Multi-decadal growth histories of Siderastrea siderea and Pseudodiploria strigosa throughout the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama

Undergraduates: Lily Olmo, JP Rippe Karl Castillo Kinsey Fisher

Faculty Advisor: Karl Castillo
Department: Environmental Science

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Global climate change poses a significant threat to coral reef communities across the greater Caribbean Sea. Previous studies suggest that inshore corals are less impacted by ocean warming than offshore counterparts due to their history of exposure to highly variable environmental conditions. By examining the slow-growing calcium carbonate skeletons of long-lived corals, we are able to quantify how calcification rates have changed in response to decades of differing environmental conditions. ¿¿We extracted cores from Siderastrea siderea (n=39) and Pseudodiploria strigosa (n=22), two abundant and widespread massive Caribbean reef-building corals, to investigate coral growth rates. In 2015, cores of each species were collected from inshore and offshore reef sites within the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama. Using 3-dimensional computerized tomography, skeletal growth parameters were quantified by delineating high- and low-density annual growth bands. This investigation will allow us to compare multi-decadal scale inshore-offshore coral growth trajectories in to better understand growth differences for corals across a reef system as they respond to climate change.