Caroline Rogers, Ph.D.
Biography
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Botany, University of Florida
RESEARCH
Caroline Rogers is a Marine Ecologist with the Wetland and Aquatic Research Center based at the USGS Caribbean Field Station in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Previously, she was a research biologist with the National Park Service in Virgin Islands National Park (1984 – 1993). She has over 30 years of experience in research on coral reefs and has published papers on coral diseases, the effects of sedimentation, effects of hurricanes, damage from boat anchors, long-term monitoring, reef productivity, coral recruitment, and the threatened coral species Acropora palmata. She is the Vice President of the International Society for Reef Studies.
Science and Products
Coral Bleaching and Disease: Effects on Threatened Corals and Reefs
Severe coral bleaching in 2005, followed by a disease outbreak, resulted in severe reef degradation in the US Virgin Islands; the amount of living coral cover at long-term monitoring sites decreased an average of 60%. With climate change, high seawater temperatures are expected to lead to more frequent bleaching episodes and possibly more disease outbreaks.
Life on the Edge: Can Corals Thriving in Mangroves Provide Insights into Climate Change?
On an island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, USGS scientists discover corals are seeking refuge from climate change in mangroves.
Local-scale ecosystem resilience amid global-scale ocean change: the coral reef example
Coral reefs are massive, wave resistant structures found throughout the tropics, where they have long attracted attention for their beauty, ecological importance, and rich biological diversity. However, in recent years attention to these systems has focused on their downturn in health and the potential that they effectively could disappear within a century. Yet while many coral reefs have...
Mangrove Secrets
The Sheltered Corals of Hurricane Hole, US Virgin Islands
A unique coral community in the mangroves of Hurricane Hole, St. John, US Virgin Islands
Corals do not typically thrive in mangrove environments. However, corals are growing on and near the prop roots of red mangrove trees in Hurricane Hole, an area within the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument under the protection of the US National Park Service in St. John, US Virgin Islands. This review summarizes current knowledge of the...
Rogers, Caroline S. Octocoral diseases in a changing ocean
Octocorals (Cnidaria, Octocorallia) constitute a geographically widely distributed and common group of marine invertebrates commonly referred to as “soft-corals,” “sea fans,” “horny corals,” “sea feathers,” and “sea plumes.” They are found from shallow coastal habitats to mesophotic and abyssal depths. Octocorals are important members of most...
Weil, Ernesto; Rogers, Caroline S.; Croquer, Aldo Measuring, interpreting, and responding to changes in coral reefs: A challenge for biologists, geologist, and managers
What, exactly, is a coral reef? And how have the world’s reefs changed in the last several decades? What are the stressors undermining reef structure and function? Given the predicted effects of climate change, do reefs have a future? Is it possible to “manage” coral reefs for resilience? What can coral reef scientists contribute to improve...
Hubbard, Dennis K.; Rogers, Caroline S.; Lipps, Jere H.; Stanley, George D.; Rogers, Caroline S.; Miller, Jeff Disease prevalence and snail predation associated with swell-generated damage on the threatened coral, Acropora palmata (Lamarck)
Disturbances such as tropical storms cause coral mortality and reduce coral cover as a direct result of physical damage. Storms can be one of the most important disturbances in coral reef ecosystems, and it is crucial to understand their long-term impacts on coral populations. The primary objective of this study was to determine trends in disease...
Bright, Allan J.; Rogers, Caroline S.; Brandt, Marilyn E.; Muller, Erinn; Smith, Tyler B. Rapidly spreading seagrass invades the Caribbean with unknown ecological consequences
The non-native seagrass Halophila stipulacea has spread rapidly throughout the Caribbean Sea (Willette et al. 2014); without additional research, the ecological ramifications of this invasion are difficult to predict. Biodiversity, connectivity of marine ecosystems, and recovery of degraded coral reefs could all be affected. The invasive seagrass...
Rogers, Caroline S.; Willette, Demian A; Miller, Jeff Diverse coral communities in mangrove habitats suggest a novel refuge from climate change
Risk analyses indicate that more than 90% of the world's reefs will be threatened by climate change and local anthropogenic impacts by the year 2030 under "business-as-usual" climate scenarios. Increasing temperatures and solar radiation cause coral bleaching that has resulted in extensive coral mortality. Increasing carbon dioxide reduces...
Yates, Kimberly K.; Rogers, Caroline S.; Herlan, James J.; Brooks, Gregg R.; Smiley, Nathan A.; Larson, Rebekka A. Early signs of recovery of Acropora palmata in St. John, US Virgin Islands
Since the 1980s, diseases have caused significant declines in the population of the threatened Caribbean coral Acropora palmata. Yet it is largely unknown whether the population densities have recovered from these declines and whether there have been any recent shifts in size-frequency distributions toward large colonies. It is also unknown...
Muller, E.M.; Rogers, Caroline S.; van Woesik, R. Coral reef resilience through biodiversity
Irrefutable evidence of coral reef degradation worldwide and increasing pressure from rising seawater temperatures and ocean acidification associated with climate change have led to a focus on reef resilience and a call to “manage” coral reefs for resilience. Ideally, global action to reduce emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases...
Rogers, Caroline S. Coral diseases cause reef decline
Rogers, Caroline S.; Miller, Jeff Bleaching, disease and recovery in the threatened scleractinian coral Acropora palmata in St. John, US Virgin Islands: 2003-2010
A long-term study of the scleractinian coral Acropora palmata in the US Virgin Islands (USVI) showed that diseases, particularly white pox, are limiting the recovery of this threatened species. Colonies of A. palmata in Haulover Bay, within Virgin Islands National Park, St. John, were examined monthly in situ for signs of disease and other...
Rogers, C.S.; Muller, E.M. Life on the edge: corals in mangroves and climate change
Coral diseases have played a major role in the degradation of coral reefs in the Caribbean, including those in the US Virgin Islands (USVI). In 2005, bleaching affected reefs throughout the Caribbean, and was especially severe on USVI reefs. Some corals began to regain their color as water temperatures cooled, but an outbreak of disease (primarily...
Rogers, Caroline S.; Herlan, James J. Words matter: Recommendations for clarifying coral disease nomenclature and terminology
Coral diseases have caused significant losses on Caribbean reefs and are becoming a greater concern in the Pacific. Progress in coral disease research requires collaboration and communication among experts from many different disciplines. The lack of consistency in the use of terms and names in the recent scientific literature reflects the absence...
Rogers, Caroline S.
Biologist starting over after Hurricane Irma damages home, office, research site
Coral reef expert Caroline Rogers was the only USGS employee in the Virgin Islands when the Category 5 storm hit.