Dr. Peter Edmunds - Marine Biology Graduate Student Association at CSUN

Dr. Peter J. Edmunds

Professor of Biology

Deparment of Biology
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8303

Magnolia Hall 113
Phone: 818-677-2502
Fax: 818-677-2034

Education:

Ph.D. Biology, Glasgow University, 1986

Research Interests

Research in my lab focuses on the physiological ecology of tropical reef corals and I work at the organismic, population, and community levels. My research program is structured into two thematic areas. First, I study the ecology and long-term dynamics of coral reefs in order to identify temporal trends and provide a rich ecological context within which mechanistic research can be designed. Over the last 20 years, most of my ecological research has taken place on the shallow reefs along the south coast of St. John, US Virgin Islands, where the natural resources are protected within the VI National Park and Biosphere Reserve. Close collaboration with the biologists and resource managers of the VI National Park has been critical in developing this project. In 2004, I started a large collaborative project to address the long-term dynamics of coral communities in Moorea, French Polynesia, and expect this work to develop in directions similar to those already established with my Caribbean project, and to create opportunities to compare community trajectories in different biogeographic regions. Second, I study the biology of individual corals in order to better understand their basic functionality, specifically to establish mechanistic links between organism performance and community dynamics. For example, my long-term research in St. John has identified the dynamics of juvenile corals (colonies < 4 cm diameter) as a critical process affecting community structure; surprisingly, juvenile corals in this relatively pristine location have higher mortality rates than found in more disturbed locations such as the Florida Keys. To explore the causal basis of this trend, I have started to test the effects of thermal stress on early life history stages of reef corals using in situ physiological techniques.

Teaching

At CSUN

• Invertebrate Biology (Biol 313)
• Physiological Ecology (Biol 422)
• Design and analysis of Experiments (Biol 330)
• Graduate Proseminar (Biol 691)

Field classes

• Catalina Science Semester. This is a 15-week residential class at Santa Catalina Island, which usually is taught every one every two years in the Fall (next offering F2006)

• Three Seas Marine Biology Porgram. This is a year-long program offered by Northeastern University that places students in residential marine biology classes in Nahant (MA), Moorea (French Polynesia), and Santa Catalina Island (CA). During January, I teach the class “Biology of Corals and Coral Reefs” in Moorea.

Download Coral Reef Lesson Plan (pdf; 12.5 MB)

Current Research and Funding

Research in my lab currently is funded through NSF awards in the Long Term Research in Environmental Biology program (LTREB; for work in St. John, USVI), and the Long Term Ecological Research Program (LTER; for work in Moorea, French Polynesia). My research in St. John focuses on decadal scale perspectives of coral reef community dynamics (the current award will take the project to its 22nd year), the development of demographic models to better understand the causal basis of changes in coral cover, and the testing of thermal effects on early life history stages of reef corals (i.e., juvenile corals and new recruits). Because our LTER research in Moorea is still in the developmental phase, I am very interested in establishing research projects that will allow comparison of fundamental processes affecting coral reef ecology in the Caribbean and the South Pacific. Coral Quadrat

Our LTER project in Moorea was awarded in September 2004 and initially is funded for six years with the expectation that it will be supported for 30+ years (www.lternet.edu). Together with three other Principal Investigators (Drs. Robert Carpenter [CSUN], Russell Schmitt [UCSB] and Sally Holbrook [UCSB]) and 14 other research scientists, I will be establishing a program to monitor ecological change on the reefs of Moorea, and conducting process-oriented studies to elucidate the mechanisms driving these changes. My responsibilities focus on the scleractinian communities, and during 2005 I will be establishing the monitoring framework for the project. Starting in 2006, I will begin process-oriented studies with analyses of the ecophysiology of early life history stages of several reef corals.

Graduate students

My graduate students work mostly on coral reef research, and all are encouraged to develop their own project independent of the externally-funded research in my lab. Their projects cover a wide diversity of topics within an ecophysiology theme, and all are completed in parallel with existing research projects in the Caribbean and South Pacific. Thesis projects have included:

Edmunds Lab • Laurie Allen-Requa: Mechanisms of adaptation by reef corals to the low irradiance conditions found beneath algal mats.

• John Bruno: Phenotypic plasticity as an adaptive trait in scleractinian reef corals

• Robin Elahi: The interactive effects of age and size in determining phenotypic plasticity in reef corals.

• Rebecca Habeeb: Acclimation in tropical reef corals.

