The Project

HABISS project investigates the interactions between the geomorphology of CWC reefs and their surrounding hydrodynamics, which regulate food and oxygen supply to corals. Expertise in marine geology, oceanography and benthic ecology were integrated across different spatial scales through the usage of standard and state-of-the-art equipment, like marine robotics and cabled/moored observing infrastructures.

HABISS started in June 2020 and is led by Claudio Lo Iacono at the Marine Science Institute of the Spanish National Research Council.

SCIENTIFIC

QUESTIONS

Question 1​

How does this interaction create suitable regional conditions for the establishment of CWC?

Question 2​

How do these interactive processes regulate particle (i.e., food) and oxygen supply to CWC communities, and how do CWC reef morphologies self-organize in response to these interactions?

Question 3​

How do natural processes interact across nested (temporal and spatial) scales to maintain nutritional links feeding CWC ecosystems? How can human disturbance break these links and lead to degradation of CWC?