Wild Tobago

Anjani Ganase, PhD candidate studying coral reef ecosystems at the University of Queensland in Australia, presents her colleague’s study of differences between coral reefs in shallow and deeper water. The findings in Dr Pim Bongaerts’ research may have implications for coral reefs around the islands off the north of Tobago. Latest scientific findings reveal that shallow water coral reefs that are more prone to disturbances such as wave action, storm damage and bleaching events, are unlikely to be reseeded by corals living in deeper, more protected waters.  Even though coral species may occur across a large depth range, they can evolve into different strains or  “breeds” adapted to either the shallow or deep water environments, limiting the connectivity between these sections of the reef. These were the finding of Dr. Pim Bongaerts, a coral reef scientist at the University of Queensland in Australia. The story of corals and coral reefs gets even more complicated. P...