Project 19
Niche construction, plasticity and the diversity of coral reef fauna

Led by Maria Dornelas, Joshua Madin, Mia Hoogenboom & Stefan Williams

This project quantifies the niche construction of reef-building corals and assesses their impact on local environments and biodiversity. We are investigating whether the diversity of coral reef organisms is better explained by patterns of coral niche construction or coral taxonomic variability, as hypothesised by the EES, or by independent factors.

Blog posts

Coral reefs and niche construction: quantifying patterns
Brambilla V. 9 April 2018.

EES predictions this project tests

viii. taxonomic diversity will sometimes be better explained by features of developmental systems (evolvability, constraints) than features of environments