Sponges are one of the dominant fauna on Florida and Caribbean coral reefs, with species diversity often exceeding that of scleractinian corals. Despite the key role of sponges as structural components, habitat providers, and nutrient recyclers in reef ecosystems, their ...

The Pulley Ridge and Dry Tortugas coral reefs are among the most pristine, but also fragile, marine ecosystems of the continental United States. Understanding connectivity processes between them and with surrounding shelf and deep areas is fundamental for their management ...

This document represents a portion of a larger study, which involves a comprehensive, integrated baseline assessment of Faga'alu Bay, Tutuila, American Samoa. This document focuses on the sediment contaminant portion of the larger effort. The report details: (1) contaminant (e.g ...

Successful management of spatially isolated coral reefs is contingent on an understanding of ecological connections across populations. To investigate genetic connectivity of the depth-generalist coral species Montastraea cavernosa, populations from both shallow (15–30 m) and mesophotic coral ecosystems (30–70 m) ...

Identifying genetic connectivity and discrete population boundaries is an important objective for management of declining Caribbean reef-building corals. A double digest restriction-associated DNA sequencing protocol was utilized to generate 321 single nucleotide polymorphisms to estimate patterns of horizontal and vertical ...

Identifying transport pathways and sources of reef larvae is an essential component of ecosystem science. Ocean drifters tracked by satellite around the Mariana Archipelago were used to evaluate the possible pathways of transport among islands for passive larvae of reef ...

Reproduction and recruitment are key processes that replenish marine populations. Here we use the Palau archipelago, in the western Pacific Ocean, as a case study to examine scales of connectivity and to determine whether an oceanographic model, incorporating the complex ...

This cruise is the first of four planned for this project. The intent of this preliminary report is to provide information on sampling and other activities of this first cruise, so that processing of data and samples can quickly begin ...

As global fisheries management shifts towards ecosystem-based management, responsible organizations and governments must also address the socio-economic impacts of this shift. This study evaluates potential impacts of such management shift with a case study of Pulley Ridge (PR), an ecologically ...

Recruitment, or the entry, of young coral reef fishes into benthic populations is essential to population survival, but because larvae typically spend several weeks in the plankton away from the reef environment, understanding the entire process encompassing adult spawning, larval ...