• Geoffrey Horst: The interactive effects of temperature and aragonite saturation state on coral growth.

• Joshua Idjadi: The role of scleractinian corals in positive interactions in tropical coastal communities.

• Mairead Maheigan: Scale dependency of phenotypic plasticity in reef corals

• Diane Gardella: The effect of water flow on the microenvironment and physiology of zooxanthellae in tropical reef corals.

• Steven Vollmer: The scaling of physiological traits in juvenile scleractinians

• Carla Zilberberg: Mechanisms and consequences of competitive interactions among small corals

Recent Publications:

--- Edmunds PJ. Seawater temperature mediates growth scaling in juvenile scleractinian corals Journal of Experimental Biology (in review)

--- Elahi R, Edmunds PJ. Indeterminate growth of the solitary coral, Fungia concinna (Verrill): does photosynthetic energy intake limit maximum size. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology (in review)

--- Elahi R, Edmunds PJ. Consequences of fission in the coral Siderastrea siderea: growth rates of small colonies and clonal input to population structure. Coral Reefs (in press)

--- Elahi R, Edmunds PJ. Tissue age affects calcification in the scleractinian coral Madracis mirabilis. Biological Bulletin (in press)

2007 Edmunds PJ. Evidence for a decadal-scale decline in the growth rates of juvenile scleractinian corals. Marine Ecology Progress Series 341: 1-13 (pdf)

2007 Edmunds PJ, Elahi R. The demographics of a 15-year decline in cover of the Caribbean reef coral Montastraea annularis. Ecological Monographs 77: 3-18

2006 Edmunds PJ. The physiological ecology of the clonal corallimorpharian Corynactis californica. Marine Biology 150(5): 137-142

2006 Edmunds PJ. Temperature-mediated transitions between isometry and allometry in a colonial modular invertebrate. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 273: 2275-2281

2006 Idjadi JA, Edmunds PJ. Scleractinian corals as facilitators: evidence for positive interactions between scleractinian corals and other reef invertebrates. Marine Ecology Progress Series 319: 117-127

2006 Idjadi JA, Lee SC, Bruno JF, Precht WF, Allen-Requa A, Edmunds PJ. Rapid Phase-Shift Reversal on a Jamaican Coral Reef. Coral Reefs DOI 10.1007/s00338-006-0088-7

2006 Carpenter RC, Edmunds PJ Local and regional scale recovery of Diadema promotes recruitment of scleractinian corals. Ecology Letters 9: 271-280 (DOI 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00866.x)

2006 Gleason DF, Edmunds PJ, Gates RD. Ultraviolet effects on the behavior and recruitment of larvae from the reef coral Porites astreoides. Marine Biology 148: 503-512

2005 Edmunds PJ. The effect of sub-lethal increases in temperature on the growth and population trajectories of three scleractinian corals on the southern Great Barrier Reef Oecologia 146: 350-364 (DOI 10.1007/s00442-005-0219-5)

2005 Edmunds PJ, Gates RD, Hoegh-Guldberg O, Leggat B, Requa-Allen, L. The effect of temperature on the size and zooxanthella density of larvae from the reef coral Porites astreoides. Invertebrate Biology 124: 185-193

2005 Edmunds PJ. The effect of elevated temperature on the aerobic respiration of coral recruits. Marine Biology 146: 655-663

2004 Edmunds PJ, Bruno JF, Carlon DB. Effects of depth and microhabitat on growth and survivorship of juvenile corals in the Florida Keys. Marine Ecology Progress Series 278: 115-124.

2004 Edmunds PJ. Coral recruitment tracks rising seawater temperature on a Caribbean reef. Marine Ecology Progress Series 269: 111-119.

2004 Edmunds PJ, Gates RD. Size-dependent differences in the physiology of the reef coral Porites astreoides. Biological Bulletin 206: 61-64.

2003 Idjadi JA, Edmunds PJ. Free living colonies of Porites in Moorea, French Polynesia. Bulletin of Marine Sciences 72: 1025-1031.

2003 Edmunds PJ. Gates RD. Has coral bleaching delayed our understanding of fundamental aspects of coral-dinoflagellate symbioses? Bioscience 53: 976-980.

2003 Edmunds PJ, Gates RD, Gleason DF. The tissue composition of Montastraea franksi during and after a natural bleaching event. Coral Reefs 22: 54-62.

