RSRC Newsletter, Issue 9, 2020 by Red Sea Research Center

RED SEA RESEARCH CENTER

NEWSLETTER

Photo © Morgan Bennett-Smith

2020 Issue 9

Photo © Morgan Bennett-Smith

CONTENTS Director’s message

NEWS AND HIGHLIHGTS

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

Professor Carlos Duarte receives award for research in ecology and conservation

Cauliflower coral genome sequenced

Professor Carlos M. Duarte named KAUST Distinguished Professor

Simple framework helps future ocean studies

Marine life can be rebuilt by 2050

Triggerfish learns to catch more diverse food

RSRC alumnus makes impact with coral reef research

Research reveals ocean plastics collecting point

Global census reveals reef shark status, need for improved conservation management

Aiding sustainable conservation of the Red Sea

Scientific paper details marine spatial planning at Red Sea Project

Helping corals survive in the Red Sea

Blue carbon–harbingers of hope

Dozens of new corals discovered on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

KAUST global research team first to observe inherited DNA expressions

Research links reef resiliency to no-take zones, healthy fish populations

Diving for Coral Reefs in the Red Sea

These vast hidden forests under the sea could help save Earth

Reef sharks around the world are in trouble

2020 GRADUATES

RSRC PEOPLE JOINED IN 2020

08 10 12 14 16 18

A different slant of light Sea skaters are a super source of inspiration Measuring how corals accumulate pollutants

Better communication helps translate molecular tools

Red Sea plankton communities ebb and flow with the seasons

24 26 28 30

Stressed corals set up progeny for a better life Robot probes the Red Sea’s carbon storage system Red Sea turtle hatchlings are feeling the heat Mangroves lock away carbon

RSRC NEW FACULTY 34 36 38

Professor Francesca Benzoni Professor Raquel Peixoto Professor Rusty Brainard

Photo © Morgan Bennett-Smith

DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE Professor Michael Berumen Dear all, Welcome to the latest edition of the RSRC Newsletter. As we kick off a new year, I know that many (if not most!) of us are happy to see the end of 2020. Never before have we experienced such a disruptive time, but so far it seems we passed this test of our resilience. Not coincidentally, the Winter Enrichment Program 2022 theme has been announced as “resilience” – I am sure we will hear many stories about persevering through the pandemic challenges. In this regard, I want to extend my thanks for everyone’s cooperation and understanding as we dealt with complex “restart” processes and also for everyone’s ongoing compliance with many new safety requirements in our operations. After several months of adjusting to virtual formats for meetings, conversations, seminars, and even defenses, we then had to adjust to new practices for field work and lab work. As recent events have shown, we will continue to face some challenges and operational modifications, but I am confident that we will continue to adapt and find ways to be productive. A couple of new faculty members have joined the RSRC in the past year. Prof. Francesca Benzoni arrived at the very end of 2019 and was just getting settled in to KAUST when the lockdowns began. Prof. Raquel Peixoto was due to arrive in the summer of 2020, but finally made it to KAUST in October. As our partnership with The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC) continues to strengthen, KAUST appointed Dr. Rusty Brainard (Chief Environmental Sustainability Officer at TRDSC) as a Courtesy Professor of Marine Science within the RSRC in February 2020. In this capacity, Prof. Brainard will engage in co-supervision of students, contribute to course instruction, and continue his close collaboration in RSRC research efforts.You can read more about all three of these faculty members in this issue. Despite the global and local challenges created by the pandemic, there were some great research outputs in 2020, many of which are highlighted in the following pages. We have welcomed quite a few new students and staff in the past year. They are featured on page 84 and 85, and hopefully you will have an opportunity to get to know them better (virtually or otherwise) in the near future. Although we are still adapting to the ‘new normal’, I am looking forward to a new semester and a new year. I hope that you are, too, and I wish you a safe and productive beginning to 2021. 5

Photo © Susann Rossbach

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

CAULIFLOWER CORAL GENOME SEQUENCED A newly sequenced coral genome offers tools to understand environmental adaptation.

he sequencing of the genome of the cauliflower coral, Pocillopora verrucosa, by an international team, provides a resource that scientists can use to study how corals have adapted to different environmental conditions. The cauliflower coral, also known as brush or lace coral, is one of the most popular corals in research because it is found throughout the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. “Having the genome will help us understand the genetic basis underlying the species’ adaptation to different environmental conditions,” says Carol Buitrago-López, a PhD candidate supervised by Professor Christian R. Voolstra, “which might shine light on how corals could respond to global warming.” Buitrago-López was seeking a sequenced cauliflower coral genome for use in population genomics studies of corals throughout the Red Sea.The habitat gradient in the Red Sea waters means corals have adapted or acclimated to different conditions, such as variation in temperature, salinity and nutrients. After researchers compared populations to identify sites in the genome linked with these adaptations, the next step was to determine what those differences meant. A reference genome is invaluable in this process. “It’s very helpful to know where specific genes are or to be able figure out which genes are under selection,” says Buitrago-López. The team’s analysis predicted about 27,500 genes based on information from about 50,000 transcripts used for subsequent gene modeling, which is comparable to genomes from closely related corals. However, the cauliflower coral genome has a higher percentage of repetitive elements—in particular, more transposable elements—than closely related corals.This might be indicative of a radiation of the genus, which is consistent with the species’ broad distribution in geography and depth. The researchers also looked at the proportion of genes without introns, a typical signature of genes that were acquired through horizontal gene transfer.The proportion was similar to that in another Pocillopora coral and significantly greater than in a coral of a different genus. It is currently not known what these genes are for.

KAUST researchers compared populations of cauliflower corals to identify sites in the genome linked with adaptations. Photo © KAUST; Hagen Gegner

With the genome revealed, researchers can now investigate these and other patterns and work to understand the evolutionary history of these corals. Figuring out how they have adapted to conditions in the Red Sea may point toward ways to support corals to cope with the pressures of climate change. “With a sequenced genome, you’re not working blindly,” says Buitrago-López. “It will help to figure out where we should focus our attention.”

ABOUT THE FIRST AUTHOR

Carol Buitrago-Lopez RSRC PhD Candidate Carol is a PhD candidate in the Red Sea Research Center who investigates the adaptations of different coral species to particular environmental characteristics that can challenge the persistence of coral reefs in the face of the imminent climate change.

Read this and more on KAUST Discovery here.

Related publication Buitrago Lopez, C., Mariappan, K., Cardenas, A., Gegner, H.M. & Voolstra, C.R. The genome of the cauliflower coral Pocillopora verrucosa Genome Biology and Evolution evaa184 (2020) By understanding the cauliflower genome, researchers can now investigate the evolutionary history of these corals. Photo © KAUST; Hagen Gegner 9

SIMPLE FRAMEWORK HELPS FUTURE OCEAN STUDIES A framework that helps marine scientists select localized carbon dioxide levels for experiments aims to improve robustness in global warming studies.

range of information is collated through a simple framework that will help marine scientists to design more accurate experiments that will better help them understand the projected impact of global warming on marine life. Understanding the consequences of rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels and global warming for marine life requires complex experiments that can assess the responses of biota to different environmental scenarios. Experiments need to be able to precisely represent future CO2 levels and temperature if they are to accurately predict the potential impact on different species throughout the world’s oceans. Dr. Nathan Geraldi, Professor Carlos Duarte and colleagues at KAUST’s Red Sea Research Center recently noted that some published marine research papers did not match up to the CO2 level predictions outlined in the reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).This prompted the team to investigate further.

They outline several shortcomings in current scientific knowledge. Although some data exist on the impact of rising CO2 and accompanying warming in the oceans, it is stored in disparate locations and is not accessible through a central database. Further, the IPCC figures for CO2 levels and predicted temperature rises relate predominately to the atmosphere and land surface, rather than to marine environments. Overall, the oceans grow warmer more slowly than the land, and this should be factored into “future ocean” studies. Also, the IPCC regional projections currently exclude the polar regions, despite the fact that the Arctic is now warming faster than the global average. “Predicting the responses of marine organisms to future ocean conditions remains challenging, but it is necessary to inform potential risks and impacts,” says Duarte.

To test their framework, the KAUST team used coral reef regions because they have been well studied. Photo © Tane Sinclair Taylor

“Experiments mimicking the conditions expected in the future are often used to quantify and assess these responses. However, the Achilles heel of this approach is that the experimental variables are often unreliable, resulting in misrepresentations.” “There is currently no straightforward way for researchers to select future levels of CO2 and temperature when running experiments on marine life,” explains Geraldi. “Current and future conditions in any given region are variable and depend on many factors. Knowing that researchers need to simplify the natural variability, we wanted to provide a framework that would guide them in selecting appropriate CO2 and temperature levels for their studies.” Warming predictions depend on CO2 emissions, and local conditions, for example, geochemistry and vegetation type, can impact CO2 levels for a given area. However, it is very expensive for individual research teams to continuously monitor local and regional CO2 levels.

ABOUT THE FIRST AUTHOR

Dr. Nathan Geraldi Former RSRC Research Scientist As a member of Professor Carlos Duarte’s lab, Nathan focused on understanding community dynamics and how ecosystems are altered by anthropogenic impacts.

The KAUST team focused on coral reef regions as a case study for their framework, largely because their responses to global change have been extensively studied in recent years.“Coral reefs are seen as the ‘canary in the coal mine’ in terms of reflecting impacts of warming and ocean acidification on marine lifeforms,” notes Geraldi. The team assimilated data from the IPCC reports, together with detailed information gathered from studies on coral reefs around the world. The resulting datasets will enable researchers to select more accurate CO2 predictions for their given region at any specific point in the next hundred years. The team also summarized current uncertainties in CO2 emission trajectories and highlighted the challenges of predicting the sensitivity of different ecosystems and organisms to ocean acidification and warming.

Read the full story on KAUST Discovery here.

TRIGGERFISH LEARNS TO CATCH MORE DIVERSE FOOD In probably the first observation of its kind, a tricky triggerfish is seen beaching itself before attacking a crab walking along the shoreline.

ny Red Sea diver will have encountered colorful triggerfish along coral reefs, and some divers will have experienced the painful bite of their huge teeth if they get too close to their nesting grounds. Now, PhD candidate Matthew Tietbohl and colleagues at KAUST report a peculiar feeding strategy by a titan triggerfish that highlights their innate ability to learn and adapt. Tietbohl and his colleagues were on Mar Mar island in the south-central Red Sea looking for signs of turtle nesting when they saw a titan triggerfish come up on to the shoreline and attack, and eventually grab, a Red Sea ghost crab. Most interesting was that the triggerfish partially beached itself in shallow water for the first attack, a hunting behavior that has not been previously reported in any fish belonging to the order Tetraodontiformes, which comprises 350 coral reef species, including triggerfish. Several subsequent attacks ensued in very shallow water, without beaching, with the fish slowly approaching the crab and then rushing at it horizontally. The fish finally grabbed the crab in several centimeters of water and dragged it into deeper water, where it was eaten. “Triggerfish seem to be particularly adept at a wide variety of feeding behaviors to catch their prey,” says Tietbohl.“They will jet water from their mouths to uncover invertebrate food buried in the sand, and flip rocks and break coral to get at prey. Given this diverse range of feeding behaviors, it is not too surprising that they have found a way of catching semiterrestrial prey too.” Tietbohl believes that their discovery highlights the importance of observational studies as a means for investigating marine life. He and his colleagues suggest that triggerfish could serve as model systems for studying learning and cognition in coral reef fish.

Triggerfish have a diverse range of feeding behaviors that allow them to diversify their prey. Photo © Matthew Tietbohl

A Red Sea ghost crab sits on the shoreline of the Red Sea. Photo © Morgan Bennett-Smith

ABOUT THE FIRST AUTHOR

Photo and illustration series depicts the hunt and capture of a Red Sea ghost crab by a triggerfish. Photo © Matthew Tietbohl

Matthew Tietbohl RSRC PhD Candidate Working in Professor Michael Berumen’s lab in the Red Sea Center, Matthew works toward a better understanding of marine systems currently function; the key roles species play in sustaining each other and ecosystem functions; and how best to manage these systems for resilience to future change, future human use and conservation.

Read this story and more on KAUST Discovery here.

Related publication Tietbohl, M.D., Hardenstine, R.S., Tanabe, L.K., Hulver, A.M. & Berumen, M.L. Intentional partial beaching in a coral reef fish: A newly recorded hunting behaviour for titan triggerfish Balistoides viridescens. J Fish Biol. 97, 1569-1572 (2020) 13

A DIFFERENT SLANT OF LIGHT Giant clams manipulate light to assist their symbiotic partner.

pecial cells in giant clams shift the wavelength of light to protect them from UV radiation and increase the photosynthetic activity of their symbionts, shows research from KAUST—originally intended as a photonics investigation. Like corals, giant clams are important players in reef ecosystems and live in symbiosis with photosynthetic Symbiodiniaceae algae.The clams also have special cells, known as iridocytes, that can manipulate light via layers of nanoreflectors within each cell. Earlier work has shown that these iridocytes scatter and reflect light to increase the photosynthetic efficiency of the Symbiodiniaceae algae. Now, a team of researchers at the Red Sea Research Center and the Photonics Laboratory have discovered another way that iridocytes help the symbiont to photosynthesize.The researchers studied the morphology and optical characteristics of iridocytes in the giant clam Tridacna maxima and found that they absorb UV radiation and re-emit it as longer wavelength, photosynthetically useful light. Ram Chandra Subedi, one of the study’s authors, explains that the iridocytes contain alternating layers of high-refractive index guanine crystal and lower refractive index cytoplasm. Compressing and relaxing these layers enables the cell to tune its effect on light. As a result,“the guanine palettes not only reflect harmful UV radiation but also absorb it, and emit light at higher wavelengths which are safe and useful for photosynthesis,” he explains. This increases the amount of photosynthetically active radiation available to the algal symbiont and also helps protect both the clams and algae from UV radiation. This photoprotective effect enables giant calms to live in very shallow tropical waters where there is enough light for photosynthesis, but also potentially harmful UV radiation levels. This may also explain the mantle colors of giant clams. The idea is that the vibrant colors of giant clams are not due to optical differences in the tissue, but rather differences in the distribution or abundance of symbionts relative to iridocytes in each individual. “It’s just a hypothesis,” explains lead author Dr. Susann Rossbach, “but it’s the most reasonable explanation we have about why the clams have different colors.”Whether or not the differences in color have functional consequences remains an open question.

The photoprotective effect enables giant calms to live in very shallow tropical waters where there is enough light for photosynthesis, but also potentially harmful UV radiation levels. Photo © Susann Rossbach

Rossbach says that this was a curiosity-driven project to see if the iridocytes had optical properties that might be useful in photonics technologies. “It wasn’t initially about answering a biology question, but in the end it explained a lot about this symbiosis and opened up new questions in biological photonics,” she says.These findings have also led to new optoelectronic applications based on iridocytes, though they have not yet been published.

ABOUT THE FIRST AUTHOR

Dr. Susann Rossbach RSRC Alumna In Professor Carlos Duarte’s group, Susann investigated the physiology of Tridacnidae (Giant clams) in the Red Sea under several stressors as well as their overall function within reefs.

Read this and more on KAUST Discovery here.

Related publication Rossbach, S., Subedi, R.C., Ng, T.K., Ooi, B.S. & Duarte, C.M. Iridocytes mediate photonic cooperation between giant clams (Tridacninae) and their photosynthetic symbionts. Frontiers in Marine Science (2020) Blockphase scanning electroscope microscopy image of cross-sectioned Tridacna maxima mantle tissues, showing the symbiotic algae (green arrows) and, in close proximity, the embedded iridocyte cells (blue arrows). Photo © 2020 Rossbach et al.

