Profile
The production and maintenance of a complex reef structure supports many critical functions of a healthy coral reef, including habitat provision to marine organisms, dissipation of wave energy and sediment supply to islands. The build-up of reef framework, or a reef’s carbonate budget, is driven by counteracting rates of calcium carbonate production (e.g., coral growth) and breakdown (e.g., bioerosion by grazing fish).
Over the last four years I studied the recovery of reef carbonate budgets following the 2015-2016 coral bleaching event and quantified local rates of coral growth and parrotfish bioerosion.
In collaboration with researchers from Lancaster and Oxford I am now also looking at the effects of seabird-derived nutrients on reef growth and sediment production. Previous research has shown that nutrients from seabird guano boost fish communities and reef recovery around islands with large seabird colonies. I am interested to find out if these benefits propagate to the provision of other functions such as reef accretion and sediment supply, closing the feedback loop from reefs to island building. This will hopefully help encouraging management actions to remove invasive rats and restore seabird populations.
The high rates of coral recruitment and rapid restoration of reef functions we currently observe across the Chagos Archipelago are a very nice surprise and imply that this remote location is showing some resilience, thus far, to ongoing ocean warming
Biography
My Project
Other interests
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.