A. The Physiological basis of stress in reef-building corals.
This is a major focus of my laboratory. Recent UNEP estimates have put the loss of reefs by the year 2100 at 30-50% of currently healthy coral reefs. My laboratory has become a focal point for studies trying to understand the physiological basis of stress in reef-building corals. For example, work done by my laboratory on how inorganic nutrients such as ammonium and phosphate influence the stability of symbioses (e.g. Hoegh-Guldberg and Smith 1989, Hoegh-Guldberg 1994, Hoegh-Guldberg 1999, Hoegh-Guldberg and Williamson 1999) has provided key insight to the physiological mechanisms that underlie this important source of stress on coral reefs. My work on coral bleaching and thermal stress in corals is well known and is described in the next section (B.). My work with nutrient stress is on going and is currently being pursued through a large-scale project being run at Heron Island over the past three years. This ARC SPIRT project is investigating the potential impact of a number of environmental factors and pollution stresses on the reproductive success the reef-building corals that