SEA SKATERS ARE A SUPER SOURCE OF INSPIRATION A study of marine Halobates species highlights how their waterproofing techniques, size and acceleration capability helped them colonize the ocean.

iny sea skaters, as insect ocean pioneers, may hold the secret to developing improved water repellant materials.A KAUST study also provides insights into the insect’s physical features, including the hairs and waxy coating that cover its body, and its movement to evade the sea’s dangers. “Our multidisciplinary study is the first of its kind to investigate two marine skater species, the ocean-dwelling Halobates germanus, and a coastal relative, H. hayanus,” says Dr. Gauri Mahadik at the Red Sea Research Center, who worked on the study with colleagues, under the supervision of Himanshu Mishra, Carlos Duarte and Sigurdur Thoroddsen. “We wanted to understand how these insects had evolved to survive in harsh marine environments where others failed.” Faced with crashing waves, ultraviolet radiation, rain, salt water, and predatory birds and fish, insects need a specialized set of adaptations to survive in the ocean.The team captured the two Halobates species from the Red Sea and coastal mangrove lagoons at KAUST and acclimatized them to an aquarium environment. “It is difficult to keep marine Halobates in the lab, and there was considerable trial and error before we got it right,” says Mahadik. “These insects are cannibalistic, so it was important to keep them well fed.We spent hours trying to capture their natural behaviors on film because they jump around a lot.” The researchers used high-resolution imaging equipment, including electron microscopy and ultrafast videography, to study the insects’ varied body hairs, grooming behavior and movements as they evaded simulated rain drops and predators.The insect’s body is covered in hairs of different shapes, lengths and diameters, and it secretes a highly water-repellant waxy cocktail that it uses to groom itself. “The tiniest hairs are shaped like golf clubs and are packed tightly to prevent water from entering between them. This hairy layer, if the insect is submerged accidentally, encases it in an air bubble, helping it to breathe and resurface quickly”, says co-author Lanna Cheng, from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. “In its resting state, not even five percent of the insect’s total leg surface is in contact with the water; so it is practically hovering on air.” says Mishra.

If water droplets land on the creature they roll off or, as the KAUST team caught on camera, the insect jumps and somersaults to shed the drops.The researchers were surprised by how fast it moved to evade predators and incoming waves. “While taking off from the water surface, we observed H. germanus accelerate at around 400 m/s2,” says Thoroddsen. “Compare this with a cheetah or Usain Bolt, whose top accelerations taper off at 13 m/s2 and 3 m/s2, respectively. This extraordinary acceleration is due to the insect’s tiny size and the way it

ABOUT THE FIRST AUTHOR

Dr. Gauri Mahadik Former RSRC Postdoctoral Fellow While working in Professor Carlos Duarte’s lab, Gauri maintained Halobates in the lab and performed imaging and behavioral studies.

Taking off from the water surface, the insect can accelerate faster than a cheetah by an order of magnitude! Photo © Xavier Pita

presses down on the water surface, rather like using a trampoline, to boost its jump.” The wax secreted by the insect is of great interest to the team’s materials scientists, who are exploring new approaches for liquid repellent technologies.The insect’s hair structures are also informing the design of new materials. “Inspired by the mushroom-shaped hairs of Halobates, my group is developing greener and low-cost technologies for reducing frictional drag and membrane fouling,” says Mishra.

Read this and more on KAUST Discovery here.

Related publication Mahadik, G.A., Hernandez-Sanchez, J.F., Arunachalam, S., Gallo Jr, A., Cheng, L., Farinha, A.S., Thoroddsen, S.T., Mishra, H. & Duarte, C. Superhydrophobicity and size reduction enabled Halobates (Insecta: Heteroptera, Gerridae) to colonize the open ocean. Scientific Reports 10, 7785(2020)

MEASURING HOW CORALS ACCUMULATE POLLUTANTS A safer technique reveals that corals take up seawater pollutants both directly and indirectly.

Corals take up marine pollutants directly from seawater as well as through accumulation in their food. Photo © KAUST-AIMS

arine pollutants are taken up by corals directly from seawater as well as through accumulation in their food, shows research from KAUST that uses a state-of-the-art spectroscopy technique known as cavity ring-down spectroscopy.This is the first time the approach has been used to measure pollutant accumulation. A hydrocarbon pollutant, phenanthrene, was monitored to see how it accumulates in coral tissue by a team formed by members from Agusti’s and Duarte’s labs at the Red Sea Research Center, collaborating with researchers at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). Coral colonies were grown at the AIMS National Sea Simulator for a fortnight before being exposed to phenanthrene, which is often used as a model for oil pollution. The researchers introduced phenanthrene through two routes.They fed it to microalgae that were then ingested by the corals, and they also exposed corals to phenanthrene directly in seawater.To track the uptake and accumulation of phenanthrene, they labeled it with a nonradioactive heavy isotope of carbon (13C). Then they used the spectroscopy technique to measure the amount of 13C in the coral tissues over the course of six days. The analysis showed that the corals accumulate similar total amounts of phenanthrene, whether via diffusion from the seawater or through uptake in their food. However, the rate of uptake was faster via seawater exposure than from feeding.

Ananya Ashok, the lead author of the study, explains that this finding was counterintuitive and points out that uptake is only part of the picture. “It’s not a one-way process.There’s a dynamic process of accumulation and elimination constantly happening. It’s possible that phenanthrene is being retained more from the diet even though it’s taken up at a slower rate,” she says. Understanding the full dynamics of this process is ongoing. The team has experiments planned to investigate pollutant excretion by corals as well as the role of other players, such as copepods, in the food web. “It’s important to consider more than one route of accumulation when doing assessments and setting thresholds for these chemicals in natural environments where corals live,” says Ashok.“All of the different pathways and dynamics help to develop a more integrated regulatory picture.” The new technique has significant advantages, Agusti explains.“It is an alternative to the use of radioactive isotopes, traditionally used to trace compounds in organisms and food webs.” Radioactive isotopes are potentially harmful to the environment. Also, their toxicity makes it challenging to correctly estimate how well marine organisms tolerate pollution.The new technique resolved these risks and makes it possible to run experiments for weeks instead of just hours.

ABOUT THE FIRST AUTHOR

Researchers’ discovery highlights the importance of considering multiple routes of accumulaiton when setting thresholds for pollutants in nature where corals live. Photo © KAUST-AIMS

Ananya Ashok RSRC PhD Candidate Working in Professor Susana Agusti’s lab, Ananya studies the impacts of pollution with a particular emphasis on persistent pollutants from oil on coastal-marine environments and their biota.

Fragments exposed to the oil pollutant, phenanthrene, are compared against the color index of a Coral Health Chart to observe for signs of bleaching distress. Photo © AIMS Florita Flores

Read this and more on KAUST Discovery here.

Related publication Ashok, A., Kottuparambil, S., Høj, L., Negri, A.P., Duarte, C. & Agustí, S. Accumulation of 13C-labelled phenanthrene in phytoplankton and transfer to corals resolved using cavity ring-down spectroscopy. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 196, 110511 (2020) Natural fluorescence of a live coral captured under an epifluorescence microscope. Photo © Sreejith Kottuparambil 19

BETTER COMMUNICATION HELPS TRANSLATE MOLECULAR TOOLS Multistakeholder collaboration is key for the adoption of molecular approaches that can facilitate accurate, cheaper and faster monitoring of marine ecosystems.

sustained dialogue must be established between molecular ecologists, policymakers and other stakeholders for DNAbased approaches to be adopted in marine monitoring and assessment, according to KAUST scientists and colleagues. “New tools to solve some of the challenges facing this field are not getting the attention they most likely deserve,” explains RSRC research scientist Dr. Eva Aylagas, the article’s corresponding author. “This is because it is common practice for researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders involved in marine environmental management to act independently,” says Aylagas. DNA barcoding and metabarcoding are molecular techniques used to identify species by comparing small fragments of their DNA against a reference database. Traditionally, assessing the health of a marine ecosystem involves identifying organisms from samples based on their morphological characteristics.This requires the involvement of specialized taxonomists and is often very expensive and time consuming. DNA barcoding and metabarcoding could save monitoring programs a lot of time and money. Aylagas and her colleagues propose a roadmap for developing meaningful collaboration between stakeholders with the aim of implementing molecular approaches in marine monitoring. The roadmap was based on lessons from several successful projects. For example, DNA metabarcoding is being tested in New Zealand for the purpose of monitoring the impacts of the country’s extensive aquaculture farms on the surrounding marine environment. Aquaculture can cause environmental damage through the accumulation of organic matter from fish excretions and nutrients from uneaten food, causing low-oxygen conditions for animals and plants that inhabit the marine sediment, while also generating toxic conditions for aquaculture fish. The New Zealand government has funded a multiyear project to compare traditional and DNA-based approaches for monitoring marine sediment in the vicinity of a large number of aquaculture farms in several regions of the country. This involved extensive collaboration between government, monitoring agencies, industry and researchers.

Roadmap for effective implementation of molecular methods in legislation and regulations for ecosystem assessment. Photo © Xavier Pita

ABOUT THE FIRST AUTHOR

‘Science-stakeholders’ interfaces that may occur among different parties while implementing new environmental policies. Opportunities to remove the gap between scientific proof-of-concept and applied research begin when two or more parties (researchers and one or multiple end-users) put Translational Molecular Ecology into practice. Photo © Xavier Pita

Having aquaculture farmers and relevant government agencies directly involved from the outset was critical for helping scientists develop a protocol that resulted in a product that satisfied everyone involved. “Currently, DNA metabarcoding is in its final phase of validation and will be established in environmental legislation in New Zealand for routinely monitoring the effects of aquaculture activities. The approach provided reliable, faster and ultimately cheaper results than the methods previously used,” says KAUST co-author and marine ecologist Susana Carvalho. Another example comes from the European DEVOTES project that developed innovative tools and indicators for assessing the impacts of human activities on marine biodiversity.A large number of stakeholders were involved in comparing traditional taxonomic methods with DNA metabarcoding approaches for monitoring macroinvertebrates living in marine sediment, such as small crustaceans and worms.The diversity of these organisms in the sediment is considered a robust indicator of marine ecosystem health. DNA metabarcoding yielded very positive results in this effort as well, and the technique is proposed for improving ecological assessments within Europe.

Dr. Eva Aylagas RSRC Research Scientist Working with faculty member Professor Burt Jones and research scientist Dr. Susana Carvalho, Eva focusses on understanding benthic community changes in response to natural and human-induced environmental alterations.

“The main lesson learned from this and other projects is the need to establish robust and solid networking between researchers and policymakers to effectively develop, test, validate and standardize novel monitoring tools,” says Aylagas. KAUST’s researchers and their colleagues recommend a roadmap that encourages interaction, engagement, communication and commitment, and finally, they stress the need for decision framing for the successful integration of new molecular methods into routine use. On the home front, KAUST researchers have been in discussions with representatives from governmental agencies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and with other stakeholders to present the potential of DNA-based tools for enhancing marine monitoring in the Red Sea region.

Read this story and more on KAUST Discovery here.

Related publication Aylagas, E., ... ,Geraldi, N., Ortega, A., Gajdzik, L., Coker D.J., ..., Jones, B.H., Duarte, C.M., Pearman, J. & Carvalho, S. Translational molecular ecology in practice: Linking DNA-based methods to actionable marine environmental management. Science of the Total Environment 744, 140780 (2020) 21

RED SEA PLANKTON COMMUNITIES EBB AND FLOW WITH THE SEASONS Studies of plankton communities in Red Sea waters provide insights into seasonal variations and dominant control mechanisms.

A CTD (a probe measuring temperature, salinity and depth) and rosette sampler is brought on board the RV Thuwal to collect water samples from the surface down to 700 meters at a station off King Abdullah Economic City. Photo © KAUST

he communities of tiny picoplankton in oceans reveal a great deal about the health of marine ecosystems and food webs. KAUST researchers have examined how numbers of these organisms vary across the year in both coastal and offshore locations in the Red Sea, while investigating the predators and viruses that control them. The bacterial elements of plankton largely drive energy flows in the aquatic food web in nutrient-poor regions by photosynthesizing and recycling dissolved carbon and other nutrients. Cyanobacteria are autotrophic, meaning that they generate their own food using resources, such as light and carbon dioxide. In turn, heterotrophic bacteria and archaea feed on the dissolved organic matter present in the water. Both groups provide food for other organisms, including grazers like heterotrophic nanoflagellates. “These two latest studies fill a gap in our understanding of tropical marine ecosystems—how bacterioplankton communities are structured and how they function in these vast, underexplored regions,” says Professor Xosé Anxelu G. Morán, adjunct associate professor of marine science at KAUST’s Red Sea Research Center, who supervised students Eman Sabbagh and Dr. Najwa Al-Otaibi, and their co-authors.

“Oceanographic research has largely been conducted by countries located in temperate and subpolar regions in the Northern Hemisphere,” Morán continues. “It has long been assumed that tropical seas would not have the same seasonal variation in bacterial community dynamics as temperate regions. KAUST’s location and resources enable us to investigate bacterioplankton in tropical seas in greater detail than ever before.” Sabbagh’s paper focused on shallow coastal waters, analyzing samples from KAUST Harbor every week for a year. They wanted to understand these autotrophic communities and the impact of top-down factors—viral attack and heterotrophic nanoflagellate grazing—as well as the effects of bottom-up factors, such as nutrient availability. “Our fine-resolution sampling meant that we documented direct and sustained predator-prey dynamics between viruses and their bacterial hosts,” says Sabbagh.“Mortality due to viruses, along with nanoflagellate grazing, seemed to dominate Red Sea coastal bacterioplankton losses throughout much of the year. This suggests that top-down control is fundamental in regulating bacterial abundance.”

ABOUT THE FIRST AUTHORS

Eman Sabbagh and Miguel Viegas measure temperature and salinity after collecting the weekly surface water sample from KAUST Harbor. Photo © KAUST

Al-Otaibi’s paper focused on an offshore site in the central Red Sea, where they collected water samples from fixed depths down to 700 meters periodically over two years.They measured the abundance and cellular characteristics of different autotrophic and heterotrophic picoplankton groups, while monitoring environmental variables. “Our results showed a clear seasonal variation, particularly in surface groups (the upper 100 meters), with a peak in numbers of autotrophic picoplankton in summer and a lull in winter,” says Al-Otaibi. “Importantly, our study is the first detailed account of the effect of vertical gradients on the distribution of picoplankton communities over the seasons.This seasonality should be included in all future studies of the Red Sea pelagic ecosystem.” “Long-term, well-maintained studies of tropical sites will be fundamental to prove current hypotheses about the future directions of change in the hottest water bodies on Earth,” says Morán. “In addition, we may gain insight into our future oceans because if we do not slow down climate change, then current conditions in tropical regions will be met shortly in higher latitudes.” The KAUST team will continue to explore bacterioplankton community dynamics on both a finer, daily-sampling scale and with longer-term studies of the coastal and offshore sites in the Red Sea.

Eman Sabbagh RSRC PhD Candidate

Dr. Najwa Al-Otaibi RSRC Alumna In Professor Xose Anxelu G. Moran’s group, Eman (photo above) studies the abundance of biotic factors, such as viruses, bacteria and heterotrohic nanoflagellates, and how abiotic factors, such as temperature, salinity and chlorophyll A, can affect their abundance on a shallow Red Sea ecosystem, while Dr. Najwa studied autotrophic and heterotrophic picoplankton abundances, sizes and biomass in short and long time-scales. Read this story and more on KAUST Discovery here.

