Rolling With the Tides
Coralliths are an unusual spheroidal morphology of coral, which allows them to passively move with wave action and fish grazing. In the Maldives, they have been found to stabilize new habitat as they grow larger and expand the range of the reef for themselves and others. This provides hope in the light of climate change warming much of the current geographical range of tropical reefs.
Nadia Jogee’s PhD project, based at the University of Edinburgh, is investigating their ecological role in Honduras and trying to establish the limiting factors of corallith formation, is it adaptive plasticity or tolerance of mechanical stress? This will be communicated to local school groups in Honduras and Scotland via the game ‘Rolling with the Tides’. Come and have a play and learn more! By Nadia Jogee from the University of Edinburgh.