The Effects of Acute Bleaching on Attachment of the Soft Coral Sarcophyton Elegans

Amy McDavid

Date of Award

2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Gilchrist, Sandra

Keywords

Coral Bleaching, Attachment, Settlement, Soft Coral

Area of Concentration

Biology

Abstract

Coral reefs are important ecosystems that support life for a plethora of organisms. With the raising of the ocean temperatures due to global warming over the past thirty years, corals have begun to bleach, or expel their zooxanthellae, a symbiotic dinoflagellate, crucial to coral health and survival. Little is known of how well corals can recover after bleaching. In this pilot study, I investigate the attachment of a soft coral, Sarcophyton elegans, after bleaching. Six fragments were acutely bleached in sea water with an elevated temperature for 1.5 hours. These six fragments were then placed next to six fragments that did not undergo acute bleaching. All twelve fragments were maintained under normal growing conditions. Attachment to substrate between the two groups was compared. Noteworthy differences between attachments of the two groups of fragments were not observed.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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