Related publications Sabbagh, E.I., Huete-Stauffer, T.M., Calleja, M.L., Silva, L.,Viegas, M. & Morán, X.A.G. Weekly variations of viruses and heterotrophic nanoflagellates and their potential impact on bacterioplankton in shallow waters of the central Red Sea FEMS Microbiology Ecology 96, fiaa033 (2020)

Surface water samples were collected weekly in KAUST Harbor by co-author Miguel Viegas, a former RSRC laboratory and field technician. Photo © KAUST

Al-Otaibi, N., Huete-Stauffer, T.M., Calleja, M.L., Irigoien, X. & Morán, X.A.G. Seasonal variability and vertical distribution of autotrophic and heterotrophic picoplankton in the Central Red Sea PeerJ 8: e8612 (2020)

STRESSED CORALS SET UP PROGENY FOR A BETTER LIFE First evidence that animal DNA methylation patterns can be passed to the next generation.

hanges in DNA methylation patterns during a coral’s lifetime can be passed down to their progeny. KAUST researchers believe they have found the first evidence of this change, and they suggest that the finding could help develop new strategies for coral conservation. DNA methylation is the reversible attachment of a methyl group to a cytosine, one of the four nitrogenous bases that form the building blocks of our genomes. It is an epigenetic change that modifies how a gene is used. “In mammals, DNA methylation patterns are reset across generations, except in rare exceptions,” says Dr.Yi Jin Liew. “In plants, however, they are mostly inherited across generations.” Previous research led by KAUST Associate Professor Manuel Aranda had shown that chronically stressed corals develop changes in their epigenetic patterns. “We were curious to find out if corals, like plants, could pass epigenetic information to the next generation,” says Liew.“From a biological perspective, this would shatter the common assumption that epigenetic patterns are reset across generations in all animals.” Together with scientists from New York University Abu Dhabi, KAUST researchers analyzed the genomes of adult brain corals (Platygyra daedalea), their sperm and larvae that had been collected from reef sites in Abu Dhabi in the southern Arabian Gulf and from Fujairah in the Sea of Oman.The Abu Dhabi corals had been exposed to extreme temperatures and salinity, while the Fujairah ones lived in more moderate conditions. “Our initial results were startling,” says Liew. The analyses showed that the DNA methylation patterns were most similar between sperm and their parent coral.“We think this is the first solid proof for intergenerational transfer of whole-genome DNA methylation patterns in an animal,” Liew says.

A species of brain coral exhibits traits that indicate epigenetic acclimatization within generations. Photo © Emily Howells

The team found clear differences in the methylation patterns between the Abu Dhabi and Fujairah corals. They also found that DNA methylation patterns are passed equally from parent to progeny through the egg and sperm. Further investigations confirmed that inheritance of the DNA methylation patterns was mostly independent from genetic inheritance, meaning that they are probably a response to the different environments in which these corals exist. This was supported by heat stress experiments on larvae from these colonies, which showed that the methylation status of certain genes correlated strongly with their chances of survival. Coral colonies from the much hotter Arabian Gulf also had hypermethylated genes involved in stress responses, potentially allowing them to cope with their harsh environment.

ABOUT THE FIRST AUTHOR

Dr. Yi Jin Liew Former RSRC Postdoctoral Fellow While a member of Professor Manuel Aranda’s lab,Yi Jin studied the role of epigenetics in contributing to adaptations of corals to rapidly changing environments.

“Inheritance of these novel epigenetic states could serve as a nongenetic breeding strategy to potentially increase resilience to climate change,” says Aranda.“Long-term cultivation of corals under elevated temperatures could allow us to breed fitter coral larvae that get a head start in globally rising temperatures.” Aranda says further investigations are needed to verify that environmentally induced epigenetic patterns can be maintained across more than one generation and that these inherited changes could provide a survival advantage for corals and their offspring.

Read this story and more on KAUST Discovery here.

Related publication Liew,Y.J., Howells, E.J., Wang, X., Michell, C.T., Burt, J.A., Idaghdour,Y. & Aranda, M. Intergenerational epigenetic inheritance in reef-building corals Nature Climate Change 10, 254–259 (2020)

ROBOT PROBES THE RED SEA’S CARBON STORAGE SYSTEM Little of the organic carbon in the Red Sea could be reaching the depths necessary for long-term storage.

arming waters and oxygen depletion in the Red Sea could slow the flow of organic carbon from the surface into the deep ocean where it can be stored, out of reach of the atmosphere. A KAUST team has used an underwater robot to investigate the little-studied mesopelagic, or “twilight,” zone, at depths of between 100 and 1000 meters.

The oceans absorb billions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere each year that either dissolves or is transformed into organic carbon by plants and phytoplankton in the sunlit shallows (0 – 100m). Most of this organic carbon is converted back into CO2 by microorganisms as it falls through the mesopelagic zone, but some of it eventually sinks into the deep ocean, where it can remain for centuries. Understanding what controls the fate of organic carbon at different depths could help scientists predict how the oceans will absorb and store atmospheric CO2 in the future. Dr. Malika Kheireddine and her team used an underwater robot equipped with bio-optical sensors to measure particulate organic carbon (POC) variations between the surface and the bottom of the mesopelagic zone in the northern Red Sea, where sea temperatures are rising particularly fast.“The Red Sea offers unrivalled opportunities as a natural laboratory for studying the impact of climate change on the fate of organic carbon,” says Kheireddine. Throughout 2016, the device also measured water temperature, salinity, density and oxygen concentrations. “Our observations allowed us to estimate the rates at which POC is converted back into CO2 by marine microorganisms,” explains Giorgio Dall’Olmo, a co-author from the UK National Centre for Earth Observation, “and how these microorganisms are affected by temperature and oxygen levels.” In the Red Sea’s warm and oxygen-starved waters, the conversion occurred mainly in the shallowest, most productive layer of the mesopelagic zone; only 10 percent of POC sank below 350 meters. 26

By studying the fate of organic carbon in the Red Sea, KAUST researchers hope to refine models that predict the carbon sink capacity of the world’s oceans in the future. Photo © Susann Rossbach

“The conversion rates could be expressed as a function of temperature and oxygen concentration,” adds Kheireddine, “which could help us predict how climate change will affect these rates in the future.” The team was surprised to find that more than 85 percent of POC was broken down within a few days of entering the mesopelagic zone, whereas the rest drifted for weeks to months before being consumed. There are multiple drivers of organic carbon transfer and transformation in tropical seas.

ABOUT THE FIRST AUTHOR

Dr. Malika Kheireddine RSRC Research Scientist In Professor Burt Jones’ group in the Red Sea Research Center, Malika’s research interests include the bio-optical characterization of the Red Sea, ocean color remote sensing and the role of dust inputs in the biogeochemical functions of the Red Sea.

“Underwater gliders in the Red Sea are collecting continuous data that could reveal the effects of physical processes, such as eddies and coastal currents, on these biogeochemical processes,” says group leader Dr. Burton Jones, a professor of marine science at KAUST. “The fate of organic carbon in the oceans affects the global climate,” says Kheireddine. “Our findings will help refine models showing whether the amount of carbon sinking in the ocean is increasing or decreasing.”The deeper organic carbon sinks before it is converted to CO2, the longer it is likely to remain there, locked away from the atmosphere.

Read this story and more on KAUST Discovery here.

Related publication Kheireddine, M., Dall’Olmo, G., Ouhssain, M., Krokos, G., Claustre, H., Schmechtig, C., Poteau, A., Zhan, P., Hoteit, I. & Jones, B. H. Organic carbon export and loss rates in the Red Sea Global Biogeochemical Cycles 34, e2020GB00665 (2020)

RED SEA TURTLE HATCHLINGS ARE FEELING THE HEAT The balance of the sexes in marine turtle hatchlings may be disrupted by high sand temperatures at nesting sites around the Red Sea.

nalyses by KAUST researchers of sand temperatures at marine turtle nesting sites around the Red Sea indicate that turtle hatchlings born in the region could now be predominantly female. These findings hold significant implications for the survival of marine turtle species as temperature increases take hold, driven by anthropogenic climate change. “Marine turtles are particularly vulnerable to temperature shifts because they demonstrate temperature-dependent sex determination, meaning that the sex of hatchlings is determined by the temperature of the nest during incubation,” says Lyndsey Tanabe, a KAUST PhD candidate investigating the nesting ecology and conservation strategies of marine turtles, under the supervision of Professor Michael Berumen. The Red Sea is home to five out of seven species of sea turtles, with endangered green turtles and critically endangered hawksbill turtles nesting along its coastlines. Current research suggests that the pivotal temperature to maintain a 50:50 sex ratio is 29.2 degrees Celsius, above which hatchlings are predominantly female. Temperatures above 33 degrees Celsius can cause hatchling deformities and even mass mortality. “Marine turtles have survived since the late Triassic period and have adapted to past climatic shifts,” says Tanabe.“The current rate of anthropogenic-driven temperature change is unprecedented.” “We examined sand temperature profiles at Red Sea nesting sites to improve our understanding of the current turtle population,” explains Tanabe. The team selected five sites distributed across the region that are favored by hawksbill and green turtles. Automated data loggers collected sand temperature data at the nest depths of both species every 15 minutes for five months (May to September 2018, corresponding to the presumed nesting season).

Increasing sand temperatures driven by climate change may tip the delicate balance of gender distribution in Red Sea turtle populations. Photo © Morgan Bennett-Smith

The sand temperature exceeded 29.2 degrees Celsius at all study sites, with the exception of Small Gobal Island in the northern Red Sea.These results suggest that feminization of hatchlings could already be occurring. “We must be cautious in claiming that feminization is definitely happening,” says Tanabe. “The Red Sea is generally warmer than other nesting beaches around the world, so these turtles may have already adapted to a higher pivotal temperature threshold. It is concerning, however, that sand temperatures as high as 36 degrees Celsius were measured at some sites.This could pose a considerable threat to their survival.”

ABOUT THE FIRST AUTHOR Making a dash for it: a turtle hatchling emerges from the sand along the Red Sea coast. Photo © Morgan Bennett-Smith

Lyndsey Tanabe RSRC PhD Candidate In Professor Michael Berumen’s group in the Red Sea Research Center, Lyndsey studies marine conservation, movement ecology, climate change and coral bleaching.

Understanding the environmental threats to Red Sea turtles, such as plastic and heavy metal pollution, is critical to the success of conservation strategies. Photo © Morgan Bennett-Smith

Tanabe’s findings will contribute to ongoing national consultations on marine conservation, particularly in light of the proposed megadevelopments along Red Sea coasts. “I hope these development projects prioritize the conservation of turtle nesting sites, especially those likely to produce balanced sex ratios,” she says. Tanabe is also studying turtle population dynamics and genetics, and threats such as plastic and heavy metal pollution. She notes that understanding these factors is critical to the success of conservation strategies.

Read this story and more on KAUST Discovery here.

Related publication Tanabe, L.K., Ellis, J., Elsadek, I. & Berumen, M.L. Potential feminization of Red Sea turtle hatchlings as indicated by in situ sand temperature profiles. Conservation Science and Practice e266 (2020)

MANGROVES LOCK AWAY CARBON Researchers uncover an overlooked process enhancing the carbonremoval potential of mangroves.

igh levels of dissolved calcium carbonate present in their bedrock indicate that Red Sea mangroves are capable of removing more carbon than previously thought, KAUST researchers have found. The study’s findings highlight the need to consider calcium carbonate dissolution in mangroves growing on carbonate platforms as an important carbon storage mechanism. Blue carbon ecosystems, such as mangroves, saltmarshes and seagrass beds, sequester large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere in the form of organic carbon locked in their soils. In the Red Sea and much of the tropics, mangroves grow on calcium carbonate sediments formed by shells and skeletons of marine organisms dating back to the Pleistocene, about one hundred thousand years ago. The dissolution of calcium carbonate in seawater is a source of total alkalinity, which increases the ocean’s capacity to store CO2 from the atmosphere. Previous research has found that the relatively small mangroves of the Red Sea bury ten times less organic carbon in their sediments than the global average for mangroves.These studies, however, did not examine dissolved calcium carbonate as a carbon sink — a concept that had been previously hypothesized but not quantified, until now. “As the ocean becomes more acidic due to climate change, more calcium carbonate is dissolved in the oceans.This isn’t good news, because ocean acidification is a global threat to coral reefs,” says Dr. Vincent Saderne, a research scientist at KAUST. “But this dissolution also increases the ocean’s capacity to dissolve CO2, creating a feedback effect that helps mitigate climate warming. It’s quite understudied.” Using incubation chambers, the team measured the total alkalinity emission rates present in a mangrove swamp in the central Red Sea, Saudi Arabia.They compared these measurements with those taken in a nearby lagoon that had no vegetation.

Red Sea mangroves represent an effective natural way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Photo © Morgan Bennett-Smith

They found that total alkalinity was significantly higher in the mangrove swamp than in the lagoon, regardless of the season, time of day or the presence of root structures. The calculated alkalinity emission rates were also much higher than those reported by previous studies on mangroves in Australia.The alkalinity released displaces the equilibrium in seawater to permanently convert CO2 into bicarbonate. The researchers also estimated that the mangrove site stores 13 tons of CO2 per hectare each year, a 23-fold increase on previous estimates that focused solely on organic carbon burial in soils. “Our results now identify mangroves in the Red Sea, and possibly those in other carbonate basins, as a powerful solution to mitigate climate change,” says Dr. Carlos Duarte, KAUST Distinguished Professor of Marine Science and co-author of the study. “The findings contribute to the Circular Economy National Program of Saudi Arabia by identifying a significant option for removing CO2.”

ABOUT THE FIRST AUTHOR

Dr. Vincent Saderne RSRC Research Scientist In KAUST’s Red Sea Research Center,Vincent’s research focuses on the inorganic carbon interactions between metabolic processes of calcification, respiration and photosynthesis in benthic nearshore habitats in the context of global change and ocean acidification.

Read this story and more on KAUST Discovery here.

Related publication Saderne,V., Fusi, M., Thomson, T., Dunne, A., Mahmud, F., Roth, F., Carvalho, S. & Duarte, C.M. Total alkalinity production in a mangrove ecosystem reveals an overlooked Blue Carbon component Limnology and Oceanography Letters (2020) Mangroves can create alkaline conditions that enhance the ocean’s capacity to store atmospheric carbon dioxide. Photo © Morgan Bennett-Smith

Photo © Morgan Bennett-Smith and KAUST

NEW FACULTY

Photo © Anastasia Serin

PROFESSOR

FRANCESCA BENZONI D

r. Francesca Benzoni is an associate professor of marine science in the KAUST Red Sea Research Center (RSRC). Professor Benzoni is a marine biologist and her research has focused on the evolution, diversity and ecology of corals and coral-dominated assemblages in the Indo-Pacific region, with a strong focus on the seas around Arabia. Professor Benzoni has contributed to major advances in the field of hard corals integrated systematics and biogeography through a multidisciplinary approach. Her work has led to the discovery and description of new coral taxa and to the revision of the whole lineage. Concurrently, she has studied the short and mid-term effects of local and global environmental changes on the composition and structure of coral dominated benthic communities. Professor Benzoni has organised several international oceanographic expeditions and workshops aiming at the exploration and study of coral reef diversity throughout the Indo-Pacific. Moreover, she has led training activities in various countries to promote and sustain the knowledge transfer to local communities and stakeholders. As a consultant, she has led or been involved in different coral reef monitoring and habitat mapping studies in the Arabian region. At KAUST, her fundamental research addresses the diversity, characterization and evolution of benthic marine organisms and habitats. Her applied research questions concern the patterns of spatial and temporal changes reef benthos diversity and distribution in a time of environmental change in the Red Sea.

