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Publication Date

2024-5

First Advisor

Michael S. Studivan

Second Advisor

Laura A. Katz

Third Advisor

Paulette Peckol

Document Type

Honors Project

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Biological Sciences

Keywords

corals, urban corals, symbiosis, dinoflagellates, Port of Miami, qPCR, Southeast Florida, urbanized environments, symbiont profiling

Abstract

Anthropogenic stress on coral reef ecosystems is especially apparent in southeast Florida where disease outbreaks, bleaching events, and coastal development have caused substantial die-offs of these invaluable ecosystems. However, resilient coral communities have been found living in highly developed and urbanized habitats throughout southeast Florida, such as the Port of Miami. The corals found here, characterized as ‘urban corals’, show remarkable persistence surviving on artificial substrates despite extreme variability in environmental conditions and impacts of urban development. To better understand mechanisms of resilience among these urban corals, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to profile the abundance of four coral-associated genera of Symbiodiniaceae (Symbiodinium, Breviolum, Cladicopium, and Durusdinium), a clade of photosynthetic and endosymbiotic dinoflagellates. Corals from five species of interest were sampled throughout southeast Florida: Orbicella faveolata, Montastraea cavernosa, Colpophyllia natans, Diploria labyrinthiformis, and Pseudodiploria spp. Through this analysis, urban corals were shown to host higher abundances of symbionts from the genus Durusdinium, a known thermally tolerant symbiont genus. Dominance of this thermally tolerant symbiont in urbanized habitats partly explains how urban corals are able to persist under extreme environmental variability. This study builds on seven years of environmental monitoring, in situ molecular characterization, and ex situ experimentation of urban corals in southeast Florida, ultimately, aiding in the identification of mechanisms that contribute to the persistence of urban corals despite unfavorable environmental conditions. Combined with ongoing assessments of genetic relatedness among urban and offshore reef populations, this data demonstrates the value that urban corals have for conservation and restoration initiatives in coastal communities.

Rights

©2024 Lorelei X. Ing. Access limited to the Smith College community and other researchers while on campus. Smith College community members also may access from off-campus using a Smith College log-in. Other off-campus researchers may request a copy through Interlibrary Loan for personal use.

Language

English

Comments

91 pages: color illustrations, charts. Includes bibliographical references (pages 73-83).

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