Ilsa B Kuffner, Ph.D.
Biography
As a research marine biologist for the Coastal and Marine Geology Program, I investigate the causes and effects of coral reef degradation. I explore local- to global-scale stressors on reefs, and experimentally determine how environmental variables such as sea-surface temperature, water quality, seawater chemistry, nuisance macroalgae, and ocean acidification affect coral growth, the community structure of reefs, and the process of reef building. My work informs resource managers about the mechanisms causing reef degradation and how management efforts may be improved to protect and restore degraded reefs. Please visit the USGS Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies (CREST) website for more information (see link below).
Education:
Doctor of Philosophy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Zoology, Ph.D. Chair: Paul L. Jokiel, 1999
Bachelor of Arts, University of New Hampshire, Department of Zoology, Minor: Marine Biology, 1993
Professional Experience:
Research Marine Biologist, US Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal & Marine Geology Science Center, 2002 to present
Faculty, School for Field Studies, Center for Marine Resource Studies, Turks & Caicos Islands, 2001 to 2002
Director, Forfar Field Station, Andros Island, Bahamas, 2000 to 2001
Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Guam Marine Laboratory, Post-doc advisor: Valerie J. Paul, 1999 to 2000
Science and Products
Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies (CREST)
The specific objectives of this project are to identify and describe the processes that are important in determining rates of coral-reef construction. How quickly the skeletons of calcifying organisms accumulate to form massive barrier-reef structure is determined by processes of both construction (how fast organisms grow and reproduce) and destruction (how fast reefs break down by mechanical...
Measuring Coral Growth to Help Restore Reefs
It is critical to start measuring calcification rates in a systematic way now, particularly at subtropical latitudes where conditions fluctuate seasonally, so that we can understand how dynamic ocean conditions affect calcifying organisms today and predict possible changes in the future. We established a calcification monitoring network in the Florida Keys and have been measuring calcification...
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...
Impact of Ocean Warming and Acidification on Growth of Reef-Building Corals
Coral reefs are some of the most biologically rich and economically valuable ecosystems in the world. They provide food, fishing, and recreation opportunities for millions of people, protect coastlines from storms, and shelter thousands of plant and animal species. However, climate change is contributing to the degradation of coral reefs in two significant ways: warming temperature and...
Reestablishing a stepping-stone population of the threatened elkhorn coral Acropora palmata to aid regional recovery
Recovery of the elkhorn coral Acropora palmata is critical to reversing coral reef ecosystem collapse in the western Atlantic, but the species is severely threatened. To gauge potential for the species’ restoration in Florida, USA, we conducted an assisted migration experiment where 50 coral fragments of 5 nursery-raised genetic strains...
Kuffner, Ilsa B.; Stathakopoulos, Anastasios; Toth, Lauren T.; Bartlett, LucyDisturbances drive changes in coral community assemblages and coral calcification capacity
Anthropogenic environmental change has increased coral reef disturbance regimes in recent decades, altering the structure and function of many coral reefs globally. In this study, we used coral community survey data collected from 1996 to 2015 to evaluate coral calcification capacity (CCC) dynamics with respect to recorded pulse disturbances for...
Courtney, Travis A.; Barnes, Brian B.; Chollett, Iliana; Elahi, Robin; Gross, Kevin; Guest, James R.; Kuffner, Ilsa B.; Lenz, Elizabeth A.; Nelson, Hanna R; Rogers, Caroline; Toth, Lauren T.; Andersson, Andreas JConsiderations for maximizing the adaptive potential of restored coral populations in the western Atlantic
Active coral restoration typically involves two interventions: crossing gametes to facilitate sexual larval propagation; and fragmenting, growing, and outplanting adult colonies to enhance asexual propagation. From an evolutionary perspective, the goal of these efforts is to establish self‐sustaining, sexually reproducing coral populations that...
Baums, Iliana B.; Baker, Andrew C; Davies, Sarah W; Grottoli, Andrea G; Kenkel, Carly D; Kitchen, Sheila A; Kuffner, Ilsa B.; LaJeunesse, Todd C; Matz, Mikhail V; Miller, Margaret W; Parkinson, John E; Shantz, Andrew AImproving estimates of coral reef construction and erosion with in-situ measurements
The decline in living coral since the 1970s has conspicuously slowed reef construction on a global scale, but the related process of reef erosion is less visible and not often quantified. Here we present new data on the constructional and deconstructional side of the carbonate-budget equation in the Florida Keys, U.S.A. We documented Orbicella spp...
