Cynthia Becker

Apr 4, 2024 | enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Cynthia Becker |Laura Weber |Joel K. Llopiz |T. Aran Mooney

INTRODUCTION Coral reef ecosystems in the Caribbean are ghost towns of the habitats that they were 50 years ago. Hard corals, the keystone organisms that are responsible for building reefs, have declined by 20%–30% in the Caribbean (Gardner et al., 2003; Guest et al., 2018). Anthropogenic and natural stressors including climate change, overfishing, disease, eutrophication and hurricanes contribute to these losses in coral cover, leaving space for algae to thrive (Hughes, 1994).

Dec 21, 2023 | biorxiv.org | Brianna Garcia |Cynthia Becker |Laura Weber |Gretchen J. Swarr

AbstractExtracellular chemical cues constitute much of the language of life among marine organisms from microbes to mammals. These chemical cues shape foraging and feeding strategies, symbiotic interactions, selection of mates and habitats, and the transfer of energy and nutrients within and among ecosystems. Changes in the chemical pool flux within these ecosystems serve as invisible signals of overall ecosystem health and, conversely, disruption to this finely tuned equilibrium.