Spring 2024 Marine Sciences Interdisciplinary Seminar, Sean Hart

Interactions of coral colony development, reef morphology and hydrodynamics

Coral reefs are important structures for both human activity and coastal ecology. They are a part of a vibrant ecosystem, providing food and shelter for a wide range of species. Reefs also protect sandy shorelines from erosion through wave energy dissipation. The reef and wave interaction determines the flow over the reef, which strongly influences coral colony development patterns such as branch thickness and orientation as well as dislodgement probabilities. Corals of the same species but in different flow regimes develop in very different ways. Cross-reef and along-reef flow velocities can differ dramatically depending on wave breaking at the crest, which depends strongly on the shape of the reef. Furthermore, the presence of breakers can change with tides, incident waves, and reef morphology, changing flow characteristics on both short and long time scales. It is expected that flow induced colony development patterns can affect reef-scale morphology and, therefore, future flow and colony development. This talk will discuss how reefs interact with waves to produce flow over a reef, how coral colonies develop in varying flow conditions, and the possible link between colony development and reef morphological changes over time.