Research

Current Research

Grottoli’s current research focuses on determining what drives resilience in corals in the face of climate change. Photos of current research are here. Past research includes reconstructing oceanographic conditions in the past based on coral skeletal isotope and trace metal records, and the impact of land-use on the delivery of carbon to small tropical and temperate rivers.

1) UZELA: Underwater Zooplankton Light Enhancement Array 

UZELA (US Patent Application Number PCT/US2023/078357) is a programmable, autonomous, marine deployable, easy to service and maintain underwater light that can operate for an hour a day for up to 6 months on a single battery. My team is evaluating the utility of UZELA to locally enhance zooplankton and promote coral feeding, coral and recruit growth, and coral and recruit survivorship. This technology has applications for coral restoration and conservation. This work is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Robert Toonen and Dr. Josh Madin’s teams at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology as part of the larger DARPA Reefense project and with the Coral Restoration Foundation in Florida. Funding by DARPA, University of Hawaii Foundation, and the Coral Restoration Foundation.

2) Coral Reef 3D: single-camera low-tech mapping

CoralReef3D represents a novel approach to coral reef conservation, combining advanced 3D computer vision and photogrammetric techniques to empower divers and coastal surveyors worldwide to map coral reefs in 3D. This innovative toolset enables the creation of detailed, georeferenced 3D montages of coral reefs, making it easier to assess and monitor these critical ecosystems. We are interested in tracking individual coral colony growth and calcification rates over time. This work is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Rongjun Qin (OSU Engineering) and Dr. James Porter (University of Georgia). Funding by the National Science Foundation. Additional details are posted here.

3) Resilience of Mediterranean corals to ocean acidification

My team is evaluating how Cladocora caespitosa and Astreoides calycularis corals manage to thrive in at both CO2 vent sites with low pH and adjacent non-vent sites with normal pH. We hypothesize that these corals are heterotrophically plastic and can increase feeding on zooplankton to provide the additional energy needed to thrive in low pH seawater. To evaluate this hypothesis, we teamed up with Drs. Nuria Texeido, Steeve Comeau, Chloe Carbonne, and Jean-Pierre Gattuso from the Laboratoire Oceanographique de Villefranche. Corals were collected from vent and non-vent sites in Ischia, Italy in October of 2021 and are currently analyzing them. We are also collaborating on a reciprocal laboratory experiment evaluating the effect of provenance on pH tolerance. Funding by the Ohio State University Office of International Affairs and Fulbright.

4) Coral Bleaching Research Coordination Network (CBRCN)

I am the director of the Coral Bleaching Research Coordination Network. The goal of the CBRCN is to develop a common framework for coral bleaching research over the course of four workshops, and to facilitate interdisciplinary collaborative team formation. These goals are being addressed through four activity nodes: workshops, student and Early Career Training, cyberseminars, and activity dissemination at conferences and seminars. The CBRCN is funded by the United States National Science Foundation. Additional details are on the CBRCN webpage.

Past Research

Past research (see fieldwork photos) have included the following:

  1. persistence of the threatened Acropora palmata coral in the Dry Tortugas National Park
  2. the long-term impact of elevated temperature and ocean acidification on coral acclimatization of the holobiont and microbiome
  3. the phenotype and genotype of coral adaptation and acclimatization to global climate change.
  4. recovery of bleaching corals under ocean acidification conditions.
  5. the interactive effect of elevated temperature and ocean acidification on corals
  6. the effect of repeat bleaching on Caribbean coral adaptation and  acclimation
  7. the effect of bleaching on the acquisition, allocation, and utilization of carbon in bleached and recovering corals
  8. the effect of land-use on the concentration and isotopic character of organic and inorganic carbon in tropical and temperature streams
  9. the history of land-use change in tropical streams as recorded in coral skeletal records
  10. paleoceanography of the western tropical Pacific using coral, sclerosponge, and gorgonian isotope and elemental records
  11. coral skeletal cadmium-based paleoceanography of upwelling in the eastern tropical Pacific

Results from past research are published and can be viewed through the Publications link on the right-hand toolbar.