CORAL REEFS OF ARABIA

CORAL REEFS OF ARABIA: NEW INSIGHTS &
OPPORTUNITIES ON OUR REGIONAL REEFS
New York University Abu Dhabi Conference Center, Saadiyat Island
Campus
15th-17th February 2015
SUNDAY 15TH FEBRUARY|DAY 1
9:00 – 9:15
Coffee & Registration
9:15 – 9:30
Opening & Welcoming Remarks - Dr John Burt, NYU Abu Dhabi
9:30
Keynote: What Arabian coral reefs can teach us about the past, the future, and the management
of the world’s coral reefs
Bernard Riegl, Nova Southeastern University, US
10:00
Coral reefs of the Western Indian Ocean: Regional patterns in thermal stress and vulnerability
Mebrahtu Ateweberhan, University of Warwick
Ateweberhan, M., McClanahan, T.R., Maina, J., Sheppard, C.R.C.
10:15
Assisted migration of heat tolerant corals – a way out of the coral reef crisis?
Joerg Wiedenmann, Coral Reef Laboratory, University of Southampton
Wiedenmann, J., D’Angelo, C., Hume, B.C., Smith, E.G., Stevens, J.R., Burt, J.A.
10:30
Adaptation of corals to extreme temperatures: An Arabian Gulf case study
Emily Howells, NYU Abu Dhabi
Howells, E., Abrego, D., Burt, J.A.
10:45
Differences in heat and salinity tolerances in Corals from the Arabian Gulf
Eli Meyer, Oregon State University
Kirk, N.L, Howells, E.J., Abrego, D., Burt, J.A., Meyer, E.
11:00 – 11:30
Break
11:30
Population structure of the coral Platygyra daedalea in the world’s warmest reefs
Ed Smith, NYU Abu Dhabi
Smith, E.G., Hazzouri, K., Meyer, E., Burt, J.
11:45
Gene expression underlying the heat stress tolerance of Porites lobata from the Persian/Arabian
Gulf
Cecelia D'Angelo, Coral Reef Laboratory, University of Southampton
D’Angelo, C., Baumgarten, S., Voolstra, C.R., Burt, J.A., Wiedenmann, J.
12:00
The genome of the Red Sea coral Stylophora pistillata
Manuel Aranda Lastra, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Li, Y., Liew, Y.J., Baumgarten, S., Simakov, O., Zoccola, D., Tambuttee, S.,
Allemand, D., Aranda, M., Voolstra, C.R.
12:15
Molecular diversity of reef-building coral symbionts around the Arabian Peninsula
Christian Voolstra, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Arif, C., Roder, C.M., LaJeunesse, T., Dobretsov, S., Burt, J., Voolstra, C.R.
13:30
Extensive phenotypic plasticity of Red Sea coral suggests limited acclimatization potential to
warming
Yvonne Sawall, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
Sawall, Y., Al-Sofyani, A., Banguera-Hinestroza E., Voolstra, C. R.
13:45
Host-Symbiodinium groupings provide a window into phenotypic plasticity of scleractinian corals
Maren Ziegler, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Ziegler, M., Roder, C., Büchel, C., Voolstra, C.R.
14:00
Are coral species in Iranian coastline tend to be symbiont with clade C Symbiodinium?
Pargol Ghavam Mostafavi, Marine Biology Dept, Islamic Azad University
Ghavam Mostafavi, P.
14:15
Phylogeny and genetic variation of Symbiodinium in two scleractinian corals Porites compressa
Dana, 1846 and Cyphastrea microphthalma (Lamark, 1816) in the northern Persian Gulf
Tooba Varaste, Shahid Beheshti University
Varaste, T.; Shokri, M.R.; Rajabi, H.
14:30
Coral-Symbiodinium associations during early ontogeny in Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean
Corals.
David Abrego, Zayed University Abu Dhabi
Abrego, D., Howells, E.J., Burt, J.A.
14:45 – 15:45 POSTER PRESENTATIONS / BREAK & REFRESHMENTS
15:45
A new, thermotolerant symbiotic alga species prevalent in corals of the world’s hottest sea, the
Persian/Arabian Gulf
Ben Hume, Coral Reef Laboratory, University of Southampton
Hume, B.C., D’Angelo C, Smith, E.G., Stevens, J.R., Burt, J.A., Wiedenmann, J
16:00
Salinity effects on a coral holobiont (Fungia granulosa) from the Red Sea
Till Roethig, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Röthig, T., van der Merwe, R.,Ochsenkühn, M.A., Roik, A., Voolstra, C.R.
16:15
The role of nitrogen cycling in holobiont functioning of Red Sea corals
Nils Rädecker, Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT)
Rädecker, N., Pogoreutz, C., Voolstra, C.R., Wild, C.
16:30
Coral holobiont response to organic nutrient enrichment in the Central Red Sea
Claudia Pogoreutz, Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT)
Pogoreutz, C., Rädecker, N., Voolstra, C.R., Wild, W.
16:45
Viruses of the world's hottest sea corals
Huda Mahmoud, Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT)