Jenna Fairchild (UR) - Who Needs a Photo-synthesizer Anyway!

Climate change. The leading cause of coral bleaching. A warming planet means a warming ocean, resulting in a change in water temperature. Similar to the way that human's bodies need to stay between the temperatures 91.8-100.8°F in order to function properly, corals also need to maintain the proper temperature to function properly. With an increase of as little as 2 degrees Fahrenheit, coral will drive out their photo-synthesizer algae, bleach, and eventually die. Coral and their zooxanthellae algae component have a symbiotic (mutually beneficial relationship), and one cannot survive without the other. Or can they...?
The coral reef ecosystem Oculina is known only off the coast of East Central Florida. This coral exists nowhere else in the world and it is unique among all other corals! Oculina can survive with or without its algae symbiont, identifying it as an azooxanthellae (it lacks symbiotic algae) coral. Additionally, this coral has exceedingly high biodiversity, similar to that of tropical reefs. Not much is known about this coral species since it is only found off the coast of Florida, and because large ivory bushes of this species live at depths that are too deep for recreational divers to visit.

You can tell that zooxanthellae are present here because the algae give the coral this orange color

Oculina are known to live in shallow waters, or up to 350 feet deep! Interestingly enough, the deepwater coral without zooxanthellae grow at a faster rate than the shallow water corals with zooxanthellae (Reed, 2002). Because these deep coral are impossible to visit unless you're a speciality diver, not many people know they exist - making them vulnerable to destruction from trawling and dredging. On the other hand, the shallow water Oculina are at risk of bleaching as a result from climate change because they're dependent on their symbiont algae.

The photosynthetic zooxanthellae cannot survive at this deep depth, but the coral and its polyps can! This is an example of azooxanthellae, you can tell by its white color.

This uniqueness, productivity, and vulnerability of Oculina has inspired me to study its nature and presence on the Ponce Inlet jetty in the Indian River Lagoon. My research will focus on the growth, biodiversity, and symbiotic relationship that Oculina has with zooxanthellae. I would like to compare this data with known data about deep water Oculina, Oculina living on artificial reef systems, and also natural reef systems.

My prospective scientific question is two fold: What is the *level of resilience in shallow water Oculina in regards to growth, biodiversity, and symbiosis. How does this compare to Oculina that are growing in deep waters, natural reefs, and artificial reefs?

*This means i'll have to establish a point system for coral that portrays their level of resistance to factors that affect their health, then rate each location of coral residence.

References

Avent, et al. “Deep-Water Oculina Coral Reefs of Florida: Biology, Impacts, and Management.” Hydrobiologia, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1 Jan. 1977, link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1016588901551.