We are pleased to welcome Anne-Marie Molina to speak at a HotStuff seminar on: Modelling volcanic ashfall on coral reef ecosystems.

Abstract:

The Coral Triangle is in Southeast Asia and is widely recognized as a dense marine biodiversity hotspot. There are over 600 different species of reef building corals in this area, and this alone makes up 75% of the world’s total coral species. This area also has ~750 active and potentially active volcanoes. The material that comes from these volcanoes can eventually enter the water column and result in heavy sedimentation on the coral reefs. This can eventually smother the reefs and decrease coral cover in the area. This project is working to investigate the differences between coral reef systems in the path of volcanic fallout versus neighbouring reefs as well as measuring turbidity levels and mapping them all in GIS.