Geotopics Seminar Series with Dr. Tyler Cyronak, "What can seawater-based geochemical measurements tell us about the function and health of modern coral reef ecosystems?"
Friday, March 4, 2022 1:30am to 2:30am
About this Event
Modern coral reefs provide goods and services to millions of people worldwide and support tremendous biodiversity. Probably the most important feature of a functioning and healthy coral reef is the construction of calcium carbonate habitat. However, local and global anthropogenic change is threatening the ability of corals and other reef organisms to build and maintain important calcium carbonate framework.
Since the mid-1900s, seawater carbonate chemistry and oxygen measurements have been used to determine rates of coral reef metabolism, i.e., the offset between photosynthesis and respiration (net ecosystem production) and between calcium carbonate production and dissolution (net ecosystem calcification). Generally, measurements of dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity are used to determine the balance of production and calcification on reefs, although other seawater-based tracers are also used (e.g., oxygen and calcium). Reef metabolism metrics are often tied to coral reef function and health, as calcium carbonate production is critical to maintaining coral reefs as we know them. However, recent research is beginning to question the connection between reef metabolism and function.
This seminar will address how traditional seawater chemical tracers have been used to estimate coral reef metabolism and what these measurements can tell us about coral reef ecosystems in a changing ocean. I will also discuss the preliminary development of a technique using alkaline earth metals (Ca2+, Mg2+, and Sr2+) to tease apart the aggregate measurements of net ecosystem calcification into the groups of organisms responsible for ecosystem calcification. Future research avenues and the implementation of new technologies will be discussed.
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