Photo © Anastasia Serin

PROFESSOR

RAQUEL PEIXOTO P

rofessor Peixoto’s is an associate professor of marine science in the KAUST Red Sea Research Center. Her research has outlined the protocols and proved the concept that the manipulation of coral-associated microorganisms, using Beneficial Microorganisms for Corals (BMCs), is possible and can increase the host’s resilience and resistance against environmental threats. This pioneering work has contributed to pave the way for new approaches to reveal and explore mechanisms of marine microbiology and symbiotic interactions. As founder and chair of the Beneficial Microbes for Marine Organisms network (BMMO), her goal is to keep promoting a powerful international platform where basic knowledge can be strengthened and transformed into products to be used for marine ecosystems and sustainable development. At KAUST, her research addresses the diversity, ecological role and biotechnological potential of microorganisms associated with marine organisms from the Red Sea. She also seeks to investigate how these microbiomes can be used as models and sources to explore and understand key symbiotic mechanisms promoting the host’s resistance and resilience against different impacts, as part of her projects on coral reef protection, restoration and rehabilitation.

PROFESSOR

RUSSELL ‘RUSTY’ BRAINARD D

r. Rusty Brainard, the chief environmental officer at The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), has been appointed courtesy professor of marine science at the KAUST Red Sea Research Center in the University’s Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering division. Dr. Rusty Brainard is Chief Environmental Sustainability Officer with The Red Sea Project, striving to establish new global standards for environmentally-sustainable luxury tourism development. The Red Sea Project is committed to carbon neutrality (through 100% renewable power, clean mobility, habitat enhancement, sequestration, and sustainable food production), enhancement of conservation value of 30% by 2040 (as measured by status of biodiversity), zero single-use plastics, alignment with all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, and many other efforts to ensure sustainability. Previously, Dr. Brainard was supervisory oceanographer and founding Chief of the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Honolulu (2001-2019). Dr. Brainard led CRED’s 60-member interdisciplinary, ecosystem-based research program that conducts integrated ecosystem observations, long-term monitoring, and applied research of the coral reefs of the U.S. Pacific Islands to support ecosystem-based management and conservation. Dr. Brainard’s team monitored the distribution, abundance, diversity, and condition of fish, corals, other invertebrates, algae, and microbes in the context of their diverse benthic habitats, and changing ocean climate conditions, including ocean warming and ocean acidification. From 2010-2016, Dr. Brainard served as NOAA’s Technical Lead for the US Coral Triangle Initiative’s Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM) theme to provide technical assistance and capacity building for the CTI on Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security, a 6 country ocean governance agreement to address the threats facing the marine resources of the most biologically diverse and ecologically rich regions on earth. In 2010-2011, Dr. Brainard chaired the Biological Review Team in developing a Status Review Report assessing the status of and risk of extinction to 82 species of corals petitioned for listing under the US Endangered Species Act. From 2010-2015, Dr. Brainard served as co-PI of a NOAANSF project “Comparative Analysis of Natural and Human Influences on Coral Reef Community Structure, Diversity, and Resilience”. He served on the Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry Ocean Acidification Subcommittee, whose mission is to study ocean acidification’s effects on marine ecosystems and biogeochemistry. From 2005-2010, Dr. Brainard was co-PI of the Census of Coral Reef Ecosystems project of the Census of Marine Life developing tools to systematically monitor the biodiversity of coral reefs. 39

Photo © Morgan Bennett-Smith

NEWS

PROFESSOR

CARLOS DUARTE

RECEIVES AWARD FOR RESEARCH IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION

n February 4, 2020, the University announced that Carlos M. Duarte, KAUST Distinguished Professor of Marine Science and the Tarek Ahmed Juffali research chair in Red Sea ecology, received a Frontiers of Knowledge Award for Ecology and Conservation Biology from Fundación BBVA in Spain. Originally from Spain, Duarte has participated in research expeditions worldwide to further the understanding of the diverse marine ecologies that shape environments around the globe. The award recognizes his leadership in researching the global marine science problems of our time, including contributions to Vision 2030, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s blueprint of achievement for the new decade. “Carlos has made fundamental contributions to scientific understanding, the full implications of which, won’t be known for generations,” said Donal Bradley, KAUST vice president for research and Distinguished Professor of Materials Physics and Device Engineering. “His dedication to expanding our knowledge of the plurality of ocean flora and fauna and their carbon sequestering capacities might well yield important insights to help claw back the precious equilibrium of our Earth’s fragile climate.” The Award consists of a monetary prize, a diploma and a commemorative artwork in each prize category. The awards was presented at a formal ceremony in Bilbao, Spain, on June 1 and 2. The Ecology and Conservation Biology award in 2019 went to Gretchen Cara Daily and Georgina Mace for developing vital tools that facilitate science-based policies to combat species loss. “I am grateful to receive this recognition from Fundación BBVA and to KAUST for providing a spotlight for my research. Our oceans and seas are the world’s lungs, but humans often ignore the complex life and science of the world beneath the waves,” said Duarte.“A healthy ocean means healthy generations of humans to come.”

Read this story and more on KAUST News here.

PROFESSOR CARLOS M. DUARTE NAMED KAUST DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT

Tony F. Chan KAUST President

am delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Carlos M. Duarte as a KAUST Distinguished Professor effective December 1, 2020.

The University’s reputation is built on the bedrock of successes and accomplishments of its faculty members, and Duarte’s enormous and growing international standing in marine sciences fortifies KAUST position in this regard.The title of Distinguished Professor is one reserved for those few faculty members who have been able to help change the direction of their field and establish a mark of distinction for the University. Duarte’s seminal contributions at the frontiers of marine ecology and global ocean systems, as well as in the public understanding of the grand challenges and potential solutions for sustaining them, have exceptionally enhanced the stature of the University locally and internationally.The gravity of his scientific influence is matched only by the human impact of his work, attracting global media attention and KAUST branding opportunity at every turn. I am therefore pleased to include him among the ranks of our distinguished professors. Duarte elegantly tackles marine research through highly collaborative multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach, publishing with about 30 KAUST co-authors from across three Divisions, and landing him in leadership roles in major research programs. For example, Duarte and his international team discovered the largest fish stock in the world (mesopelagic fish), as part of the famous Malaspina Circumnavigation Expedition, and quantifying, for the first time, the large carbon flux into the deep ocean. Duarte coined the term “blue carbon” to refer to coastal habitats that are intensive carbon sinks, giving birth to a major new area of climate and marine science inquiry.

Here at KAUST, Duarte led under the KAUST Sensor Technology Initiative, the development of a new generation of sensors, wearables, for marine animals, which generated significant number of scientific publications and patents as well as a number of international awards for some of the developments. Finally, Duarte made many novel discoveries on the ecology of seagrass, seaweed and mangroves, including the first full genome sequence reported for a seagrass species, which provided insights into the genomic re-engendering required for higher plants to colonize the ocean. Duarte’s already prolific publication record accelerated since joining KAUST, with an increase in impact as well. In 2020 alone, Duarte has published two papers in Nature, one paper in Science (scheduled for December 2020), and papers in Nature Sustainability, Nature Ecology and Evolution, Science Advances and Nature Communications. Duarte’s publications ranked him within the top 1,000 scientists in the world (ranked 887 among 7 million scientists assessed) and #1 in Marine Biology and Hydrology in 2019. In recognition of his work, Duarte has received numerous honors, including the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Ecology and Conservation Biology, the top global award in that discipline in 2020. Finally, Duarte’s knowledge in Marine Ecology and the Red Sea has been key in allowing him to make important contributions in support of the Kingdom’s development, by his engagement with multiple giga-projects (Red Sea Development Company, Amaala and NEOM), Public Investment Fund, Ministry of Environment Water and Agriculture and the Saudi Presidency of the G20. Duarte has proven to be a major scholar and ambassador for KAUST and the Kingdom, and it is with great pleasure that we recognize him as a KAUST Distinguished Professor. Please join me in congratulating Carlos.

Photo © Anastasia Serin

MARINE LIFE CAN BE REBUILT BY 2050

n international study recently published in the journal Nature that was led by KAUST Professors Carlos Duarte and Susana Agustí lays out the roadmap of actions required for the planet’s marine life to recover to full abundance by 2050. The project brings together the world’s leading marine scientists working across four continents, in 10 countries and from 16 universities, including KAUST, Aarhus University, MIT, Colorado State University, Boston University, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Sorbonne Université, James Cook University,The University of Queensland, Dalhousie University and the University of York.

Humpback whales have seen a major rebound in numbers–thanks to conservation efforts– from a few hundred left in the 1970s to tens of thousands today. Photo © Shutterstock

Although humans have greatly altered marine life to its detriment in the past, the researchers found evidence of the remarkable resilience of marine life and an emerging shift from steep losses of life throughout the 20th century to a slowing down of losses–and in some instances even recovery–over the first two decades of the 21st century. The evidence–along with particularly spectacular cases of recovery, such as the example of humpback whales–highlights that the abundance of marine life can be restored, enabling a more sustainable, ocean-based economy. The review states that the recovery rate of marine life can be accelerated to achieve substantial recovery within two to three decades for most components of marine ecosystems, provided that climate change is tackled and efficient interventions are deployed at large scale.

“We are at a point where we can choose between a legacy of a resilient and vibrant ocean or an irreversibly disrupted ocean,” said Duarte, who is also the Tarek Ahmed Juffali research chair in Red Sea ecology.

“Rebuilding marine life represents a doable grand challenge for humanity, an ethical obligation and a smart economic objective to achieve a sustainable future,” said Agusti.

“Our study documents recovery of marine populations, habitats and ecosystems following past conservation interventions. It provides specific, evidence-based recommendations to scale proven solutions globally,” he added.

By studying the impact of previously successful ocean conservation interventions and recovery trends, the researchers identified nine components integral to rebuilding marine life, salt marshes, mangroves, seagrasses, coral reefs, kelp, oyster reefs, fisheries, megafauna and the deep sea.

We have a narrow window of opportunity to deliver a healthy ocean to our grandchildren’s generation, and we have the knowledge and tools to do so.

Prof. Carlos Duarte KAUST Distinguished Professor of Marine Science Tarek Ahmed Juffali Research Chair in Red Sea Ecology

Rebuilding marine life represents an addressable grand challenge for humanity, an ethical obligation and a smart economic objective to achieve a sustainable future.

Prof. Susana Agustí RSRC Professor of Marine Science

The actions recommended include opportunities, benefits, possible roadblocks and remedial actions, giving a tangible roadmap to deliver a healthy ocean that would provide huge benefits for people and the planet. If all recovery wedges are activated at scale, recovery timescales of previously damaged marine life show that the abundance of marine life can be recovered within one human generation, or two to three decades, by 2050. A key element identified for success is the mitigation of climate change by reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. Impacts from realized and unavoidable climate change already limit the scope for rebuilding tropical corals to a partial–rather than substantial– recovery. The goal of rebuilding the abundance of marine life can only succeed if the most ambitious goals within the Paris Agreement are reached. Success largely depends on the support of a committed, resilient global partnership of governments and societies aligned with the goal. It will also require a substantial commitment of financial resources, but the study reveals that the ecological, economic and social gains from rebuilding marine life will be far-reaching.

Sharks and large marine predators have experienced significant decline, but evidence shows that their stocks can be rebuilt with appropriate protection measures. Photo © Manu San Felix, National Geographic.

Read the full story on KAUST News here.

Underwater portrait of marine biologist Dr.Thomas DeCarlo studying Porites coral at Dongsha Atoll National Park, China. Photo © Thomas DeCarlos

RSRC ALUMNUS MAKES IMPACT WITH CORAL REEF RESEARCH

Dr. Thomas DeCarlo Former RSRC Postdoctoral Fellow

clerochronology is not a word the average person hears every day, let alone understands, but for KAUST alumnus and marine biologist Dr. Thomas DeCarlo, the word is at the core of his work. Literally.

“Coral reefs are a nursery and home to many different marine species, provide fish for human communities, and buffer shores from storms. If reefs collapse, so, too, do these biodiverse life systems that depend on them for survival.”

Sclerochronology is the study of the hard tissues and skeletons of invertebrates, and in DeCarlo’s case, long-lived, tropical corals. He drills, dates and analyzes cored samples from corals to learn how they grow and also respond to ocean warming and acidification. Sclerochronology is one tool in a suite of research techniques that DeCarlo applies to his projects. Carbonate geochemistry, Raman spectroscopy, paleoceanography and remote sensing are others.

DeCarlo attended KAUST from 2019 to 2020 as a postdoctoral research fellow, where he conducted marine science projects at the Red Sea Research Center under the mentorship of Professor Michael Berumen, the current director of the Center. In Fall 2020 he joined Hawai’i Pacific University (HPU) as an assistant professor of oceanography, and additionally oversees the HPU Sclero Lab. “KAUST is one of the few, if not the only, places where a stateof-the-art computerized tomography (CT) scanner exists within a couple of kilometers from massive, centuries-old corals,” said DeCarlo.

DeCarlo is making significant contributions to the field of coral reef ecosystems, with peer-reviewed publications illuminating connections between climate stressors and reef conditions such as coral bleaching and calcification. “Ocean temperatures are now approaching one degree above what they were in industrial times, with a projected increase of two to four degrees, which could have terrible consequences for corals,” said DeCarlo. 48

“This unique setting enabled me to develop well-replicated time series of coral growth rates due to the access to local reefs and KAUST’s CT scanning technologies.”

MARINE SCIENCE BACKGROUND DeCarlo saw corals for the first time while learning to scuba dive during a college field trip to Turks and Caicos Islands, an archipelago in the West Indies of the Atlantic Ocean. Intrigued by the variety and abundance of marine life and how the reef system functioned, he has been hooked ever since. He pursued an education in coral reef ecosystems at some of the most distinguished institutions in the world, completing his undergraduate degree in marine science at the University of San Diego, and a PhD in oceanography as part of a joint program between Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He also received a prestigious NSF (National Science Foundation) Graduate Research Fellowship at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and, prior to KAUST, a postdoctoral research appointment at the University of Western Australia and ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. In addition to conducting research in the Red Sea, DeCarlo has worked in the South China Sea, equatorial Pacific,Turks and Caicos Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, the Coral Sea, and through his current faculty appointment, the barrier reefs of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean.

Composite photo shows samples of coral cores alongside CT scans of coral skeletal cores showing annual pairs of light and dark bands of high and low density. Photo © Thomas DeCarlo

RED SEA RESEARCH Corals are among the most long-lived species on the planet and can grow to be thousands of years old. More than 300 species grow in the Red Sea. DeCarlo focuses his research on Porites, a genus of slow-growing coral found in most tropical reef locations around the world. Porites can join to form massive hemispherical colonies across the coral reef.They build their skeletons cued to monthly lunar cycles. Like successive rungs on a ladder, the living coral polyp is built on a thin layer of old skeleton.With each full moon, the coral deposits new tissue called dissepiments, and climbs a little bit higher on the reef—approximately 1/10th of a millimeter. “Scientists had hypothesized that coral dissepiments form on a lunar basis, but this had not been tested in a formal way. Previous attempts tracked dissepiments over just a couple months,” said DeCarlo. “I am especially proud of my research because it was a first-of-its kind, comprehensive study that took my entire PhD—four years— to complete. It required a lot of patience and foresight.” DeCarlo considers two time scales when analyzing corals. He uses CT scans to assess both monthly and annual growth rates. Annual growth is expressed as paired, banding patterns of alternating low and high densities. Like tree rings, the banding patterns reveal their age and general evidence of climate stressors such as bleaching that might have occurred throughout the year. He then uses a microscope to analyze the monthly growth rates of corals. The skeletal rungs help him pinpoint specific times in which these stressors occurred.