2002 Edmunds PJ. Long-term dynamics of shallow coral reefs in St. John, US Virgin Islands. Coral Reefs 21:357-367.

2002 Edmunds PJ, Gates RD. Standardizing physiological data for scleractinian corals. Coral Reefs 21: 193-197.

2001 Edmunds PJ, Gates RD, Gleason DF. The biology of larvae from the reef coral Porites astreoides and their response to temperature disturbances. Marine Biology 139: 981-989.

2001 Zilberberg C, Edmunds PJ. Competition among small colonies of Agaricia: the importance of size asymmetry in determining competitive outcome. Marine Ecology Progress Series 221: 125-133.

2001 River G, Edmunds PJ. Mechanisms of interaction between macroalgae and scleractinians on a coral reef in Jamaica. Journal Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 261: 159-172.

2001 Edmunds PJ, Carpenter RC. Recovery of Diadema Leads to Reduced Macroalgal Cover and Increased Abundance of Juvenile Corals on a Caribbean Reef. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 98: 5067-5071.

2000 Gardella DG, Edmunds PJ. The influence of flow regime and morphology on boundary layer characteristics in Scleractinian corals. Journal Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 256: 279-289.

2000 Vollmer SV, Edmunds, PJ. Allometric scaling in the scleractinian Siderastrea siderea (Ellis and Solander). Biological Bulletin 199: 21-28.

2000 Edmunds PJ. Patterns in the distribution of juvenile corals and coral reef community structure in St. John, US Virgin Islands. Marine Ecology Progress Series 202: 113-124.

2000 Edmunds PJ. Measuring the recruitment of scleractinians onto the skeletons of corals that have been killed by black band disease. Coral Reefs 19: 69-74.

1999 Gardella DG, Edmunds PJ. The oxygen microenvironment adjacent to the tissue of the scleractinian Dichocoenia stokesii and its effects on symbiont metabolism. Marine Biology 135: 289-295.

1999 Edmunds PJ. The role of colony morphology and substratum inclination in the success of Millepora alcicornis on shallow coral reefs. Coral Reefs 18: 133-140.

1999 Zilberberg C, Edmunds PJ. Patterns of skeletal structures in the reef corals Montastraea franksi. Bulletin of Marine Science 64: 373-381.

1999 Gates RD, Edmunds PJ. The physiological mechanisms of acclimatization in tropical reef corals. American Zoologist 39: 30-43.

1998 Bruno JF, Edmunds PJ. Metabolic consequences of phenotypic plasticity in the coral Madracis mirabilis (Duchassaing and Michelotti): the effect of morphology and water flow on aggregate respiration. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 229: 187-195.

1998 Edmunds PJ, Aronson RB, Swanson DW, Levitan DR, Precht WF. Photographic versus visual techniques for the quantification of juvenile scleractinians. Bulletin of Marine Science 62: 937-946.

1997 Bruno JF, Edmunds PJ. Clonal variation for phenotypic plasticity in the coral Madracis mirabilis. Ecology 78: 2177-2190.

1996 Edmunds PJ, Bruno JB. The importance of sampling scale in community ecology: Landscape variation in coral reef community structure. Marine Ecology Progress Series 143, 165-171.

1994 Edmunds PJ. Evidence that reef-wide patterns of coral bleaching may be the result of the distribution of bleaching-susceptible coral clones. Marine Biology 121: 137 - 142.

1994 Aronson RB, Edmunds PJ, Precht WF, Swanson DW, Levitan D. A simple, cost effective method for monitoring tropical coral reef communities. Atoll Research Bulletin No 421: 1-19.

1991 Edmunds PJ. The extent and affect of Black Band Disease on a Caribbean reef. Coral Reefs 10: 161-166.

1991 Edmunds PJ, Witman JD. The effect of Hurricane Hugo on the primary framework of reefs along the south shore of St. John, US Virgin Islands. Marine Ecology Progress Series 78: 201-204.

1990 Edmunds PJ, Roberts DA, Singer R. Reefs of the northeastern Caribbean I. Scleractinian populations. Bulletin of Marine Science 46: 780-789.

1989 Edmunds PJ, Spencer Davies P. An energy budget for Porites porites (Scleractinia) growing in a stressed environment. Coral Reefs 8, 37-43.

1988 Edmunds PJ, Spencer Davies P. Post-illumination stimulation of the respiration rate in the coral Porites porites. Coral Reefs 7: 7-9.

1986 Edmunds PJ, Spencer Davies P. An energy budget for Porites porites (Scleractinia). Marine Biology 92: 339-347.