Abstract:

Modern coral reefs provide countless ecosystem services to coastal and global populations. However, numerous threats (i.e. sea surface warming, ocean acidification, pollution, dredging, etc.) are contributing to the decline away from coral dominance in these dynamic environments on a global scale. This lecture will discuss current and introduce novel forensic biogeochemical “clues” for fingerprinting and tracking the health of modern reefs in the context of this global decline. I will also discuss how similar “clues” from ancient and fossilized reef ecosystems could be interfaced with studies of tropical cave environments and human history to gain more comprehensive marine and terrestrial perspectives of coastal ecosystem change over time.