By Georgia Jackson, College of Arts and Sciences
John Parkinson, an assistant professor in the 麻豆视频鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences, joined dozens of researchers, conservationists, advocates, policy experts and filmmakers at the on March 1 to share his insights into the heat tolerant corals he has been studying 鈥� and how these special populations might hold the key to conservation efforts.
鈥淲hen we talk about ecosystems that are impacted by climate change, the two big ones are coral reefs and the arctic,鈥� said Parkinson, who teaches in the Department of Integrative Biology. 鈥淎rctic temperatures are technically warming at a faster rate, but I'd argue coral reefs are closer to the brink of collapse.鈥�
Parkinson speaks to students who attended the Tampa Bay Ocean Summit about coral reef restoration.
Parkinson was horrified when, in 2023, Florida's Coral Reef 鈥� which stretches almost 350 miles from the Dry Tortugas to the St. Lucie Inlet and is the only living barrier reef in the continental United States 鈥� experienced the worst coral bleaching event on record. Unusually hot waters arrived early in July and stayed through October, stressing the corals and causing them to pale as they lost their symbiotic algae. Many colonies died.
鈥淭hese severe marine heatwaves just didn鈥檛 happen decades ago,鈥� Parkinson said. 鈥淣ow they鈥檙e practically annual events.鈥�
Parkinson spoke to over 150 university students from across the state who attended the summit to hear presentations on a variety of ocean-related subjects, including how to reduce plastic consumption on university campuses.
鈥淭hese are future marine scientists, and they鈥檙e inheriting a planet that鈥檚 worse off than what I encountered when I was their age,鈥� Parkinson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important for them not to get overwhelmed by the state of things. There鈥檚 a lot of doom and gloom out there, and rightfully so, but there's still a lot we can do to help.鈥�
Parkinson is an advocate of implementing more intense interventions 鈥� including importing corals from already hot environments 鈥� to preserve and maintain existing ecosystems.
鈥淚 like to tell people when they鈥檙e pessimistic and sad about the fate of coral reefs that the ecosystem will survive in some form. We鈥檙e just going to see a change in reef composition,鈥� Parkinson said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not going to be the same reefs we鈥檙e used to. We have changed the environment so much that we can鈥檛 expect to restore exactly what was there before. The task before us now is to maintain a version of a reef that still provides ecological goods and services to humans and other organisms 鈥� things like biodiversity, fish nursery habitats and coastline protection. That鈥檚 what we鈥檙e trying to do.
鈥淩eefs are degrading so fast that the risk of doing nothing is a lot worse than the risk of doing something imperfect.鈥�
Joseph Dituri, an associate professor in the Morsani College of Medicine; Brian Barnes, an assistant research professor in the College of Marine Science; and Lena Nunez Castillo, a USF student who works in Parkinson鈥檚 lab, also presented their research at the summit, which was initially slated for October, but was rescheduled due to Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
鈥淓verybody needs the ocean, and the ocean needs the efforts of everyone,鈥� said Reaghan Ard, a summit volunteer and USF student majoring in environmental science and animal biology. 鈥淚 hope that attendees of the Youth Ocean Summit feel compelled and prepared to restore and maintain what is Earth's most valuable resource.鈥