Marine biologist Thomas DeCarlo drills a coral core sample from Yonge Reef within the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.Photo © Anne Hoggett

Both the shorter and longer time scales impart information about coral survival.The oldest living coral from the Red Sea that DeCarlo studied dates to 1910.And the oldest living coral he has studied, in general, dates to 1818 from the Coral Sea. 49

BLEACHING CONDITIONS Porites are more resilient to stress than other kinds of corals, yet they are still sensitive to high sea temperatures. Much of the published research on coral bleaching attributes temperature as the cause. DeCarlo has discovered that upwelling of nutrient levels also plays a role and can be toxic to corals. “Summer monsoons circulate nutrient-dense waters from the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea. The symbiotic algae that live in corals thrive on these nutrients. In return, they provide food and energy for the corals to grow,” said DeCarlo. “But warmer waters create more nutrients, which create more algae, which create more oxygen and waste build-up in corals.When high waste conditions combine with high heat, this situation causes bleaching, which could turn deadly, even for Porites.” The Farasan reefs along the Red Sea’s southeastern coast are an example of this phenomenon. Once healthy, this coral system was devastated by a mass bleaching event in 2015. DeCarlo said the reefs there now look like a coral graveyard, and that all of the cores sampled show strong stress bands from that year. An interesting fact DeCarlo noted is that 2015 was not the hottest year on record for the Red Sea. 2002 was the year for that, and yet only minor bleaching occurred then across the reef. DeCarlo wondered about this difference in temperature history. Why had mass bleaching occurred in 2015 and not other high heat years? Using satellite data, climate models and other sources, he studied the history of monsoon upwelling, wind patterns and other weather factors affecting coral reef ecosystems in the Red Sea since 1982. He discovered that the bleaching event of 2015 could be linked to a combination of high nutrient levels and weather patterns, not just temperature. “My research is unique from other studies in this area because it considers a combination of factors that inform and refine what is known about coral bleaching,” said DeCarlo. “In the case of the 2015 bleaching event, my findings were counterintuitive because nutrients circulated by monsoon winds are carried by cool water currents from the deep ocean. But during monsoon season that year, the winds stopped earlier than usual, which then stopped the cooling mechanism.As a result, the nutrient-rich waters of the Red Sea just sat there, heating up.”

Figure shows early summer upwelling in the Red Sea. SST difference between the August minimum and the June maximum reveals the influence of upwelling. Blue colors indicate upwelling, which is mostly restricted to the southeastern Red Sea.Thin contours indicate climatological SSH anomalies, which show a persistent anticyclonic eddy in the central Red Sea that acts as a barrier to the northward propagation of the upwelling waters.Thick black line shows the 100-m isobath that defines the shelf edge.Yellow and orange boxes show the locations of surveys and coral coring, respectively. Inset time series shows the climatology (black) of SST between 1982 and 2015 (gray) in the Farasan Banks, revealing the early summer decrease in SST due to upwelling. Photo © Thomas DeCarlo

DeCarlo attributes the unique climate and monsoons in the Red Sea as factors that propelled his research. Other coral reefs don’t have nutrient upwell conditions earlier in the summer and heat stress later in the summer.These distinct processes enabled him to evaluate and separate the effects of these two factors—acting in different combinations in different years—in a way he could not have done elsewhere. In knowing the history of these corals, DeCarlo said predictions can be made about their future based on different climate scenarios.

Comparison view shows healthy coral reef (left) alongside dead coral reef (right) due to coral bleaching. Photo © Charlotte Young

Healthy coral reef and marine life in the central Red Sea of Saudi Arabia. Photo © KAUST

CORALS PAST AND FUTURE The Saudi coastline of the Red Sea shows several generations of reef formation through time. While at KAUST, DeCarlo was inspired to also study fossil corals.The hundreds of miles of preserved coral skeletons on the shore make the Red Sea an amazing laboratory for research.The oldest fossil coral he dated here is estimated to be approximately 120,000-years old. “The Red Sea is the most amazing place in the world to study fossilized corals,” said DeCarlo. “Aside from being covered in dust, these 120,000-year-old corals are pristine, perfectly intact skeletons that look like corals underwater today. I CT scanned them in the exact way I do with the corals growing in the Red Sea. There is a margin of error considering the time scale, but, relatively speaking, it’s a pretty close estimate.” In contrast, DeCarlo said that fossil corals from reefs in Hawaii, which date to approximately the same time, are severely degraded and barely distinguishable due to the tropical climate and heavy rainfall there.

While in Hawaii DeCarlo will continue research begun at KAUST, and hopes to also do some coral coring. He said that historical temperature measurements taken in Hawaii from ships suggest that a few years in the 1960s were as hot as a few years from the last decade when bleaching events occurred. He is curious if these earlier warm events also caused bleaching, and thinks he can tell from the coral cores. Reflecting on his future research path, DeCarlo said, “Ultimately, I want to build a global database of the history of coral bleaching events over the past century, using coral cores to fill in the gaps of when and where people were not underwater to observe the reefs.”

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Saudi Arabia’s east and west coasts feature extensive mangrove populations–an important part of blue carbon ecosystems–that the country is working to preserve. Photo © Saudi Aramco

RESEARCH REVEALS OCEAN PLASTICS COLLECTING POINT

Dr. Cecilia Martin RSRC Alumna

lobal plastic production began to rise precipitously around 1950. Since that time production has grown at around 8.5% annually. Unfortunately, due to poor recapture and recycling globally, much of that plastic has ended up in the world’s oceans.

Mangroves are highly efficient at sequestering carbon, and have increasingly come to be referred to as Blue Carbon habitats.They are also, according to the team’s research, highly efficient at locking up microplastic in coastal soil as well.

Strangely, locating plastic with surveys of the world’s oceans has proven difficult. In fact, plastic has been conspicuously absent in surface waters, where only 1% of the expected stock is found. In research recently published in the journal Science Advances, a collaborative team of researchers has located a sink for this missing plastic—coastal sediments and mangroves forests in particular.

“The burial of plastic in mangrove sediments has increased at a pace similar to the global plastic production, indicating that the plastic that was sequestered by mangrove sediments since the 1950s has persisted there for decades” said Dr. Cecilia Martin, lead author of the paper entitled “Exponential increase of plastic burial in mangrove sediments as a major plastic sink.”

The collaborative research, conducted by scientists from KAUST, UC Berkeley, Edith Cowan University, the University of Barcelona, the UN International Atomic Energy Agency, Aarhus University, KFUPM, and IAU details how core samples collected from the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf demonstrate a pattern of sedimentation of plastics.The sediment samples align closely with the history of global production of plastics, a trend that has increased exponentially since the midpoint of the 20th century.

Plastic waste is durable. It does not degrade fully, but rather, accumulates in the environment over time.These properties have long been at odds with the low concentrations of plastic found in surface waters. Recent research has shed light on how marine organisms ingest a small portion of global plastic waste.

Photo © Morgan Bennett-Smith

And it is widely reported that marine plastics wash up on global shores in large quantities. But these forces still do not account for the vast majority of plastic that has been released into the environment over the decades. The scientific community long postulated, and now has strong evidence thanks to this research, that “burial in sediments is thought to be the major sink of plastics in the marine environment…The signature of plastics in the sediment record provides stratigraphic evidence that, since the mid-20th century, we have entered a new epoch, the Anthropocene,” or the era of man, according to the paper’s introduction.

“Our research brings light to the mystery of missing marine plastic to reveal that mangroves, Blue Carbon habitats, are hugely efficiently at trapping plastics and burying them in their soils where they cannot harm vulnerable marine life or their human consumers” said Carlos Duarte, KAUST Distinguished Professor of Marine Science who supervised the research.

Read this story and more on KAUST News here.

Global FinPrint survey findings show that reef shark populations benefit from fisheries management, shark sanctuaries, and closed areas, but suffer in large human population areas with weak governance and overfishing. Photo ©Global FinPrint

GLOBAL CENSUS REVEALS REEF SHARK STATUS, NEED FOR IMPROVED CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT

n the 1940s global audiences watched spellbound upon seeing first-time film footage of marine life by Jacques-Yves Cousteau, famed French naval officer, underwater filmmaker, and inventor of scuba gear. Cousteau’s ocean scenes brought the mysteries of the deep to the public eye, and in so doing, increased knowledge of marine species and habitats, and transformed the field of marine conservation. Underwater documentationis an essential means of gathering marine data today. Methods continue to evolve. Marine scientists at KAUST participated in a landmark, visual census called Global FinPrint that turned cameras on reef sharks to assess the status of their populations around the world. Researchers gathered data using BRUVS—Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems. The study’s findings, published in the scientific journal Nature in July 2020, reveal that populations of reef sharks are thriving in locations where marine conservation policies and fishing regulations are in place, but scarce to none in areas where overfishing occurs and resource protections are poor. Sharks were absent on nearly 20 percent of coral reefs surveyed where they should have been present.The Nature paper raised the idea of functional extinction—that a species may still be present in an ecosystem, but in such low numbers that it no longer serves its function.

WHY REEF SHARKS? As apexpredators at the top of the food web, reef sharks keep fish levels in check and maintain balance in the trophic chain, which can be important for reef recovery.They are “canary-in-the coalmine” indicators about the overall condition of reef systems. To learn about reef sharks is to also learn about these other web-of-life connections.Yet these sharks are an understudied species. The Global FinPrint census focused on relative density comparisons of shark populations—i.e., there are three times as many sharks at that reef, and ten times as many sharks in this region, instead of absolute values—i.e., the number of sharks on this reef vs. that reef. One reason intensive sampling is needed in coral reefs is because these habitats are patchy by nature, with a high degree of flora and fauna variability. Reef sampling across the region helps to level out this variability for a greater region picture.

A Caribbean reef shark passes a BRUVS in the Bahamas. Photo © Amy Mann

THE METHOD: BAITED REMOTE UNDERWATER VIDEO SYSTEMS BRUVS are underwater surveillance installations consisting of a simple camera like a Go Pro attached to an arm-like apparatus extending from a box of bait to lure sharks. The Global FinPrint set-up was designed to be low-tech and easily built with relatively common and cheap materials so that marine scientists anywhere could adapt the system to meet diverse budgets, travel circumstances, installation locations, and technical skills. Divers placed the equipment in a secure location on the sea floor, and then left the cameras unattended to record 60-minutes of marine life per survey session. KAUST submitted data from 101 BRUVS drops in the Red Sea region of Saudi Arabia. With 58 countries and territories participating, 15,000 individual surveys contributed more than 20,000 hours of footage gathered from 400 reefs around the world.Teams of scientists and volunteers reviewed the footage, counting and identifying every shark and other species that entered the frame. Although BRUVS are not new to marine science, the scale of this study is unprecedented. Collaborators in this project applied the same installation, recording, and annotation protocol to their local BRUVS surveys to ensure that results could be compared from around the world.

I’m not aware of any study on reef sharks that’s put together so much data from so many places with a standardized common approach.

Prof. Michael Berumen RSRC Director Professor of Marine Science

Dr. Michael Berumen, marine scientist and director of the Red Sea Research Center at KAUST, commented on the significance of Global FinPrint. “I’m not aware of any study on reef sharks that’s put together so much data from so many places with a standardized common approach,” he said. “We couldn’t get that scope of data working individually. The model is a powerful means of helping people understand ocean phenomena and pressures occurring on a global scale, and will be increasingly useful for future research collaborations.The information can then be used to improve marine management strategies on local scales.”

A shark investigates bait at a BRUVS installation in the Red Sea Photo © Royale Hardenstine 55

THE RED SEA SURVEY The Saudi Red Sea region was the only location that contributed data from the Red Sea. It is also among the places surveyed where reef shark numbers were much lower than expected. Marine biologist Dr. Royale Hardenstine, a KAUST Reef Ecology Lab alumna, helped coordinate the KAUST BRUVS surveys. Global FinPrint required that units be placed in both fished and unfished locations to get a balanced span of low to high reef shark populations and show which places were doing well compared to the rest of the region. She chose locations offshore KAUST “to survey our home base and know what’s going on here” and also reefs near Al Lith, an area regularly surveyed by KAUST scientists that is located further south in the Red Sea. “Unfortunately, the Saudi Arabian coast has very few marine protected areas, and the ones that do exist are rarely enforced, so there is no good place to go where there’s no fishing pressure,” Hardenstine said. “Instead, I tried to get a gradient across the shelf, hoping that the reefs and islands far offshore would have less fishing pressure because they are more difficult to get to.” Hardenstine said she also included reefs previously surveyed by Dr. Julia Spaet, a former marine biologist in the Reef Ecology Lab at KAUST who had previously raised alarm bells about diminishing reef shark populations in the Red Sea. Spaet also used BRUVS to gather data for her projects (predating the Global FinPrint study) and surveyed local fish markets to see what sharks and other species were being sold there.

Dr. Royale Hardenstine RSRC Alumna

She noted that countries that capitalize on dive tourism experience ecological as well as economic benefits. People want to swim with sharks and see beautiful coral reefs, and reef ecosystems enjoy a measure of protection in places that prioritize dive activities. Such is the case with Sudan, located on the western side of the Red Sea across from Saudi Arabia. Sudan is a hugely popular dive destination for hammerhead sharks, and its shark populations are thriving. What accounts for low shark numbers in the Saudi Red Sea region, and absent numbers in 20% of the other places surveyed? Berumen said a variety of factors contribute.

An avid shark fan and diver, Hardenstine said it took six or seven months before she saw her first shark in the Red Sea, even with regular diving, and that she’s seen more tiger sharks in Saudi fish markets than the sea.

“Overfishing is a problem in certain parts of the world where there is direct, targeted fishing for sharks. In other places, shark deterrents like nets in recreational swimming or bathing areas can impact their populations.”

She reminisced about places she has visited where sharks were abundant, like Tahiti in French Polynesia, where she observed a total of seven species of sharks in one dive “without even trying.” These included tiger sharks, black tip reef sharks, lemon sharks, and nurse sharks.

He said effects could also be indirect. “It may be that fishing is not targeting sharks but the food that sharks eat. And if you remove all the potential prey for sharks, you are eventually going to see an impact on the sharks, themselves, even if you never directly go after a single shark.” Both Berumen and Hardenstine emphasized the need for local knowledge to understand the particular problems in each region, and what could be done to alleviate those stressors and help rebuild shark populations. Hardenstine reflected,“And if we’re at the point of functional extinction, then now is the time to pay attention in order for things to change.”

BRUVS footage shows a reef shark approaching bait in the Red Sea. Photo © Royale Hardenstine

Aerial view of Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, a healthy refuge for reef sharks and other marine species. Photo © Kydd Pollock / US Fish and Wildlife Service

Dr. Yannis Papastamatiou

Dr. Darcy Bradley

Dr. Steven Kessel

Marine biologist and shark expert at Florida International University

Co-director of the Sustainable Fisheries Group at University of California, Santa Barbara

Director of marine research at Shedd Aquarium, Chicago

SHARKS, SHARKS AND MORE SHARKS In the ancient naval battle of Salamis during the Greek and Persian War (480 BC.), historical accounts describe scenes of swarming sea monsters devouring the bodies of men as their ships sank into the Mediterranean Sea. Dr.Yannis Papastamatiou, a marine biologist and shark expert at Florida International University, gathered BRUVS data at Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, a marine protected, coral atoll composed of islets, reef and lagoons in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and American Samoa. He said it’s commonly assumed that “sea monsters” refers to sharks, and that such historical descriptions, as well as old photographs and other records, can help scientists infer what populations of species could have been like a long time ago. “We only started surveying with modern scientific methods recently, long after the effects of fishing were felt,” he said. “It’s incredible to think that there must have been a lot of sharks in Greek waters thousands of years ago. I come from Greece, and the chance of seeing a shark in the Mediterranean today is pretty low. In fact, in all my time diving there, I’ve never seen a shark.” The opposite is true of Palmyra Atoll. This “predator dominated atoll” represented the healthy end of the Global FinPrint spectrum, with robust populations of sharks and predators, in general. The two dominant shark species there are grey reef and blacktip reef sharks.

