rvw@fit.edu
Acroporamonticulosa mitmor Stylophora Diplo

Modeling for Ecology and Biology: BIO 4517 & 5517

Coral Ecology: BIO 5140 (Graduate course)

Marine Ecology (Bio 4720) (undergraduate course)

Publications

(updated July 1, 2009 )

Reef corals

Robert van Woesik, Ph.D.

 

Dr. Robert van Woesik
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
Florida Institute of Technology
150 West University Boulevard
Melbourne, Florida 32901-6988
USA

E-mail: rvw@fit.edu
Phone 321 674 7475

Environmental Editor of Coral Reefs

 

Research Interests

My research interests are broad but ultimately linked to population ecology of scleractinian corals. Research includes the spatial and temporal assessment of coral assemblages and the application of that ecology to the management of coral reefs. My approach is often multi-disciplinary utilizing a combination of empirical and mathematical techniques. Ultimately, I am interested in understanding vital rates and key processes that underly and drive state variables on coral reefs. Most recently, I have become interested in ecological questions related to thermal stress, coral bleaching and predictive modeling of coral population trajectories under different climate-change scenarios.

 

Affliations:

International Society for Reef Studies
Australian Coral Reef Society
Australian Marine Sciences Association

 

Selected publications

Van Woesik R , Lacharmoise F, Koksal S (2006) Annual cycles of solar insolation predict spawning times of Caribbean corals. Ecology Letters 9: 390-398

Van Woesik R (2004) Comment on coral reef death during the 1997 Indian Ocean dipole linked to Indonesian wildfires. Science 303: 1297

Penland L, Kloulechad J, Idip D, Van Woesik R (2004) Coral spawning in the western Pacific Ocean is related to solar radiation: evidence of multiple spawning events in Palau . Coral Reefs 23: 133-140

Van Woesik R (2002) Processes regulating coral communities. Comments on Theoretical Biology 7: 199-212

Loya Y, Sakai K, Yamazato K, Nakano Y, Sambali H, Van Woesik R (2001) Coral bleaching: the winners and the losers. Ecology Letters 4: 122-131

Van Woesik R (2001) Coral bleaching: transcending spatial and temporal scales. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 16(3): 120-122

West K and Van Woesik R (2001) Spatial and temporal variance of river discharge on Okinawa (Japan): inferring the temporal impact on adjacent coral reefs. Marine Pollution Bulletin 42(10): 864-872

Nakamura T and Van Woesik R (2001) Differential survival of corals during the 1998-bleaching event is partially explained by water-flow rates and passive diffusion.  Marine Ecology Progress Series 212; 301-304

Van Woesik R (2000) A metacommunity model predicts coral diversity regulated by post settlement mortality. Biodiversity and Conservation 9(9): 1219-1233

Van Woesik R, Tomascik T, Blake S (1999) Coral assemblages and physico-chemical characteristics of the Whitsunday Islands: Evidence of recent community changes. Marine and Freshwater Research 50: 427-440

Van Woesik R and Done TJ (1997) Coral communities and reef growth in the southern Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 16: 103-115

Van Woesik R (1994) Contemporary disturbances to coral communities of the Great Barrier Reef. Journal of Coastal Research 12: 233-252