Profile
My current research in Chagos is focused on quantifying the biological carbonate budgets of reefs in different habitats around the archipelago. I am continuing research aimed at understanding the dynamics of reef budget change and recovery post-bleaching, but am also now strongly focused on exploring the sedimentary links between the reefs and low-lying islands, and the potential for rat eradication to enhance reef-building and island sediment supply. Central to this research continues to be the collection of novel empirical data on area-specific rates of coral and coralline algae calcification, and on biological erosion – metrics that are essential for improving budget calculations.
In an era of rapidly changing marine environmental conditions, there is an urgent need to better understand and predict how rates of reef-building and sediment supply may change – quantifying the rates at which reef taxa produce and erode calcium carbonate provide us with a powerful tool for measuring these functions.
Biography
My Project
Other interests
My wider research agenda addresses fundamental questions about how different types of coral reef systems and reef islands are responding to environmental and climatic change, but most especially the impacts on rates of coral reef carbonate production and sediment generation. I am interested in these topics because these processes control coral reef growth rates and are integral to the role that reefs play in coastal protection, and fundamentally control the resilience of reef islands and their ability to track rising sea levels.
My Publications
A Review of a Decade of Lessons From One of the World’s Largest MPAs: Conservation Gains and Key Challenges
Hays, G.C., Koldewey, H.J., Andrzejaczek, S., Attrill, M.J., Barley, S., Bayley, D.T.I., Benkwitt, C.E., Block, B., Schallert, R.J., Carlisle, A., Carr, P., Chapple, T.K., Collins, C., Diaz, C., Dunn, N., Dunbar, R.B., Eager, D.S., Engel, J., Embling, C.B., Esteban, N., Ferretti, F., Foster, N.L., Freeman, R., Gollock, M., Graham, N.A.J., Harris, J.L., Head, C.E.I, Hosegood, P., Howell, K.L., Hussey, N.E., Jacoby, D.M.P., Jones, R., Pilly, J.S., Lange, I.D., Letessier, T.B., Levy, E., Lindhart, M., McDevitt-Irwin, J.M., Meekan, M., Meeuwig, J.J., Micheli, F., Mogg, A., Mortimer, J.A., Mucciarone, D.A., Nicoll, M.A., Nuno, A., Perry, C., Preston, S.G., Rattray, A.J., Robinson, E., Roche, R., Schiele, M., Sheehan, E.V., Sheppard, A., Sheppard, C., Smith, A.L., Soule, B., Spalding, M., Stevens, G.M.W., Steyaert, M., Stiffel, S., Taylor, B.M., Tickler, D., Trevail, A.M., Trueba, P., Turner, J., Votier, S., Wilson, B., Williams, G., Williamson, B., Williamson, M.J., Wood, H. and Curnick, D.J. (2020) A review of a decade of lessons from one of the world’s largest MPAs: conservation gains and key challenges. Marine Biology.
Site-Level Variation in Parrotfish Grazing and Bioerosion as a Function of Species-Specific Feeding Metrics
Lange, I.D., Perry, C.T., Morgan, K.M., Roche, R., Benkwitt, C.E. and Graham, N.A.J. (2020) Site-level variation in parrotfish grazing and bioerosion as a function of species-specific feed metrics. Diversity.
Bleaching-Driven Reef Community Shifts Drive Pulses of Increased Reef Sediment Generation
Perry, C.T., Morgan, K.M., Lange, I.D. and Yarlett, R.T. (2020) Bleaching-driven reef community shifts drive pulses of increased reef sediment generation. Royal Society Open Science. 7:192153.
A Quick, Easy and Non-Invasive Method to Quantify Coral Growth Rates Using Photogrammetry and 3D Model Comparisons
Lange, I.D. and Perry, C.T. (2020) A quick, easy and non-invasive method to quantify coral growth rates using photogrammetry and 3D model comparisons. Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
Bleaching Impacts on Carbonate Production in the Chagos Archipelago: Influence of Functional Coral Groups on Carbonate Budget Trajectories
Lange, I. D., & Perry, C. T. (2019). Bleaching impacts on carbonate production in the Chagos Archipelago: influence of functional coral groups on carbonate budget trajectories. Coral Reefs, 1-6.
