Ecology: Living Communities

Duration: 1 hour 2 mins

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Description:	Talk given by Dr Margaret Miller as part of short course 34 (Biology and Belief)


Created:	2016-02-18 14:43
Collection:	Faraday Institute Lectures
Publisher:	Faraday Institute
Copyright:	Faraday Institute
Language:	eng (English)
Keywords:	biology; belief; ecology; community; miller; faraday; science; religion;


Abstract:	Coral reefs, and the reef-building corals that sustain them, are marvelously beautiful systems both in terms of aesthetics and in terms of diversity and complexity of function, in turn providing important values to support human societies. Our unfolding understanding of symbioses involved in a healthy coral organism and reproduction and life cycle of corals illustrate these complex functions. Meanwhile, human impacts are virtually ubiquitous in coral reef environments at both global and local scales. These impacts are causing breakdown in multiple aspects of complex coral reef function, impairing their innate capacity to recover (aka ‘fruitfulness’ or ‘resilience’). These impairments have now reached the point that the U.S. has listed 20 species of corals under its Endangered Species Act. This legal status carries a mandate for us to ‘recover’ the species, in turn motivating a larger effort toward culturing and reconstructing coral populations. This endeavor is seriously challenged by our imperfect understanding of their complex functions. Further, given the rapid pace of environmental change, we are even beginning to contemplate more radical interventions to enhance the adaptive capacity of corals. These endeavors are daunting in responsibility, and invoke extreme humbleness in approach.

Abstract:

Coral reefs, and the reef-building corals that sustain them, are marvelously beautiful systems both in terms of aesthetics and in terms of diversity and complexity of function, in turn providing important values to support human societies. Our unfolding understanding of symbioses involved in a healthy coral organism and reproduction and life cycle of corals illustrate these complex functions. Meanwhile, human impacts are virtually ubiquitous in coral reef environments at both global and local scales. These impacts are causing breakdown in multiple aspects of complex coral reef function, impairing their innate capacity to recover (aka ‘fruitfulness’ or ‘resilience’). These impairments have now reached the point that the U.S. has listed 20 species of corals under its Endangered Species Act. This legal status carries a mandate for us to ‘recover’ the species, in turn motivating a larger effort toward culturing and reconstructing coral populations. This endeavor is seriously challenged by our imperfect understanding of their complex functions. Further, given the rapid pace of environmental change, we are even beginning to contemplate more radical interventions to enhance the adaptive capacity of corals. These endeavors are daunting in responsibility, and invoke extreme humbleness in approach.

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