CIIMAR’s Thalassa Seminar with Mark Hay | 3rd Floor Auditorium
In recent decades coral diseases have impacted tropical reefs world-wide, with coral cover dropping dramatically (by ~80%+ in the Caribbean and 50%+ in the Pacific). Here we show on Pacific reefs that the overharvest of previously abundant detritivores (sea cucumbers) can increase coral tissue loss to disease by up to 400% and coral mortality by up to 1500%. Disease is sediment-associated and becomes much worse following organic input from seaweeds that have bloomed due to overharvest of herbivorous reef fishes. Thus, via sea cucumber harvest, humans lit an ecological fuse 100+ years ago that is blowing up reefs today due to excess organics from seaweeds and the removal of detritivores that would normally suppress pathogens enhanced by seaweed input.
Mark Hay is an experimental marine ecologist. His research interests include plant-herbivore and predator-prey interactions, chemical ecology, coral reef ecology, and conservation of threatened marine ecosystems. He is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of AAAS and ESA, and recipient of the Cody Medal in Ocean Sciences, the Lowell Thomas Award from the Explorers Club, and the Smith Medal from the US National Academy of Sciences.
In case of any questions, please contact CIIMAR’s Seminar team, Marta Monteiro, Miguel Semedo, & Paulo Oliveira, at seminars@ciimar.up.pt
External members of CIIMAR should send an email to slopes@ciimar.up.pt, requesting authorization to enter the Porto Cruise Terminal area
CIIMAR members can also access last seminars recordings through the LINK.
