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- 1. Effects of Vitamin C on Caribbean Acropora Species Gabriel
Pastrana Castellanos Research Proposal Rise Program June 2015
- 2. The Problem Picture showing many bleached colonies of
Acropora palmatapicture taken from griseus.tumblr.com
- 3. Problem In the past few decades most of the Caribbean's
reef- building coral populations have been wiped out due to a
number of factors like: diseases, ocean acidification, rising ocean
temperatures, and pollution just to name a few. The two most
important reef-building corals in the Caribbean are Acropora
palmata and Acropora cerviconis and both of these species have
suffered extensive damage to their populations.
- 4. Why is This Topic Important? As mentioned earlier, the
Caribbean's main reef- building coral species are being lost at
alarming rates. These corals that are being lost are a very
important and indispensable part of our reef ecosystem which
provide us with shore protection, tourism, ande vast fisheries
among other things. Loosing the Caribbean's reefs would be a major
environmental and economic disaster for the countries in the
Caribbean.
- 5. Acropora palmata Acropora palmata picture taken from
http://coral.aims.gov.au
- 6. How Would I Solve This Problem? Based on other research I
believe that if you add Vitamin C to the water you could increase
the coral's growth. Well, I propose to do an experiment in which we
could test the growth rate of Acropora palmata in the presence of
different concentrations of Vitamin C in its water to see if there
is any increase in coral growth rate.
- 7. How Would I Solve This Problem? This experiment has been
done on soft coral species and yielded positive results. If I can
manage to prove that Vitamin C helps accelerate Acropora palmata's
growth then this could be used to cultivate more corals in a
shorter amount of time so more of them can be reintroduced into
their environment. You could also develop a product that stimulates
coral growth for the saltwater aquarium hobby.
- 8. References http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov
http://www.advancedaquarist.com http://www.cesampr.com
http://web.stanford.edu/group/journal/cgi-bin/wordpress/wp-
content/uploads/2012/09/Kruse_NatSci_2011.pdf