Understanding the biotic response to both local and global environmental change, as well as the underpinning processes, is crucial for assessing vulnerability and guiding efforts to avoid potentially severe biodiversity loss.
Indo-Pacific coral reefs, and especially those in the so called ‘Coral Triangle’, are the most diverse marine ecosystems in the world. They also provide a wealth of ecosystem services, ranging from fisheries, tourism, to coastal protection. Contrary to the common view that coral reefs prefer clear, oligotrophic conditions, a large part of the reefs in the Coral Triangle occur in turbid waters influenced by terrestrial run off. Despite these unique conditions the ecology of these reefs remains understudied.
Within the Marine Biodiversity group we aim to elucidate interactions between biodiversity and ecological functioning in a wide range of taxa that provide critical functions in the reef ecosystem, such as sponges, benthic foraminifera, molluscs, and microbes.