
Recent anthropogenic change is shifting Caribbean coral communities toward
reefs dominated by stress resistant coral species, which are often less architecturally
complex leading to less productive reefs that are unable support a high diversity of
organisms. Coral bleaching, ocean acidification, hurricanes, diseases, and other stressors
are leading to decreases in coral species diversity and coral cover along with changes in
most abundant coral growth form of reefs throughout the Caribbean region. As these
three reef attributes change, architectural or topographic complexity of Caribbean reefs
may change as well. The architectural complexity of reefs can greatly influence their
ability to support biodiversity and provide ecosystem services. By analyzing the three-
dimensional structure of coral reefs, topographic complexity measurements, linear
rugosity indices (R) and fractal dimensions (D) at five resolutions were derived. An
examination of field data on the effect of coral species diversity and most abundant coral
growth form in South Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands revealed that high topographic
complexity may be correlated with high coral species diversity. From a literature review
of the relationship between live coral cover and topographic complexity in the Caribbean,
my study found, in general, mixed results. While coral cover is an important reef attribute
in some cases, the corals' identity plays a bigger role than the amount of cover
considering topographic complexity in the Caribbean. In regards to coral species
diversity, I found that linear rugosity increased as coral species diversity increased and
fractal dimension increased as coral species diversity increased for all resolutions except
for the smallest, D0.01. By using the highest relative coral species abundance, most
abundant coral growth forms were determined (plate, plume, and plate/plume). My study
showed a significant relationship between fractal dimensions at larger resolutions and
dominant coral growth form in which higher fractal dimensions occurred on plate/plume-
dominated reefs than plume-dominated reefs. This may be due to increased diversity in
growth form given that there are two different morphologies dominating the area. Coral
species diversity seemed to have a stronger overall relationship with topographic
complexity than with dominant coral growth form or overall coral cover, thus
management and restoration strategies should be sure to ensure high diversity of
structurally complex coral species in Caribbean reefs. Understanding the components
underlying topographic complexity can help increase effectiveness of strategies for
marine ecosystem conservation now and in the coming decades.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2019)
|
| advisor |
Tammy Windfelder
|
| committee |
Caroline Maier
Emanuele Occhipinti
|
| full text | KJCipolla.pdf |
| |
