Corals

The MC252 oil spill introduced hydrocarbons, dispersants, and drilling muds into the Gulf, potentially adversely affecting the seafloor environment surrounding the spill site.

Deep-sea coral habitats are complex ecosystems at the landscape and local level. While these systems may harbor substantial levels of biodiversity, they remain inadequately investigated.

Connectivity among coral communities influences the probability of speciation and contributes to their ability to adapt to natural and anthropogenic stressors. Results from this study will enhance our understanding of Gulf ecosystems with regional conservation initiatives to inform the restoration of degraded deepwater coral communities and preserve long-term viability of coastal ecosystems.

Deep-sea canyons are complex environments encompassing a range of benthic habitats, including soft sediments along the axis of the canyon, and hard substrates along the canyon walls.

With the support of the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, USGS researchers will develop and optimize a CRISPR biosensor to detect C. galea eDNA in the field. The development of this tool could assist coral restoration managers and stakeholders to more effectively inform decisions on coral outplant site selection, based on coral predator presence.

USGS researchers will characterize the ecology of benthic invertebrates associated with deep-sea environments and broader food-web dynamics within hardground features, seeps, and adjacent soft sediments. This project will provide important information regarding deepwater benthic habitats, such as chemosynthetic communities and deep-sea corals, that could be affected by offshore wind development.

USGS collected samples at reef locations within the Virgin Islands National Park and analyzed for the presence of contaminants, organotin compounds, or sunscreen compounds.

DISCOVRE ( DIversity, Systematics and COnnectivity of Vulnerable Reef Ecosystems) is an integrated, multidisciplinary, international effort investigating the unique and fragile deep-sea coral environments from the microscopic level to the ecosystem level.

A severe disease - tentatively named stony coral tissue loss disease - is rapidly killing corals in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Puerto Rico, and the National Park Service are working together to better under the disease and determine if the disease affecting corals in the USVI is the same one that has been killing corals in Florida since...

Seamounts may be biodiversity hotspots, oases, islands, and centers for endemism in the deep sea. USGS and partners explore these possibilities within the Greater and Lesser Antilles Transition Zone.

WARC is collaborating with USGS scientists from the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center and other scientists outside USGS to better understand the role of Hurricane Hole as a refuge from changing climate and ocean acidification.