The atoll is the largest marine protected area in the world. Managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, it has been unoccupied and closed to fishing for more than 20 years.The refuge shows what an unfished system without human impacts looks like, and that ecosystems will flourish when left undisturbed. Marine ecologist Darcy Bradley, co-director of the Sustainable Fisheries Group at University of California, Santa Barbara, coordinated the BRUVS survey for Palmyra Atoll. Her team contributed 25 surveys, each at 60-minutes. “We had the great privilege of surveying one of the most undisturbed, pristine coral reef ecosystems on our planet,” she said. “Reviewing footage from Palmyra Atoll was so much fun, because we witnessed coral reefs that were full of life and filled with sharks and other predators like jacks, groupers and snapper. The maximum number of reef sharks we saw together in one video frame was around four or five individuals. Imagine this many individual sharks, each one approximately five feet long, together in one space. That’s a lot of reef sharks!”

Read the full story on KAUST News here.

AIDING SUSTAINABLE CONSERVATION OF THE RED SEA

The Red Sea (pictured, aerial view) has many brine pools, lakes of very salty water located on the sea floor at depths of around 3,000 meters. Photo © Shutterstock.

cientists at KAUST have discovered a new brine pool in their quest to understand and conserve the Red Sea more effectively.

Brine pools are lakes of extremely salty water that sit on the sea floor at depths approaching 3,000 meters. These hyper-saline, deep sea lakes have been reported in other seas, including in the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Mexico, but they are particularly abundant and of notably large size in the Red Sea. “The Red Sea is the one basin that hosts the most of these pools— more than 20,” said Daniele Daffonchio, professor of bioscience in the University’s Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering division. “Most of them are placed along the central axis of the sea, while this one is very peripheral, so it is close to the coast and—most importantly—it is the shallowest, with a depth of 400 meters.” 58

Prof. Daniele Daffonchio RSRC Professor of Bioscience

It is a very good collaboration between an academic institution and a large company, which is an important mission for the Kingdom. It can help in preserving the Red Sea in a sustainable manner, including the coral reefs and the mangrove ecosystem.

The University’s Research Vessel Thuwal is an important tool used to investigate the Red Sea. Photo © Lilit Hovhannisyan

AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY The newly discovered pool was named the Afifi pool after the eminent Red Sea geologist and KAUST Professor Abdulkader M. Afifi.The Afifi pool is the saltiest among all yet known in the Red Sea—about six times saltier than that of the surrounding sea water. “It is a very important discovery because it facilitates the understanding of geochemistry and the unique microbiology of the organisms that live in these kinds of systems,” Daffonchio explained. “[It gives] us a tool to better understand these extreme ecosystems, which have been compared to potential environments on extraterrestrial planets.” The pool’s sheltered location near a series of coral reefs provided the calmer conditions necessary for the multidisciplinary KAUST team to take samples.A total of 23 Niskin bottles and an Idronaut® CTD, a cluster of sensors that measure conductivity, temperature and pressure, were used to measure the pool’s temperature, salinity and pH. The team’s engineers and oceanographers then used state-of-theart acoustic equipment on board the University’s Research Vessel Thuwal to identify the system’s acoustic signatures and characterize its physical profiling.

“We also have a team of microbiologists that helps in understanding which kind of microbes can live there—without oxygen—in the presence of such high salinity,” Daffonchio said. Saudi Aramco was a key collaborator in the brine pool’s discovery. “The support of Aramco is very important for us because it has a long history in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and the Red Sea,” noted Daffonchio. “There are many mutual benefits. We can offer and propose expertise to help Aramco in [its] objective in the sustainable management of resources, and Aramco has an interest in learning and understanding the functioning of such systems.” “It is a very good collaboration between an academic institution and a large company, which is an important mission for the Kingdom,” he continued. “It can help in preserving the Red Sea in a sustainable manner, including the coral reefs and the mangrove ecosystem.”

Read this story and more on KAUST News here.

BRINGING IT TOGETHER THROUGH COLLABORATION Geologists, geochemists and ecologists from the team also determined the brine pool’s origin; its chemical nature; potential organisms living inside it; and these organisms’ interactions. “We also have a team of microbiologists that helps in understanding which kind of microbes can live there—without oxygen—in the presence of such high salinity,” Daffonchio said. 59

SCIENTIFIC PAPER DETAILS MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING AT RED SEA PROJECT

paper detailing the marine spatial planning simulation that informed master planning of The Red Sea Project, the world’s most ambitious tourism development, was recently published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. KAUST scientists and an international team of researchers authored the paper, including researchers from the National Technical University of Athens and the University of Thessaly. Executives from The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), the master developer behind the project, also contributed to the paper. The paper describes how the research team used marine spatial planning to generate net positive conservation outcomes for the 2,081 km2 Al Wajh lagoon through the development of The Red Sea Project.The lagoon, which includes 92 islands, features valuable habitats, including coral reefs, seagrasses and mangroves that are home to several species of global conservation importance.

ENHANCING CONSERVATION “TRSDC has committed to setting a new global standard in sustainable development and to sharing our learnings with the world,” stated John Pagano, CEO of TRSDC and a co-author of the paper. “The results of this study demonstrate that, through careful design and planning, coastal development has the potential to enhance— rather than jeopardize—conservation.” “Coastal development and marine conservation have traditionally been antagonistic goals, given that coastal development typically alters ecosystems and increases stress on the marine environment,” added Carlos Duarte, KAUST Distinguished Professor of Marine Science and the Tarek Ahmed Juffali research chair in Red Sea ecology at the University’s Red Sea Research Center.

BENEFITING ECOLOGY The marine spatial planning exercise is an integral part of TRSDC’s development approach. It is intended to benefit the ecological state of the destination by achieving conservation outcomes superior to those of a “business as usual” scenario for an undeveloped site. The paper targets a net conservation benefit of 30 percent, which exceeds the level of protection that might be expected from designating the entire lagoon as a Marine Protected Area. The research team tested five conservation scenarios and used the results to develop a three-layer conservation zoning model to achieve conservation outcomes equivalent to the “business as usual” scenario in the presence of development. The team then designed additional actions to remove existing pressures. Measures include beach cleaning campaigns; the regulation of fisheries to rebuild fish stocks; the expansion of biologically diverse habitats, such as mangroves, seagrass and coral reefs, by 30 percent; and the use of electric-only marine and land vehicles to avoid pollution and noise. Some of these measures are already underway. Last year, TRSDC announced a Marine Debris Clean-up Program, which includes an initiative to hire people from the local population to conduct regular beach cleaning activities and mitigate the impact of marine litter originating outside the area’s boundaries. TRSDC is also preparing a comprehensive plan for enhancing coral reefs, which includes the creation of multiple coral nurseries to interbreed corals with different degrees of tolerance for temperature.

Duarte led the marine spatial planning exercise and is also a member of TRSDC’s advisory board. “Our study challenges the status quo by demonstrating that development vs. conservation is a false dichotomy and that, by embracing conservation as a primary goal from the outset, stakeholders involved in sustainable development can successfully build on development to propel benefits for conservation and the environment to deliver net positive economic, social and conservation impact,” he continued.

Pictured here is an aerial view of the Red Sea. Photo © Shutterstock

The Red Sea is home to many species of marine organisms, such as fish and different types of corals Photo © Morgan Bennett-Smith

A NOVEL COASTAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION COMBINED

The master plan for the development conserves 58 percent of the marine area of the site, with the development footprint being only 5 percent of the total area.The resulting conservation to development ratio of 10:1, the paper notes, is unprecedented in any documented coastal development plan.

By taking a holistic view of the area and working collaboratively to allocate space for development and conservation, the team ensured that development designs excluded any possible impact that could be avoided.This proved a more effective approach than the workflow in conventional development, where the environmental impact assessment is generally conducted after development design is complete.

Both the development zone and the area not assigned (37 percent of the marine area) will be subject to strict conservation and sustainability guidelines. The paper concludes that the involvement of a multidisciplinary team for scientists and developers was central to the success of the marine spatial planning simulation.The active participation of the development team with the environmental team avoided impacts through every step of the design process.

“Conservation is at the root of sustainable development,” Pagano said. “We believe that this innovative approach to destination design—[which is] grounded in marine spatial planning—can create a new relationship between tourism and the natural environment in the 21st century.”

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Pictured here is a beach resort on the Red Sea’s coast.The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), the master developer behind Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Project, is ‘committed to setting a new global standard in sustainable development,’ said John Pagano, CEO of TRSDC. Photo © Shutterstock 61

HELPING CORALS SURVIVE IN THE RED SEA

ecent increases in global water temperatures are causing a progressively detrimental effect on marine life and ecosystems in our oceans. Human activities generating excess greenhouse gas emissions have resulted in an increase in the average sea surface temperature of approximately 0.13 C per decade over the past 100 years, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Ocean warming can lead to multiple harmful environmental knock-on effects, including higher sea/ocean levels, greater extreme weather events, a spread of invasive species and diseases, threats to global food security and a loss of breeding grounds for marine animals. Warmer water temperatures also trigger coral bleaching, a phenomenon that affects almost every tropical and subtropical body of water in the world. Coral subjected to higher than average water temperatures expel the algae (zooxanthellae) living in their tissues, causing the coral to turn completely white, or to “bleach.” KAUST Red Sea Research Center (RSRC) members, including Manuel Aranda, associate professor of marine science, and Christian Voolstra, adjunct associate professor of marine science, generated data that suggests areas of the Red Sea harbor reef-building corals that live well below their thermal bleaching thresholds. In particular, the northern part of the Red Sea stands out as a thermal refuge of global importance. “Typically, in every area, bleaching is usually observed at only +1 to 2 C above the mean summer max temperature,” explained Voolstra. “In the Northern Red Sea, it is +5 C above mean summer max.” “It seems that Northern Red Sea reefs constitute a global coral reef refuge that deserves our attention and protection,” he continued. “The Northern Red Sea is the only place on Earth that I am aware of with this characteristic.These coral reefs have a climate change insurance for the next 100 years. We should make sure that this resource is conserved, and we should also invest in the research to figure out why this is the case.”

Marine scientists discovered corals in the Southern Red Sea were far more affected by a 2015 coral bleaching event compared to corals in the Northern Red Sea. Shown here is a healthy Red Sea coral population. File photo

HELPING CORALS ADAPT TO FUTURE CLIMATE CHANGE Understanding how bleaching affects corals in different areas of the Red Sea and how to best decode these findings is important to both researchers. “Corals in the Red Sea are bleaching—at least in the south where the temperature is higher. From a local perspective, we would like to understand how we can help Red Sea corals to [become] even more thermotolerant,”Aranda noted.“For us, this research is super interesting because it might allow us to understand how corals can adapt to future climate change scenarios.” “In the Red Sea, in the summertime, the average water temperature is above 32 C, and this would kill—basically wipe out—corals in the Caribbean, in the Great Barrier Reef, etc.,” he continued. “However, corals here can survive these temperatures, and we’re very much interested in finding out why—and of course how—so we can use this knowledge to help corals elsewhere.” In 2015, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared the existence of the third global coral bleaching event on record, which affected corals in the Red Sea. Coral reefs in the Southern Red Sea were considerably more affected than reefs in the northern part. “Why does the Northern Red Sea not experience mass bleaching events as much as the Central and Southern parts of the Red Sea?” Voolstra asked.“We don’t really know yet for sure. Several theories have yet to be conclusively proven.” “One theory is that around 15,000 years ago, the Red Sea was disconnected and dried out,” he explained. “In the following recolonization period, all corals had to pass the warmer southern waters, which is why we see corals in the Northern Red Sea that have much higher thermotolerance than expected.”

Scientists from the University’s Red Sea Research center study coral reefs in the Northern Red Sea, an area considered a global coral reef refuge that must be protected for future generations. Photo © Hagen M. Gegner

“Another theory is that higher salinity contributes to increased thermotolerance via osmoadaptation. Curiously, the Northern Red Sea is colder but features a higher salinity. Typically warmer temperatures go hand in hand with higher salinities due to increased evaporation,”Voolstra added.

Photo © Morgan Bennett-Smith

Prof. Christian Voolstra

Prof. Manuel Aranda

RSRC Adjunct Associate Professor

RSRC Associate Professor

UNDERSTANDING THE GENOMIC UNDERPINNINGS OF THE RED SEA To understand why the Northern Red Sea harbors so many resilient and temperature-resistant corals, scientists have to compare the genomic underpinnings of Northern Red Sea corals to Central and Southern Red Sea corals.The resilient corals may serve as a base to help reduce the ecological impact of coral bleaching worldwide. “KAUST and Saudi Arabia are pretty much the only places where you have access to Red Sea corals across their entire north-south gradient,”Voolstra noted.“This means we can study resilience across substantial environmental differences in a comparative framework. We are currently conducting a large-scale study to pinpoint the genomic differences between Northern and Southern Red Sea corals.”

“We’re looking at this using different techniques and different methods—mostly based on what we call genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics—and bolstering this with physiological evaluation,” Aranda said.“We look at the raw data but then actually measure in the organisms what is really happening. We try to combine these old-school physiological techniques with all the new -omics methods to give us an inkling of what could be going on.” The research carried out by Aranda, Voolstra and their RSRC colleagues has not been done in this form and to this extent before in the Red Sea. In fact, most of the RSRC-driven epigenomics research of the sea has not been done before at all. “This research is not only something novel for the Red Sea, but this is also something novel globally [and] in general,”Aranda emphasized.

Read the full story on KAUST News here.

Coral reefs in the Red Sea provide habitats for many organisms and teem with biodiversity. File photo 63

BLUE CARBON–HARBINGERS OF HOPE WEB-OF-LIFE

CARBON CYCLE

erched on a branch among dense green foliage, a Mangrove reed warbler is nearly hidden from view but for its call, which reveals its location from among the mangroves.Another reed warbler answers the call, and birdsong animates the trees.

Avicennia marina is the predominant species of mangrove found at KAUST and throughout the Red Sea region. The name derives from Ibn Sina, or Avicennia (980-1037), a scholar during the Islamic Golden Age whose writings are considered to provide the first descriptions of the natural history of the Red Sea and life cycle of the mangroves.

The mangroves at KAUST are thriving. Designated for nature and research, 152 hectares of university land harbor more than 90 hectares of protected mangroves at KAUST Ibn Sina Field Research Station & Nature Conservation Area. More than 240 species of resident and migrant birds shelter here throughout the year. The birds are one of many inhabitants in a web-of-life ecosystem that spans from land to sea.With woody roots that grow in shallow coastal waters, the salt-tolerant plants provide food, shelter and nursery habitat for many other animals, including crabs, lizards, shrimp, mollusks, and fish. The sanctuary is also a living laboratory for researchers. KAUST scientists study the extent to which these plants benefit the environment, and why they are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth.

A heron surveys its surroundings from a canopy perch in mangrove wetlands at dusk. Photo © KAUST

Scientists and students in the Red Sea Research Center are building on this knowledge by researching how mangroves sequester, capture and store carbon dioxide (C02) from the atmosphere, help improve water quality with their tissues and roots, and support other ecosystems, such as coral reefs. Like terrestrial trees and land plants, mangroves remove C02 from the atmosphere, yet they bury this carbon at a rate 30 times higher than that of boreal, tropical and temperate forests. What makes mangroves different is that they “sink” captured C02, microalgae, and other dead organic matter trapped by their aerial roots into layers of rich sediment, where carbon is stored, undisturbed, for centuries and even millennia.

