Drs. Baker and Langdon will investigate the threats of climate change on coral reef ecosystems by analyzing the effects of high-temperature stress on reef-building coral-algal symbioses and the impacts of increased atmospheric CO2 (pCO2) on the ability of scleractinian (stony) corals to effectively calcify and build reefs in shallow tropical seas at increasingly low aragonite saturation states. This project uses a controlled outdoor experimental laboratory to investigate the responses of a suite of common coral species from the tropical western Atlantic (Caribbean) to the combined effects of high pCO2 and high temperature. The investigators will study photosynthesis, calcification, bleaching and symbiont community structure for these corals in response to a variety of experimental treatments that fall within the scope of conservative climate expectations. The investigators will use these results to identify potential species survival trajectories and changes in reef coral community composition for Caribbean coral reefs over the next 30- 50 years. The broader impacts of these studies are diverse: understanding and predicting changes in coral reef communities, enhancing local research infrastructure at the University of Miami, training and involvement for high-school, undergraduate, and graduate students, and training for a postdoctoral associate.
