Tropical reef ecology lecture set May 28

The University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean and Environment will host a biweekly virtual lecture series at 7 p.m., Thursdays throughout the summer using Zoom technologies. 

The lecture series will kick off May 28 with “Reef Real Estate: How Coral Reef Animals Find Home,” by Danielle Dixson, associate professor in the School of Marine Science and Policy.

The lecture will focus on different studies Dixson has led that center around the way fish decide on a place to live, how they identify good habitat, what makes a good-quality reef versus a poor-quality reef, and how that information can be applied to conservation principles.

“If we’re trying to preserve a coral reef environment, if we know what fish like or what corals like, that can give us insight into what’s important to conserve,” said Dixson. “If we’re doing surveys and we’re finding that those important things are not there, that is key information to being more effective in conservation.” 

With regard to what fish look for in their ideal home, Dixson said past studies show that topographic complexity is important. The number of places for juvenile and small fish to hide from predators is vitally important, meaning reefs that have died back and flattened out can be problematic.

Dixson and two of her graduate students have done work with 3-D printed coral reefs, using a biodegradable corn filament to print corals of different complexity levels and testing to see which ones the fish like most. 

One of the ideas they’ve been testing is to determine if using 3-D printed corals could be a useful restoration technique. Putting a complex artificial printed coral that looks and acts just like real coral onto a flattened reef site could help the fish stay in the same location and hide from predators. 

“We know that live corals actually like to settle on top of our artificial corals, so essentially, we’re providing a kind of scaffolding to a broke-down building that will eventually build itself back,” said Dixson. She compares the technique to federal agencies providing trailers for temporary housing after hurricanes, which allow people to stay in their home area. She noted that if people who have jobs essential to rebuilding, like carpenters or plumbers, lose their homes in natural disasters and have to move away, it ends up hurting the entire city.

“That’s kind of the same thing on a reef. Fish have different jobs that are really important,” said Dixson. “Some of them are excavators. Some of them eat algae, so they’re weeders or gardeners. They all have different roles in the reef. So if you’re missing animals, that can be a big problem.” 

Dixson is hoping those who attend the virtual talk will walk away with an appreciation for the refined behaviors and preferences of fish as well as the unique ways her lab is looking at advancing the cause of coral reef conservation.  

CEOE Dean Estella Atekwana said the aim of the lecture series is to share the interesting, effective research and service the college faculty and staff are doing with the community. For years, the college’s School of Marine Science and Policy has hosted summertime Ocean Currents lectures on the Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Atekwana saw an opportunity embedded in this challenging new environment.

“Our aim is to have our science serve the public. Our faculty and staff in all disciplines are working on research that has the potential to benefit the lives of their neighbors and to be of interest to a wide range of people,” Atekwana said. “This lecture series has had a rich history in Lewes, and we have been able to engage the community in conversations that mainly focused on marine sciences. We thought this year was a perfect time to broaden the scope of the series. By taking it online, we hope to expand both the kinds of presentations that are offered and the audiences they attract.”

The new lecture series will have eight speakers. While marine science will still anchor the series, the four additional speakers will come from CEOE’s Department of Earth Sciences, Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences, Delaware Sea Grant College Program, and Delaware Geological Survey. With the new online format making the series more accessible, Atekwana expects more people from all over the state will be able to benefit from these unique learning opportunities.

To register and see the full schedule of lectures, go to www.bit.ly/2WLAkf2.