[All-postdocs] Bioseminar Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser

[Ana M Velez]

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Biology Department Seminar
Thursday, September 8, 2022 - 12:00 Noon

Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser
Assistant Scientist, WHOI Biology Department

Shipwrecks as Island-Like Habitats in the Ocean
Most of the seafloor is blanketed by sand or mud, so hard substrata tend to be isolated and island-like. Shipwrecks serve as excellent model systems for studying the colonization and connectivity of island-like habitats because by definition, they are not supposed to exist. Any hard-bottom-obligate species whose larvae dispersed out to the location of shipwreck may have done so by mistake, i.e., through some mechanism that would have resulted in mortality if the shipwreck was not there. Using data from Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, I will demonstrate that shipwrecks do not fit standard models for community structure derived from island biogeography theory. Rather, environmental factors and the physical structure of a shipwreck appear to be more important factors. Shipwrecks degrade and change over time, so there is a feedback between shipwreck structure and the composition of the community that inhabits it. Understanding these interactive biology-archaeology processes can help answer critical management questions. I propose a new interdisciplinary framework for shipwreck research to understand coupled physical and biological processes over time: Maritime Heritage Ecology.

HYBRID! In person: Redfield Auditorium  Zoom: https://whoi-edu.zoom.us/j/96977678512 Meeting ID: 969 7767 8512   By dial: Find your local number: https://whoi-edu.zoom.us/u/aqwqjDkMG
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