Close view of mangrove pneumatophores—aerial roots that transport air to roots underwater. Photo © Vincent Saderne

Dead wood and leaves composed of carbon do not degrade as readily in the sea as on land due to lack of oxygen in mangrove soils. Over time this material develops into a dense carbon stock. Carbon buried in marine sediments is called blue carbon, thus mangroves are blue carbon sinks.

A Mangrove reed warbler sits on a branch in dense mangrove foliage. Photo © Brian A. James

Mangroves represent only 0.7% of tropical forests worldwide, and are distributed in 0.5% of global coastal ocean areas, yet they contribute 1% of carbon sequestered by the world’s forests, and 14% by global oceans.They offer additional services by buffering shores from erosion, storms and rising sea levels, promoting biodiversity, and providing coastal communities with fish and seafood for subsistence.

REVITALIZING SEAGRASSES Seagrasses are blue carbon ecosystems with a similar range of ecological services as mangroves. The flowering marine plants grow horizontally to form extensive meadows in shallow coastal waters and lagoons. The Red Sea is a unique region for KAUST scientists to study them for several reasons. It hosts a high diversity of seagrasses, with 12 species identified. Unlike other seas, the Red Sea is exceptionally salty, with no input from freshwater sources, and very warm. These unusual conditions bring opportunities to compare seagrass species here to others around the world. Portrait of blue carbon expert Professor Carlos Duarte in mangrove wetlands at KAUST. Photo © KAUST

Dr. Carlos M. Duarte, KAUST Distinguished Professor of Marine Science in the Red Sea Research Center, is a world expert on blue carbon ecosystems. His research led to the formulation of the Blue Carbon concept, an achievement for which he was awarded the distinguished BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Ecology and Conservation Biology in 2020. “At the beginning of this century, mangrove forests, seagrass meadows and salt marshes were under appreciated components of the marine ecosystem, to the extent that I nicknamed them the ugly ducklings of biological conservation,” Duarte reflected. “Today, blue carbon strategies of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through the conservation and restoration of these habitats have been adopted by many nations as a key means of meeting their commitments under the Paris Agreement.”

THE GREAT DISSOLVER Carbon burial is one way in which mangroves are effective carbon sinks. Calcium carbonate dissolution is another.The research findings of KAUST marine biologist Dr. Vincent Saderne, a collaborator of Duarte’s, show that limestone (calcium carbonate) dissolution in mangrove sediments contributes to C02 removal in seawater, and that Red Sea mangroves dissolve carbonate in their soils at a rate six times greater than mangroves in other parts of the world.

Marine biologist Dr. Neus Garcias-Bonet, former postdoctoral researcher at KAUST in Professor Carlos Duarte’s research group, surveyed seagrass meadows in the Red Sea region to measure concentrations and stocks of carbon and nitrogen in their sediment. Like mangroves, seagrasses remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and sink this carbon, captured in their own leaves and dead organic sea matter, into thick carbon sediment. By trapping particles suspended in the water column, seagrasses help stabilize the sediment, reduce turbidity, and make the water clearer. Protected from storms and waves under the plants above and deprived of oxygen, the carbon degrades very slowly. “Seagrass meadows do a great job at keeping the stored carbon in place for long time scales,” she said. “Even though seagrasses are restricted to coastal areas and their relative coverage is small, these ecosystems are responsible for 20% of the total organic carbon buried in the ocean.” Red Sea seagrasses can grow in highly warm water, even reaching temperatures of 35-degree Celcius. She said this shows they have adapted to live in harsh conditions of high salinity and high temperatures, which could help them endure future warming conditions. Not only do seagrasses support intense carbon removal and sink, they are a refuge for diverse marine life. “I love swimming among the seagrasses. It’s a peaceful, beautiful experience, and if you are still, you can observe an abundance of marine life. Turtles, dugongs, fish, sharks and many other animals live and feed here,” Garcias-Bonet said.

This ability of mangroves to dissolve large quantities of carbonates increases total alkalinity, which modifies the carbon chemistry of seawater and allows the ocean to increase its capacity to store C02 from the atmosphere.This, in turn, offsets ocean acidification and the greenhouse effect, which helps to control Earth’s temperature. Carbonate dissolution, combined with carbon burial, gives Red Sea mangroves a huge capacity to be an effective carbon sink–important traits for mitigating climate change. “Red Sea mangrove forests are modest in height and extent compared to other mangroves of the world,” Saderne said.“However, as we extend blue carbon accounting beyond organic carbon burial, we are astonished by their potential as atmospheric C02 sinks.” Over time, sediments accreted by Red Sea and Arabian Gulf mangroves, and also those from seagrass beds and salt marshes, elevate the coastal seabed, which protects vulnerable areas of the Saudi coastline against global sea level rise.

KAUST scientists use an in-situ incubation chamber to measure calcium carbonate dissolution, photosynthesis and the respiration rates of seagrass. Photo © Vincent Saderne 65

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND EDUCATION Whereas Red Sea mangroves and seagrasses are relatively stable and even expanding— Duarte’s team quantified a 12% increase in Red Sea mangroves during the last four decades—these ecosystems have been significantly reduced in many other parts of the world due to anthropogenic factors such as coastal development, land reclamation, aquaculture—especially shrimp farming—and toxic effluents from industrial activities. When seagrasses and mangroves are cut or removed, buried carbon releases back into the atmosphere, creating a chain reaction that impacts the animals, ecosystems, and humans that depend on them for habitat and sustenance. Left undisturbed, these ecosystems flourish, as do connecting marine, avian, and terrestrial communities.

Photo © Morgan Bennett-Smith

Satellite footage and research data of the protected mangroves at KAUST show a 20% habitat increase in the span of a decade.The Department of Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) sets the operational policies, guidelines, and monitoring systems aimed at keeping the mangroves healthy. Environmental Protection Manager Dr. Mohamed Omar oversees their continued protection. “HSE carefully considers any proposed construction on campus, such as new roads, buildings and utilities, for environmental impacts, and regularly assesses the health and well-being of the mangroves for factors such as height and width, disbursement and density, fruiting aspects, and disease,” Omar said.

The HSE Department also creates educational opportunities for people to spend time in the nature conservation area and learn about the vast benefits these ecosystems provide. Birdwatching and nature walks are activities that engage the public. Cultivating relationships with K-12 classrooms is another.

KAUST is at the forefront of environmentally conscious management plans and green and sustainable projects through innovative research. Its vision and goals are helping to inspire environmental action from leaders in the Kingdom and collaborators around the world.

Students from KAUST and neighboring schools conduct fieldwork and science projects, and produce educational books and creative media for future generations of students to enjoy.Through its partnership with the Red Sea Research Center, HSE also facilitates networking and shared research expertise.

Duarte commented, “Our research at KAUST has significantly contributed to the global knowledge of blue carbon habitats, and the realization that blue carbon strategies are a leading, nature-based way to mitigate climate change, avoid impacts of sea level rise, and deliver a wealth of benefits to local communities.”

Read this story and more on KAUST News here.

DOZENS OF NEW CORALS DISCOVERED ON AUSTRALIA’S GREAT BARRIER REEF

cientists have discovered dozens of new coral species on a recent voyage along the length of the Great Barrier Reef that will provide valuable insights to aid conservation and management of Australia’s unique World Heritage site. The team of researchers from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), James Cook University (JCU) and University of Technology Sydney (UTS) completed the 21-day expedition ranging from the Capricorn Bunkers off Gladstone to Thursday Island in the Torres Strait last month. “On almost every dive we were finding new species of corals that have never before been accurately described and classified,” says Dr. Francesca Benzoni, associate professor of marine science at KAUST. “The new species we found means that the biodiversity of some groups is up to three times higher than we had thought,” Dr. Benzoni continued. The expedition findings revealed that one hard coral species, Acropora hyacinthus, previously thought to be a single species is potentially five different species, some with a very limited geographical range. The team also performed the first survey of black corals on the reef. “Australia is the custodian of the world’s largest coral reef system and as a World Heritage-listed site it is the nation’s obligation to manage it well,” says Professor Andrew Baird from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University.

Dr. Francesca Benzoni (pictured) is an associate professor of marine science at the University, and she works in the KAUST Red Sea Research Center. Photo © Anastasia Serin

“Understanding the diversity of species on the reef underpins virtually every area of research and conservation. We need more trained taxonomists—biologists who can group organisms into categories—and more funds to reassess the taxonomy of common groups found on the reef, including hard, soft and black corals,” Professor Baird continues. The research expedition will yield further results to develop a robust understanding of coral species diversity and their distributions on the reef. These findings will enhance management and conservation of the Great Barrier Reef indicating how many corals species there are, how common they are and where specific corals can be found. The team also discovered a number of species not previously seen on the reef resulting in a wealth of new material for scientific study. The end of the voyage is the first stage of this project, which will continue to formally describe and catalogue this treasure trove.

Read this story and more on KAUST News here.

Dr. Francesca Benzoni, associate professor of marine science at KAUST dives in the Coral Sea off the coast of Queensland Australia, to collect coral samples to enable the cataloguing of new coral species on the Great Barrier Reef. Photo © Professor Andrew Baird, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University.

KAUST GLOBAL RESEARCH TEAM FIRST TO OBSERVE INHERITED DNA EXPRESSIONS

n February 10, KAUST announced new research demonstrating that corals pass patterns of DNA to their offspring. The groundbreaking research marks the first time that this process has been observed in animals within the field of biology. Through their research, Dr. Manuel Aranda, KAUST associate professor of marine science; former KAUST postdoctoral fellow Dr. Yi Jin Liew; and University of Wollongong postdoctoral fellow Emily Howells show that corals cannot only adapt to changes in their environment but also pass those learned traits on to their offspring through DNA methylation patterns. The process has previously only been observed in plants. “Previous research has shown that the coral animal is highly plastic, meaning that it is adept at changing to suit the needs of an evolving habitat caused by rising ocean temperatures, changes in salinity or fluctuations in sunlight,” said Aranda. “Those observed changes, however, merely demonstrated coral’s ability to flex muscle memory, always returning to their normal state once the introduced change passes.What we have been able to show is that as coral adapt, those alterations in DNA methylation are being passed to their offspring, allowing new coral to be pre-disposed to better manage–and survive–the changing environment in which coral lives.” While the implications are far reaching, the KAUST-led team believes that in the near term, the researchers have discovered a way to help address the demise of coral reefs caused by climate change. Coral reefs are among the world’s most diverse ecosystems, providing refuge for marine species and enabling shoreline protections and fisheries for humans. However, coral reefs are highly sensitive to minor environmental changes—changes that are being exacerbated by human interference.

Dr. Manuel Aranda (pictured) is an associate professor of marine science at the University, and he works in the KAUST Red Sea Research Center. Photo © Anastasia Serin

Biologists may now be able to train corals in nurseries in order to produce offspring imprinted with the traits needed to thrive in specific environments, such as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the many reef systems throughout the Caribbean.As a result of the research and through ongoing experiments, scientists may be better able to understand the mechanisms of acclimation. Field experiments are being run in Australia by Howells, and the team is developing products to help drive coral restoration and protection.The team is hopeful that, in addition to coral restoration and protection, these practices will enable a growth in targeted tourism to highlight the importance of coral reef ecosystems.

KAUST Associate Professor Manuel Aranda and a team of researchers examined intergenerational epigenetic inheritance in corals in work published in Nature Climate Change. Photo © Morgan Bennett-Smith

Read this story and more on KAUST News here.

RESEARCH LINKS REEF RESILIENCY TO NO-TAKE ZONES, HEALTHY FISH POPULATIONS

n the first study of its kind, A connectivity portfolio effect stabilizes marine reserve performance demonstrates that a network of no-take zones ensures a consistent supply of replenished fish stocks across marine reserve habitats. No-take zones are marine protected areas (MPAs) where fishing activities are not allowed in order to preserve biodiversity. Begun in 2007, and drawing on a body of research spanning 20 years, the study centers on genotyping and tracking the movements of larval coral grouper in the Keppel Islands within the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. Findings are published in the September 2020 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, the official journal of the National Academy of Sciences. KAUST Red Sea Research Center Director Professor Michael Berumen is among the lead contributors, with additional experts based at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, and Queensland University of Technology.

LARVAL DISPERSAL FINDINGS Established research shows that fish in no-take zones grow much bigger than those in fished zones, and females produce more eggs during spawning, which increases fish populations across the ecosystem. However, prior studies had not systematically tracked the distribution of baby fish in relation to the overall ecosystem. For this study, Berumen and researchers captured (and released) thousands of coral grouper adults and babies. Local fishermen—the long-run beneficiaries of the protection plan—participated by helping the scientists find and catch adult groupers.

Coral grouper (Plectropomus spp.) are a valuable fisheries species throughout the IndoPacific region.Total annual harvest on the Great Barrier Reef average 983 metric tons and the majority are exported live to foreign markets. Photo © Tane Sinclair Taylor

By genotyping material snipped from a fragment of their tails, the team learned which babies came from which parents, and used the information to map their journeys. Some of the babies stayed in the no-take zones. Others traveled to near and distant areas, seeding populations and contributing to biodiversity both inside and outside the protected reserve.

RELATING RESEARCH TO MARINE CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT The findings provide information about larval dispersal patterns that fishing authorities can use to design effective marine reserves, and assure fishing communities that no-take zones are smart investments for replenishing fish stocks. Berumen said the advantage of conducting a multi-year study in the same area is that they have comprehensive measurements that they can then use to assess how the dispersal patterns vary and affect the network through the years. In this way, the study is unique from others for the scale of data that is collected and applied to conservation management. “For a long time people made educated guesses about the movements of larval fish after spawning,” said Berumen.“We now have empirical data about where they come from and where they end up as adults that we can use to track their movements through time— at present going back six years.With this quantitative information, we can appropriately scale where to focus protection based on how much exchange is occurring between places.”

Much in the same way that a stock market portfolio buffers variable market conditions, the findings show that an aggregate of diversified no-take zones stabilizes fish populations across the whole despite fluctuating or volatile conditions of individual reserves, allowing marine populations to recover and rebuild. “If you were only counting on one of these reserves to seed the whole system, you would have some really bad years, but by protecting multiple zones, the ones that do well help support the whole system. The no-take zones represent a small percentage of the total reef area—in this case, 20-30%—so a small investment of protection yields big benefits.” In addition to groupers, the team has sampled different species, including clownfish, snappers, butterflyfish, and parrotfish. The team looks forward to applying their research to more commercial species and in more locations in the future. Read this story and more on KAUST News here.

No-take marine reserves generate many benefits to ocean ecosystems and coastal communities. Inside reserves, coral grouper are bigger and more abundant, which generates important larval subsidies beyond their boundaries to sustain fish stocks. Connectivity across marine seascapes is highly variable but a network of reserves can create a safety net to ensure reliable replenishment of fish stocks. In the Keppel Island of the Great Barrier Reef, reserves generate half of all fish on the reef. Photo © Hugo Harrison / Arc Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.

