Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: ANA CAROLINA GRILLO MONTEIRO

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : ANA CAROLINA GRILLO MONTEIRO
DATE: 21/10/2022
TIME: 09:30
LOCAL: Sala de Reuniões - DECOL/UFRN
TITLE:

Effect of local and global environmental stressors on benthic competition on reef environments

KEY WORDS:

Ecological interactions; hard corals; seaweeds; zoanthids; soft corals; coral reef; climate change; nutrients.

PAGES: 79
BIG AREA: Ciências Biológicas
AREA: Ecologia
SUMMARY:

Anthropogenic pressures are causing environmental changes and altering the characteristics of the ocean, which reflects on organisms and their ecological interactions on reef ecosystems. Disturbances such as ocean acidification, rising seawater temperature and high terrestrial nutrient input on the ocean can negatively impact the health and survival of hard corals, declining their abundance and shifting the dominance to other benthic taxa like macroalgae, zoanthids, and soft corals, that can outcompete hard corals for reef substrate. These changes in the benthic composition can increase the frequency and intensity of competition among these organisms. Although interactions involving corals are relatively common and well-studied on reefs, little is known about how environmental stressors can affect these interactions. The four chapters of this thesis aim to investigate how competitive interactions between corals and other benthic taxa differ across a range of ecologically-relevant environmental scenarios, among species, systems, and life stages. In a first laboratory experiment, I investigated the outcome of competition involving two hard coral species, one macroalga, and one zoanthid, and I observed the effect of proximity between the organisms in the interaction. In the second experiment, conducted in a mesocosm, I assessed the effect of iron enrichment on competitive interactions involving three hard coral species, one macroalga, and one zoanthid. In a third experiment I will simulate competition between a hard coral and a soft coral from the Indo-Pacific, submitted to conditions of increasing nutrients and acidification. Finally, in the fourth experiment I will manipulate interactions between macroalgae and adult and juvenile corals in the field to investigate differences on the outcomes of interactions among life stages. At the end of this thesis, I will comprehend better the different responses of corals to competition with other organisms, and the results will enable more accurate forecasts of the ecosystem consequences of increasing local and global stressors predicted for the future.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Externa ao Programa - 3257898 - CYBELLE MENOLLI LONGHINI - nullPresidente - 2319234 - GUILHERME ORTIGARA LONGO
Externo à Instituição - GUSTAVO MUNIZ DIAS - UFABC