Award Abstract # 0002317
El Nino-Southern Oscillation 1982-83 and 1997-98 Impacted Coral Reefs in the Equatorial Eastern Pacific Region: Effects, Recovery and Inter-ENSO Comparisons

NSF Org: OCE
Division Of Ocean Sciences
Recipient: UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
Initial Amendment Date: September 7, 2000
Latest Amendment Date: June 10, 2004
Award Number: 0002317
Award Instrument: Continuing Grant
Program Manager: Phillip R. Taylor
OCE
 Division Of Ocean Sciences
GEO
 Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date: September 1, 2000
End Date: August 31, 2005 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $1,100,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $1,100,000.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2000 = $228,549.00
FY 2001 = $223,650.00

FY 2002 = $226,153.00

FY 2003 = $201,922.00

FY 2004 = $219,726.00
History of Investigator:
  • Peter Glynn (Principal Investigator)
    pglynn@rsmas.miami.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: University of Miami
1251 MEMORIAL DR
CORAL GABLES
FL  US  33146-2509
(305)421-4089
Sponsor Congressional District: 27
Primary Place of Performance: University of Miami
1251 MEMORIAL DR
CORAL GABLES
FL  US  33146-2509
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
27
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): KXN7HGCF6K91
Parent UEI: VNZZYCJ55TC4
NSF Program(s): BIOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY,
AMERICAS PROGRAM,
International Research Collab
Primary Program Source: app-0100 
01000102DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

app-0101 

app-0102 

app-0103 

app-0104 
Program Reference Code(s): 4444, 5926, 5977, 9169, EGCH
Program Element Code(s): 165000, 597700, 729800
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.050

ABSTRACT

This project will occur over a five year period to continue and conclude a long-term study that has focused on ecological disturbances, causes, responses and recovery of eastern tropical Pacific (ETP) reef?building coral populations and reef communities in relation to the severe 1982?1983 El Nino?Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event. With the occurrence of the very strong 1997?1998 ENSO, two "one hundred year events" only 15 years apart, an unprecedented opportunity is at hand to study and compare the effects of consecutive major perturbations on community responses and recovery. This study involves strong international collaboration with host?country research teams working at several field sites in Costa Rica, Panam.6, and Ecuador (including the Gal6pagos Islands), all areas that were severely affected during the ENSO disturbances of 1982?83 and 1997?98. Several aspects of this study will be continued, namely (a) monitoring the physical and biological conditions of eastern Pacific coral reefs initiated in the early?to?mid 1970s~ (b) investigating the responses of selected zooxanthellate coral species to ENSO stressors (chiefly positive sea temperature anomalies), (c) retrospective climate studies from coral skeletal isotopic signatures, (d) coral reproductive ecology as it relates to recruitment success in disturbed communities, (e) coral community recovery or changes leading to alternate, non?reef building communities, (f) the linking of coral bleaching/mortality with local and global-scale sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies, including both high and low temperature extremes, and (g) modeling the size structure of coral populations and coral community dynamics based on mechanistic relationships between temperature, predation, coral growth and survivorship derived from field monitoring and experimental results. Additionally, studies initiated in 1997 will also be continued, namely (h) analysis of the molecular genetic structure of zooxanthella taxa symbiotic with eastern Pacific corals to assess the importance of zooxanthella diversity in explaining the variability in patterns of coral bleaching and mortality/survivorship of host corals, and (i) assessment of the genetic structure and diversity of recovering and recently stressed coral populations in relation to stress resistance, population size and distance from source populations. New initiatives will include (j) coral?algal?herbivore interactions, and (k) trophodynamic/benthic community structure modeling in high SST?stressed upwelling and non-upwelling environments in order to assess the effects of ENSO perturbations and recovery processes on coral reef framework growth.

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