Kuffner, Ilsa B.; Toth, Lauren T.; Hudson, J. Harold; Goodwin, William B.; Stathakopoulos, Anastasios; Bartlett, Lucy; Whitcher, Elizabeth M.Quantifying uncertainty in Sr/Ca-based estimates of SST from the coral Orbicella faveolata
The strontium to calcium ratio (Sr/Ca) in aragonitic skeletons of massive corals provides a proxy for sea surface temperature (SST) that can be used to reconstruct paleoclimates across decades, centuries, and, potentially, millennia. Determining the reproducibility of Sr/Ca records among contemporaneous coral colonies from the same region is...
Flannery, Jennifer A.; Richey, Julie N.; Toth, Lauren T.; Kuffner, Ilsa B.; Poore, Richard Z.A 3,000‐year lag between the geological and ecological shutdown of Florida's coral reefs
The global‐scale degradation of coral reefs has reached a critical threshold wherein further declines threaten both ecological functionality and the persistence of reef structure. Geological records can provide valuable insights into the long‐term controls on reef development that may be key to solving the modern coral‐reef crisis. Our analyses of...
Toth, Lauren T.; Kuffner, Ilsa B.; Stathakopoulos, Anastasios; Shinn, Eugene A.A framework for identifying and characterising coral reef “oases” against a backdrop of degradation
Human activities have led to widespread ecological decline; however, the severity of degradation is spatially heterogeneous due to some locations resisting, escaping, or rebounding from disturbances.We developed a framework for identifying oases within coral reef regions using long‐term monitoring data. We calculated standardised estimates of...
Guest, James R.; Edmunds, Peter J.; Gates, Ruth D.; Kuffner, Ilsa B.; Andersson, Andreas J; Barnes, Brian B.; Chollett, Iliana; Courtney, Travis A.; Elahi, Robin; Gross, Kevin; Lenz, Elizabeth A.; Mitarai, Satoshi; Mumby, Peter J.; Nelson, Hannah R.; Parker, Britt A.; Putnam, Hollie M.; Rogers, Caroline S.; Toth, Lauren T.Plasticity in skeletal characteristics of nursery-raised staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis
Staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis, is a threatened species and the primary focus of western Atlantic reef restoration efforts to date. We compared linear extension, calcification rate, and skeletal density of nursery-raised A. cervicornis branches reared for 6 months either on blocks attached to substratum or hanging from...
Kuffner, Ilsa B.; Bartels, Erich; Stathakopoulos, Anastasios; Enochs, Ian C.; Kolodziej, Graham; Toth, Lauren T.; Manzello, Derek P.Experimental data comparing two coral grow-out methods in nursery-raised Acropora cervicornis
Staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis, is a threatened species and the primary focus of western Atlantic reef-restoration efforts to date. As part of the USGS Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies project (http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest/), we investigated skeletal characteristics of nursery-grown staghorn coral reared using two commonly used grow-out...
Kuffner, Ilsa B.; Bartels, Erich; Stathakopoulos, Anastasios; Enochs, Ian C.; Kolodziej, Graham; Toth, Lauren; Manzello, Derek P.Fidelity of the Sr/Ca proxy in recording ocean temperature in the western Atlantic coral Siderastrea siderea
Massive corals provide a useful archive of environmental variability, but careful testing of geochemical proxies in corals is necessary to validate the relationship between each proxy and environmental parameter throughout the full range of conditions experienced by the recording organisms. Here we use samples from a coral-growth study to test the...
Kuffner, Ilsa B.; Roberts, Kelsey E.; Flannery, Jennifer A.; Morrison, Jennifer M.; Richey, Julie N.Underwater temperature on off-shore coral reefs of the Florida Keys, U.S.A.
The USGS Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies project (http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest/) provides science that helps resource managers tasked with the stewardship of coral reef resources. Coral reef organisms are very sensitive to high and low water-temperature extremes. It is critical to precisely know water temperatures experienced by corals and...
