OLI Grant: Environmental and Climate Impacts on Coral Productivity in the Gulf of Chiriqui, Panama
Grant Funded: 2005
Geochemical measurements from decadal to century scale coral records
can yield important information of how coastal ecosystems interact with
and respond to the environment. This is particularly relevant in areas
within the eastern tropical Pacific, such as along the coast of Panama,
which are sensitive to El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) related
sea-surface temperature and salinity anomalies. Previous efforts from
this region to understand long-term climate and environmental
variability, and their impact on coral health and productivity, have
been limited to a single geochemical measurement, oxygen isotopes
(d18O). As such, these high resolution coral oxygen isotope records
are complicated by the dependence of coralline d18O composition on both
temperature and the isotopic composition of the seawater in which it
grows. Therefore, the assessment of coral ecosystem health and
sustainability along the Pacific coast of Panama depends on our ability
to expand our suite of geochemical proxies in order to deconvolve the
current trends in temperature-salinity signals in this region.
We request funds from the Ocean Life Institute to initiate a
long-term coral research program based out of the Liquid Jungle Lab
(LJL) on the Pacific coast of Panama in order to address the research
themes set forth by the Institute. Specifically, we propose to collect
and analyze coral samples from massive Porites colonies in
the Gulf of Chirique. Preliminary reconnaissance surveys of the LJL
area indicate several large colonies (up to 1.5 m diameter) growing in
shallow water (2-3 m depth). We will explore promising bays known to
possess Porites corals on the eastern coast of Coiba Is., where the potential exists for sampling 3 m Porites
heads up to 300+ years in age. By making high resolution geochemical
measurements in the corals, we propose to reconstruct changes in
climatic and environmental conditions throughout the past. Multiple
independent proxies measured together on the same samples will allow us
to discriminate signatures from changes in environmental variables such
as sea-surface temperature (Sr/Ca), sea-surface salinity (Sr/Ca +
d18O), runoff and turbidity (Ba/Ca, %Ti, %Al), and nutrient loading
(organic d15N) that might not be resolvable with a single proxy (e.g.,
d18O). Furthermore, resulting data sets will allow us to deconvolve
the temperature-salinity signal with increased confidence and to
quantify the magnitude of sea-surface temperature and salinity
anomalies in the eastern Pacific Ocean driven by ENSO events, as well
as seasonal migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone over the
past several decades to centuries. We hope to apply the results from
this proposed work to other sites along the coast of Panama in order to
understand the interaction and response of the coastal ocean to the
effects of microclimates at different local settings. Upon
successfully addressing the objectives outlined in this proposal,
financial support from the Ocean Life Institute will be used to support
highly competitive proposals to federal programs (NSF, NOAA) to
establish a long-term coral research program based out of the Liquid
Jungle Lab on the Pacific coast of Panama.
Originally published: February 1, 2005