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Ocean Lecture Series
Harmful Algal Blooms on Caribbean Coral Reefs
Brian E. Lapointe, Ph.D.
About the Lecture
Coral reefs are biologically diverse ecosystems comparable to tropical rain forests. They provide an array of important ecological services including fisheries, tourism, and protection of coastlines while supporting numerous organisms with potential use in marine drug discovery. Worldwide, coral reefs are under threat from a variety of human activities, including land-based sources of pollution, overfishing, and global warming. Since the 1970?s, Caribbean reefs have experienced some of the most dramatic decline in living coral cover of any on our planet. The receding coral has been largely replaced by algae, which are referred to as harmful algal blooms (HABs) because of the negative effects of excessive algal biomass on coral reef health.
The speaker, Brian Lapointe, has been studying the role of nutrient pollution in driving this ?phase-shift? from corals towards algae for over 25 years in the Caribbean region. While much of his work has been centered in the Florida Keys, Brian will present an overview of the pioneering work he and his colleagues performed in various parts of the Caribbean region, including the Belize Barrier Reef, Martinique, Jamaica, and Bonaire. This research involved quantifying nutrient thresholds for HAB initiation, physiological aspects of HAB ecology, and use of stable nitrogen isotopes to identify the nitrogen sources supporting bloom formation. Brian will provide an update on his long-term nutrient monitoring at Looe Key reef in the lower Florida Keys, which represents the longest low-level nutrient record for a coral reef anywhere in the world. Brian will also discuss recent legislation and policy changes that are intended to improve water quality by reducing excessive nutrient pollution of South Florida?s coastal waters.
About the Speaker
Brian Lapointe is a Research Professor in the Center for Marine Ecosystem Health. He has over 30 years experience on relations between nutrients and algal growth and has worked on coral reefs since 1982 when he moved to Big Pine Key to begin employment with Harbor Branch. Brian?s work in the Florida Keys during the early 1980's initially focused on the ecology of the floating brown seaweed, pelagic Sargassum.?He was chief scientist on numerous research expeditions in the western North Atlantic and Caribbean region, which provided opportunities for research in coral reef ecology. His research has since focused on the physiology and ecology of harmful algal blooms and water quality monitoring. Brian has extensive field experience throughout the wider Caribbean region and performed seminal research on nutrient thresholds (criteria) for protection of coral reef ecosystems, an approach that is being implemented in South Florida. Brian and colleagues have pioneered the use of stable nitrogen isotopes in reef algae to identify land-based sources of pollution, which has been critical to the development of clean water policies for South Florida.
Brian was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and, at age 9, moved to West Palm Beach where he graduated from Palm Beach High School. ?He received his B.A. degree from Boston University in 1973 and worked as a research assistant at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, MA, and Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, in Savannah, GA. He obtained his M.S. degree from University of Florida (Environmental Engineering) in 1979 and a Ph.D. from the University of South Florida (Biology) in 1982 before joining Harbor Branch in January,1983. He has authored over 80 scientific publications and was a contributing author of the book: ?Clean Coastal Waters: Understand and Reducing the Effects of Nutrient Pollution? published by the National Academy of Sciences. Brian is a member of the editorial board of the journal Harmful Algae and a Fellow of the Explorers Club.
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