DIVING FOR CORAL REEFS IN THE RED SEA - By Sarah Binns, Academic Stories

t takes a good eye to identify new species of coral. “You have to have a kind of Rosetta Stone in your mind of what species we’ve already identified looks like. Because I would say 99% of the time that something looks unlike any known species underwater, it ends up being a new species after we’ve done our analysis,” says Dr. Francesca Benzoni, an associate professor of marine science at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia. “Sometimes we do get surprised though!” Francesca has wanted to be a marine biologist since she was a kid growing up in northern Italy. She became interested in corals during her master’s and focused on how new species of coral evolved and dispersed for her PhD. It was her expertise in corals that first brought her to KAUST years before she became a faculty member there. In 2013, KAUST was starting a large project to characterize the diversity of reefs in the Red Sea. The director of the university’s Red Sea Research Center invited Francesca to join the project as a coral specialist with plenty of experience in the region.“I just kept coming back to this region. I did the fieldwork for my master’s in Yemen and then I consulted in Qatar, Kuwait, and Egypt on different coral reef monitoring and habitat mapping studies after my PhD. The more you build up experience in this region, the more you understand how special it is,” Francesca says. The waters around the Arabian Peninsula are home to some of the world’s largest and most pristine coral reefs. Saudi Arabia, with coasts on both the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, is the perfect place for Francesca to compare how corals evolved in three very different bodies of water.The Red Sea is temperate up north and hotter in the south as it opens up into the Gulf of Aden.This gulf is characterized by upwelling; every summer, strong winds drive cold water up to the surface. On the other side is the Arabian Gulf where temperatures range from 14-34°C. “Combined with geological barriers, this area is a cyclotron for evolution,” explains Francesca. “You really have very strong marine organism distribution patterns that match with the geological history and the climate. Being here at KAUST and able to access the incredible open-air laboratory that is the Red Sea, what else would I want to do right now?” Francesca’s group is looking at the macroorganisms associated with the corals in the seas around the peninsula. There’s also a whole invisible community of bacteria and microscopic algae that live on the surface of corals or within the tissue that other professors at KAUST are investigating. Researchers have found that each species of coral carries with it a unique community of associated organisms but the relationship between the corals and their macro and microorganisms hasn’t been fully investigated yet. “We think, ‘oh, that’s a coral.’ But no, it’s a coral, it’s bacteria, it’s algae, it’s worms, it’s crabs. It’s actually a multitasking association of organisms,” says Francesca. “We are going to look at how the diversity of these associated communities change around the Arabian peninsula, from the very tip of the Gulf of Aqaba to the Arabian Gulf.The Red Sea is the most diverse and the Arabian Gulf is the least, so the subset of species that survive in the Gulf are the tough guys.We want to find out if the tough corals are resilient because the coral is strong or if it’s also getting a boost from the associated organisms.”

To conduct this research, Francesca relies on the exceptional core lab facilities at KAUST, especially the Coastal and Marine Resources Core Lab. The lab specializes in marine operations, scientific diving, oceanographic instrumentation, subsea simulation, and wet lab experimentation. The lab also operates its own fleet of boats including the country’s first fully-equipped research vessel. If there’s something a researcher needs that’s not available at the core lab, the engineers help them craft new resources. For example, Francesca is submitting a project on mesophotic coral reefs ecosystems which are found at depths it’s not possible to SCUBA dive to. Submersibles which can dive to those depths aren’t often used to sample soft marine animals like corals, so the lab’s experts are helping Francesca develop new tools to collect her samples. “For me,” she says,“being at KAUST is about using the fact that the corals are a network of organisms and host a network of organisms to build a network of collaborations, both internal and external. It has already started and it’s very exciting.” Read this and more on Academic Stories here.

THESE VAST HIDDEN FORESTS UNDER THE SEA COULD HELP SAVE EARTH - By WIRED|Science

he epiphany came whilst diving deep in the azure waters off the island of Mallorca. It was 1993, and marine ecologist Carlos Duarte was studying a seagrass called Posidonia oceanica, which forms vast underwater meadows in the Mediterranean.The flowering plant—which produces a fruit known in Italy as “the olive of the sea”—is considered the world’s oldest living organism and, over the course of millennia, grows complex reefs that form its anchor. The reefs are made up of dead plant stems and sediment, and—as the ocean-trotting professor noted—grow in height by no more than a millimeter a year. They resemble clumps of grass-covered earth and, one day, could help actually save Earth. This was the great revelation as Duarte gazed at a four-meter reef stack under the Med. “It was evident that I was looking at 4,000 years of continuous accumulation of carbon,” he says. “That is remarkable. And it marked a realization of the importance of this particular habitat as a carbon sink.” Thus, begun Duarte’s decades-long study of what was eventually coined “blue carbon”—the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere thanks to ocean ecosystems, primarily mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrasses like Posidonia oceanica. “Save the rainforest” was an early clarion call of environmentalism.The Amazon is big, and you can easily take pictures of it—or, indeed, its destruction. It is trickier to observe underwater habitats and, perhaps as a consequence of that, their preservation has ranked lower down the climate agenda. But they do, in fact, have a bigger impact in mitigating climate change: marine organisms are responsible for 55 percent of all biological carbon captured by photosynthetic activity, while some 93 percent of the world’s CO2 is stored and cycled through the oceans. Duarte, who is now Distinguished Professor of Marine Sciences at KAUST in Saudi Arabia, refers to these marine habitats as “hidden forests.” And a 2005 paper he authored was key in bringing them to light.

The blue carbon concept has only been applied in depth to seagrass, mangrove, and salt-marsh areas. Combined, these have the potential to contribute to around 2 percent of the carbon-emissions reductions required under the Paris Agreement, Duarte estimates. But expanding the potential of blue carbon to other areas could increase that to 10 percent. “There is no silver bullet for solving climate change—there’s no single solution that is going to meet the targets laid out by the Paris Agreement. So we need to stack a number of solutions. And each of them will have a contribution toward the goal,” says Duarte. Potential new blue carbon initiatives range from the removal of sea walls to turn freshwater wetland areas into salt marshes, to feeding cattle a diet containing seaweed to reduce their methane emissions. The importance of wild and farmed seaweed—which could be used for human food and other products—has been a focus of Duarte’s work at KAUST. In one study he led, it was found that seaweed has a greater role in mitigating greenhouse gases than previously thought. The research, published in 2019, found that seaweed can drift as much as 5,000 kilometers beyond coastal areas, with around 70 percent of it sinking to ocean depths below 1,000 meters—which means that the carbon stored in it will be unlikely to return to the atmosphere.The researchers called on seaweed to be included in measurements of blue carbon.

Prof. Carlos Duarte

“Mangroves, seagrass, and salt marshes have huge stocks of carbon—these habitats are the most intense carbon sinks in the biosphere. One hectare of seagrass or mangrove is equivalent in terms of the carbon-sink capacity to about 15 or 20 hectares of pristine Amazonian forest,” says Duarte.“Yet even though these habitats are really important, they are beyond our sight, and even beyond our imagination.They had been ignored for a long time.” As the 2005 paper noted, such habitats occupy just 0.2 percent of the sea floor, but are responsible for 50 percent of all the carbon sequestered in marine ecosystems. The academic study drew the attention of UN agencies, and led to a 2009 paper called the “Blue Carbon Report,” published in conjunction with the United Nations Environment Programme. It coined the term “blue carbon”—further boosting interest in how our vast oceans could help save the planet.

Bigger challenges remain, however, in giving blue carbon a boost. Duarte says incentives are needed to, for example, expedite restoration efforts, or to encourage farmers to feed seaweed to their cattle. He led a paper published in April in the scientific journal Nature, which said it is possible to restore the abundance of marine life by 2050, and provided a roadmap to achieve this. “The next big effort is to set up global goals, not just local goals, for restoration, to be able to map out what are the restoration options that are available, and then work collaboratively globally to make sure that every option to expand these blue carbon ecosystems is used,” he says. “The climate benefits are benefits to all.”There has, however, already been a clear shift toward preserving marine habitats. Duarte once termed seagrass meadows the “ugly ducklings” of marine conservation, because their role in mitigating climate change was so overlooked.Thirty years after that dive in the Mediterranean, a prettier picture is emerging from the deep.

THE CLIMATE ON CAMPUS Carbon capture, windows that generate power, and self-cleaning solar panels—such technologies are advancing in leaps and bounds in university labs across the world. But the danger is that they’ll stay there. It’s a concern that keeps Kevin Cullen awake at night. As vice president of innovation and economic development at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia, it’s his job to make sure the institution’s research gets put to best use. With academia offering rare rays of hope in the midst of the greatest challenge to face mankind—the prospect of an environmental catastrophe—you’d think this would be fairly straightforward. But in the wider academic world, the technology transfer model is broken, says Cullen. “Most universities around the world have gone down a cul-de-sac in terms of commercialization,” he says.

But aiming for such big-shot winners is unrealistic, Cullen says. “It’s like seeing a lottery winner on the television and saying, ‘oh, I’m going to do that’… The vast majority of university intellectual property does not have any, or significant, commercial value.” Despite this, Cullen says 16 KAUST-originated patents were licensed last year, more than in the previous 10 years combined. But still, intellectual property typically accounts for a tiny proportion of a university’s revenue—with training and research partnerships usually accounting for the majority. To encourage the latter, KAUST has formed initiatives such as a translational research fund, which is aimed at moving research from lab-scale proof-of-concept to commercial viability.There’s also the Innovation Fund, KAUST’s venture capital arm, which invests in early-stage startups either based at the university, or interested in establishing research and development activities there.This reflects the wealth of research coming from KAUST: an average of 11 articles are published annually per faculty—the highest number globally. Despite many startups having sprung out of KAUST—including several in sustainability and environmentalism—Cullen says the entrepreneurial route is not right for all academics. “If you speak to 100 academics and ask them, ‘would you like to commercialize your intellectual property?’ Then roughly 100 would say ‘no—I’m here to do research, I have students to teach, and publications to write’,” he says.“But if you ask those same 100 academics ‘would you like to meet someone who’s interested in your research?’, you’ll get a 100 percent positive reaction. “The model is ‘find the entrepreneur.’ Don’t turn [the academic] into an entrepreneur.” This tallies with Cullen’s broader aim of finding people that KAUST academics can actually work with in the real world.“It’s once people get to know each other that you get the sparks,” he says.“Together, they’ll go and change the world.”

Read this and more on WIRED here.

The biggest house on this road represents universities’ habit of measuring success in terms of the number of patents filed. Cullen likens this to a “stamp-collection competition”—and a particularly unprofitable one at that. Universities will, on average, license only 25 percent of their invention disclosures. Of these, only 5 percent will monetize and only 0.5 percent will ever generate over $1 million. “That means, in order to generate $1 million, you need 200 patents, on average.The typical cost of filing and maintaining 200 patents is about $1 million… the numbers just do not add up,” says Cullen. “The people who make a lot of money are the patent attorneys and lawyers.” Another pitfall is universities assuming they’re sitting on a research goldmine. Cullen points to just a handful of university-born commercializations that hit the big leagues, such as Northwestern University’s $700 million in royalties for painkiller drug Lyrica.

REEF SHARKS AROUND THE WORLD ARE IN TROUBLE - By Kate Baggaley, Popular Science

massive survey of hundreds of coral reefs along the coasts of nearly 60 nations found that overfishing has significantly diminished the numbers of sharks that live within these tropical habitats. Scientists did not see any sharks on nearly 20 percent of the reefs they examined, and saw only half as many sharks as they predicted in 35 nations. However, the biologists found that sharks were thriving in a few countries. Those nations used sanctuaries and other conservation strategies, which the researchers think may be playing a significant role in restoring shark populations elsewhere that have taken a hit, the researchers reported on July 22 in the journal Nature. “There are certain places where the shark population seems to be in reasonably good shape but…that’s probably not an accident,” says Michael Berumen, a professor of marine science at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia and coauthor of the new findings. “Almost all of them are places that have made the investment—the time and energy and resources—to have effective protections in those coral reef systems.” Marine biologists have long known that in the open seas, decades of overfishing have devastated shark populations in many regions. Shark populations in coastal areas are less well understood, however. “We really didn’t know a lot about how they were doing at a global scale,” says Mike Heithaus, a marine ecologist and dean of the college of arts, sciences, and education at Florida International University in Miami. To find out, Heithaus, Berumen, and their colleagues—a team of more than 100 scientists from around the world—placed cameras baited with ground-up fish in 371 coral reefs from 58 nations between 2015 and 2018. The researchers, along with hundreds of volunteers, then combed through more than 15,000 hours of video footage.They counted very few sharks from reefs in a number of nations, including the Dominican Republic, Qatar, and Vietnam. On the other hand, sharks were generally plentiful in Australia, the Bahamas, French Polynesia, and several other countries. Countries where sharks were abundant tended to employ a number of tactics like creating shark sanctuaries, areas where commercial shark fishing and trade in shark products is banned, setting limits on the number of sharks that can be caught, or restricting the use of gillnets and longlines.“They catch fairly indiscriminately,” Heithaus says.“Getting rid of those [fishing] gears is one of the biggest things that can be done to help rebuild coastal shark populations.”

Key to protecting sharks is figuring out which approach will work best in a particular region. In French Polynesia, where shark fishing has never been a huge part of the economy, the establishment of a sanctuary has led to an “incredible” abundance of sharks, Heithaus says. In other places, people rely on shark fishing for their livelihood. Banning particularly destructive tools like gillnets may make more sense in these regions. Transitioning from fishing to ecotourism may also be effective in areas with particularly clear water. “You have to make sure that the benefits go to the people who would be losing out from not fishing anymore,” Heithaus says. In Saudi Arabia, longlines aren’t often used to catch sharks so banning them would not have a very large impact, Berumen says. Establishing catch limits or a shark sanctuary in the Red Sea may be more effective. Overall, the researchers observed 59 shark species in reefs around the world, from nurse sharks in Florida to grey reef and lemon sharks in French Polynesia.The roles that sharks play in these ecosystems are still somewhat mysterious. One possibility, though, is that sharks keep smaller predators in check that would otherwise gobble up fish further down the food chain that graze on algae.

Without these herbivorous fish, algae may be able to run rampant, especially after hurricanes, bleaching events, or other disturbances destroy coral populations. “When corals die the first thing that starts to take over the empty space left over by the corals are algae, and that algae can grow fast and they can prevent new corals from becoming established,” Berumen says. “If you don’t have sharks, the rest of the reef population might at first look to be okay, but if a disturbance comes that reef ecosystem may be poorly prepared to bounce back.” Coral reefs help buffer coastlines from storms, shelter fish and other animals that people depend on for sustenance and income from fishing or tourism. “When you are talking about the immense value of coral reefs that are already under stress from changing temperatures, ocean acidification, and other human effects, you don’t want to be picking out other pieces that could be important to the health of the ecosystem,” Heithaus says.

However, he and his team are optimistic that shark populations can be rebuilt on many reefs where they are currently struggling. “These [conservation] methods are not groundbreaking, earth-shattering new ideas,” Berumen says. “They’re pretty straightforward management methods that probably just need to be implemented in more places.” At the same time, he warns, we cannot become complacent in areas where sharks appear to be plentiful. “Just because a place has a good number of sharks right now, it doesn’t mean that we don’t have to worry about those places; it doesn’t mean that we can stop the actions that have maintained those populations,” he says.

Read this story and more on Popular Science here.

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2020

GRADUATES

2020

GRADUATES

Dr. Royale Hardenstine

Dr. Rúben Costa

PhD Graduate

PI: Professor Carlos Duarte

PI: Professor Michael Berumen

PI: Professor Christian Voolstra

PI: Professor Carlos Duarte

Dr. Nojood Aalismail

Dr. Sebastian Overmans

Dr. Najwa Al-Otaibi

Dr. Michael Campbell

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PI: Professor Carlos Duarte

PI: Professor Susana Agustí

PI: Professor Xosé Anxelu G. Morán

PI: Professor Burton Jones

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Dr. Fatimah Sefrji PhD Graduate PI: Professor Daniele Daffonchio

Dr. Cecilia Martin

Kirsty Scott MSc Graduate PI: Professor Michael Berumen

Claire Shellem

Ashlie McIvor

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Morgan Bennett-Smith

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