An ecological and physiological assessment of tropical coral reef responses to past and projected disturbances

• Main Author: Lenz, Elizabeth Ann
• Other Authors: Edmunds, Peter J., Carpenter, Robert C., Steele, Mark A., Sanford, Eric
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: California State University, Northridge 2014
• Subjects: Caribbean; ocean acidification; French Polynesia; scleractinians; Dissertations; Academic > CSUN > Biology; ecophysiology; gorgonian communities; ecological disturbances; Rus’; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/121308

Tropical reef structure and topographical complexity is a product of coral morphology, which greatly enhances biodiversity, ecological function, and ecosystem services. However, reef-building corals have declined in cover by 50-80% in response to the accumulated effects of natural and anthropogenic...