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 enhances coral feeding and growth

UZELA (US Patent Application Number 63/422,692) is a programmable, autonomous, marine deployable, easy to service and maintain underwater light that attracts zooplankton at night 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 growth, and coral survivorship. This technology has applications for coral restoration and enhancing coral survivorship and growth following bleaching events. This work is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Robert Toonen’s team at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and if funded by DARPA (University of Hawaii Foundation).

2) 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, 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.

3) 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.

4) Persistence of the threatened Acropora palmata coral in Dry Tortugas National Park

The precipitous loss of the reef building coral Acropora palmata in the western Atlantic is of high concern. Once a dominant reef framework building coral throughout the Caribbean, this coral is now listed as threatened. However, ongoing research shows that A. palmata in the Dry Tortugas calcifies more and has a higher survival rate than the same genets of A. palmata elsewhere in the Florida Keys (Kuffner unpubl data). Yet, the underlying reason for the site-specific success of A. palmata in the Dry Tortugas is unknown. This research aims to determine if the biological processes of nutrition or oceanographic conditions underlie the greater growth and survivorship success of A. palmata in the Dry Tortugas. Results of this research will help to divulge what conditions enhance A. palmata success, and which genetic strains of A. palmata are best suited for which environments. Together, these findings will provide valuable information for effectively restoring A. palmata on a regional scale and the ecosystem function and services this species provides by protecting coastal communities and economic stability through reef fisheries and tourism. This is collaborative work between Dr. Andrea Grottoli at the Ohio State University and Dr. Ilsa Kuffner at the U.S. Geological Survey as part of the ongoing permitted research in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS-2016-085-A1), Dry Tortugas National Park (DRTO-2019-SCI-005), and Biscayne National Park (BISC-2019-SCI-0010).

Past Research

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

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