Kuffner, Ilsa B.Data for evaluating the Sr/Ca temperature proxy with in-situ temperature in the western Atlantic coral Siderastrea siderea
Massive corals are used as environmental recorders throughout the tropics and subtropics to study environmental variability during time periods preceding ocean-observing instrumentation. However, careful testing of paleoproxies is necessary to validate the environmental-proxy record throughout a range of conditions experienced by the recording...
Kuffner, Ilsa B.; Roberts, Kelsey E.; Flannery, Jennifer A.; Morrison, Jennifer M.; Richey, JuliePre-USGS Publications
SPCMSC coral team and Ohio State researchers travel to the Florida Keys to complete coral growth study
Ilsa Kuffner, Marine Biologist with the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, will lead a team along with collaborators from Ohio State University (OSU) to the Florida Keys to finish a study on the elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata. They will visit the Dry Tortugas National Park, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, and Biscayne National Park to conduct their research.
SPCMSC researcher to participate in 2nd National Science Foundation Research Coordination Network (NSF-RCN) workshop on coral bleaching
Ilsa Kuffner, and 27 other experts in coral reef science, will participate in the National Science Foundation’s 2nd Research Coordination Network on Coral Bleaching. The workshop, originally planned for Bremen, Germany, will now be held virtually from 6/30 to 7/3/2020.
New video abstract highlighting published results on Florida Keys coral-reef erosion
A video abstract summarizing USGS work published in the journal Limnology and Oceanography was released on the journal’s YouTube channel. The work was completed by four scientists from St. Petersburg Coastal & Marine Science Center and collaborators from NOAA and the Florida Institute of Technology.
USGS scientists participate and accept leadership roles during Coral Disease Technical Workshop
During the annual multi-agency Coral Disease Technical Workshop, which convened to review the status of the Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) outbreak in Florida and determine key goals for research and intervention activities for the coming year, USGS scientists actively participated and took on leadership roles.
SPCMSC scientist co-authors article helping to guide coral-reef restoration
Ilsa B. Kuffner, research marine biologist, is one of 12 authors of a journal article written by a consortium of experts proposing new guidelines to help corals adapt to a changing environment. These guidelines are intended to help optimize the restoration of declining coral populations in the Caribbean.
Scientists commencing field experiment at Buck Island Reef National Monument in St. Croix, USVI
Ilsa Kuffner, Anesti Stathakopoulos, BJ Reynolds, and Nate Smiley will travel to St. Croix, USVI, to install a coral-growth experiment at Buck Island Reef National Monument.
New USGS manuscript documents unprecedented shift in coral species composition of Florida’s reefs
Lauren Toth (Research Oceanographer, SPCMSC), Ilsa Kuffner (Research Marine Biologist, SPCMSC), and Anastasios Stathakopoulos (Oceanographer) led a study published this week showing that the coral species that dominated Florida’s coral reef for the last 8000 years have been replaced by novel species assemblages in recent decades.
SPCMSC scientist contributing to NSF Research Coordination Network on Coral Bleaching
Ilsa Kuffner, Research Marine Biologist from St. Petersburg Coastal & Marine Science Center, is participating in a National Science Foundation Research Coordination Network to make experimental design recommendations to advance understanding of coral bleaching.
Coral-reef research featured in Science Magazine news article
A news feature published last week in Science Magazine highlights research by SPCMSC scientists into the problem of reef erosion in the Florida Keys.
New paper published on Florida Keys coral reef construction and erosion
A team of four scientists from St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center and collaborators from NOAA and Florida Institute of Technology published a paper in the journal Limnology and Oceanography. The research was conducted in the Florida Keys including sites in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Dry Tortugas National Park, and Biscayne National Park.
Scientists to Attend "Reef Futures 2018" Symposium on Reef Restoration
Research Marine Biologist Ilsa Kuffner, Research Oceanographer Lauren Toth, and Oceanographer Anastasios Stathakopoulos will travel to Key Largo, FL, December 10 to 14 to attend "Reef Futures 2018: A Coral Restoration and Intervention-Science Symposium."
New coral reef study to begin at Buck Island National Park Service unit on St. Croix
Scientists travel to Buck Island Reef National Monument to plan a new study and to assess hurricane impacts to the coral reefs surrounding Buck Island.