Corals and Reefs

Coral reefs are in danger - off the coast of America and around the world. To help protect our vital reefs, the Caribbean Marine Research Center at the Perry Institute for Marine Science initiated and maintains a Coral Reef Research Program centered on the long-term study and understanding of shallow and deep coral reef ecosystems.

Scientists involved in our Coral Reef Research Program are studying coral reef ecology, physical oceanography, and the genetic diversity of corals. They are monitoring coral health, seawater temperatures and currents, and meteorological parameters. And they're examining the coring of ancient coral reefs to establish a paleoclimate history of coral growth and survival related to natural climate changes.

They come to Lee Stocking Island because it's one of the most pristine coral reefs on the planet. By studying minimally impacted coral reefs, they're able to develop baseline conditions and targets for restoration for damaged coral reefs that have been heavily impacted by human activity such as those in the Florida Keys and elsewhere throughout the Caribbean.

Since 2000, the Caribbean Marine Research Center at the Perry Institute for Marine Science has actively supported numerous projects that directly focus on corals:

• Studies of trophic ecology on coral reef ecosystems (Steele and Forrester 2002, Webster 2002, 2003, 2004, Almany 2004, Almany and Webster 2004, Lesser et al. 2004)
• Life history studies of economically and ecologically important taxa associated with coral reefs (Dahlgren and Eggleston 2000, Gutierrez-Rodriguez and Lasker 2004b)
• Elucidation of coral reef ecosystem functions as well as the interrelationships between and among neighboring (estuaries, and back reef habitats) and distant ecosystems (Sahara Desert)(Garrison et al. 2003, Smith et al. 2004)
• Identification of threats that degrade coral reefs and contribute to the incidence of coral disease (Fitt et al. 2000, 2001, Smith 2001, Denner et al. 2003, Lasker 2003, 2005, Duval et al. 2004)
• Development of coral culture and storage in order to promote restoration of damaged coral reefs as well as establishing corals as "model" systems for biological and physiological study (Becker and Mueller 2001)
• Using advanced diving techniques, to study caves and the deep fore reef (Iliffe and Bowen 2001, Lombardi 2004)
• Determination of genetic diversity of and reproductive isolation among corals (Sanchez et al. 2003, Gutierrez-Rodriguez and Lasker 2004a, Levitan et al. 2004)
• Long-term environmental monitoring to provide critical data that can be used to develop models to predict environmental change and associated impacts of such change (Powell et al. 2002)

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