NOAA Science Seminar: Coral recruitment patterns in relation to water quality in the Northern U.S. Virgin Islands

NOAA Science Seminar Series

Title: Coral recruitment patterns in relation to water quality in the Northern U.S. Virgin Islands

Presenter:  Lindsay Dade, University of the Virgin Islands

Sponsor: NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program

Seminar Contact: caroline.donovan@noaa.gov

Location: Webinar

Remote Access: 
Adobe Connect 
1. To join the meeting: http://noaacsc.adobeconnect.com/coralscollab/  2. Click the microphone at the top of the screen to connect audio.

Abstract: Since the emergence of stony coral tissue loss disease, the U.S. Virgin Islands has seen a drastic decline in scleractinian coral. Coral reproduction and juvenile survival are essential for reef recovery and persistence, thus understanding the factors that impact these processes is important for the conservation of coral ecosystems. Our study aimed to investigate the impacts of water quality on coral reproduction and early life history survival, specifically coral recruitment rates and coral juvenile densities. At eight reef sites across the northern U.S. Virgin Islands, reef level water was analyzed for turbidity, nutrients, and fecal indicator bacteria. Additionally, coral recruitment rates were evaluated using settlement tiles and coral juveniles were quantified in belt transects. Water quality did not differ significantly among sites, but when sites were ranked by a water quality index (WQI), the degree of impairment aligned with expected impact levels. There was no relationship between juvenile densities and WQI scores, but there was a significant positive linear relationship between WQI scores and recruitment rate, suggesting recruitment rates were higher at more impaired sites. This implies that both recruitment and water quality are driven by hydrodynamics, and any potential negative impacts of water quality impairment are likely less important factors than larval supply and local currents. Resource managers and researchers should prioritize understanding these hydrodynamic “sinks’ that are important to coral populations.

Bio: Lindsay Dade is a student at the University of the Virgin Islands, where she is completing her Master’s in Marine and Environmental Science. She works under Dr. Marilyn Brandt, whose research focuses on coral disease and marine population dynamics. Lindsay’s research interests lie in changing marine community structures under various stressors, particularly local stressors such as water quality impairment. She has played a contributing role in NOAA’s National Coral Reef Monitoring Program, as well as regional reef assessments and sampling projects. She will be graduating in Spring 2023 and hopes to continue work on Caribbean coral reef systems.

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{Lindsay Dade, University of the Virgin Islands}