Sessile communities of Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures on outer coral reef slopes at Mascarenes Archipelago : comparison between shallow and mesophotic coral reef habitat

Abstract

The cryptobiome of coral reefs remains very little known. Yet it represents the major part of reef biodiversity and a fundamental link in the food web. This PhD project aims to characterize and quantify changes in spatial and temporal composition of the sessile cryptic fauna of coral reefs, fixed on Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) deployed on outer reef slopes in the Mascarenes Archipelago (Reunion and Rodrigues). A substantial sampling effort already accompée. Le projet améliorera significativement la connaissance de la cryptofaune des zones mesophotiques, qui pourraient servir de réservoir faunistique pour les récifs coralliens peu profonds menacés par le réchauffement climatique.

Author

FRATTINI Baptiste

Team
ECOFUNC
SOMAQUA