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Introduction
Bermuda
Coral Reefs
BBD
Diploria strigosa

Methods
John Smith Bay
Natural Arches

Results
Overview
Chi Square Test
Figure One
Data Table

Conclusion
Observed Mortality
Site Differences
Impacts of BBD
Future Research

Glossary

Bibliography

Contact Information

Alanine:  an amino acid (Brusca et al.).

Allogenic engineers:  are organisms that indirectly influence the environment by changing living and dead tissues or non-living material into another state.  Examples are humans, beavers, and woodpeckers (Jones et al.).

Anoxic:  an environment void of oxygen.

Atlantic Basin:  refers to the basin containing the Atlantic ocean, which is an area expanding between the Americas and Europe (in the northern hemisphere) or Africa (in the southern hemisphere).  

Autogenic engineers:  are organisms that directly influence the environment by changing it with their living and dead tissues.  Examples include trees and corals (Jones et al.).  

Biodiversity:  is described as the total number of different species within a given area of an environment.  High biodiversity indicates more species within an area than an area with less species (Merriam-Webster Inc.).   

Biological engineers:  are species that either indirectly or directly change the environment and therefore the resources available to other species.  See also:  atuogenic engineers and allogenic engineers (Jones et al.).

Bleaching:  refers to the migration of zooanthellae from coral tissue to open sea water, therefore ending the symbiosis and once again becoming free living dinoflagellate algae.

Brackish Pond:  is a pond with a lower salinity than sea water, but higher salinity than freshwater (Sterrer).  

Chi Square Contingency Test:  determines if any patterns between given categories is a mere coincidence or if the patterns seen are not by chance.  The p value of the test determines the acceptance or rejection of the null hypothesis.  A p value greater than 0.05 results in acceptance, while a p value less than 0.05 concedes in the rejection. 
             X² = the sum of ((observed-expected)²/expected)

Coriolis Effect:  refers to the deflection of air currents due to the Earth's rotation.   Currents in the northern hemisphere will be deflected to the right and left in the southern hemisphere (Merriam-Webster, Inc.).  

Detritus:  refers to the particles of dead organisms suspended in the water column (Sterrer).

Diadema:  is the genus name of a herbivorous urchin, Diadema antillarum.  A major die off in the Caribbean between 1983 and 1984 left only two percent of the original population and ultimately changed the structure of the coral reef community (Bertness et al.).   

Dioecious:  having individuals that contain either male or female gonads, not both (Merriam-Webster, Inc. & Sterrer). 

Foundation Species:  see biological engineers

Gametes:  cells generated by meiosis containing one half of the parent's original DNA (Merriam-Webster, Inc.).  

Glucose:  a six carbon sugar.

Glycerol:  is a hydroscopic trihydroxy alcohol formed from fat hydrolysis when producing soap, C₃H₈O₃ (Merriam-Webster, Inc.)

Gonads:  glands that generate gametes (Merriam-Webster, Inc.).

Hermaphroditic:  opposite of dioecious, containing both female and male parts.  (Merriam-Webster, Inc. & Sterrer).  

Longitudinal fission:  is an asexual means of reproduction in which the body randomly divides into two parts parallel to the anterior and posterior planes of the body, opposite of transverse fission (Merriam-Webster, Inc.).  

Mesentery:  a type of strengthening division in invertebrates that resembles mesenteries of vertebrates (Merriam-Webster, Inc.).

Mid Atlantic Ridge:  is an underwater formation extending from the northern edge of the Atlantic Basin to the southern edge, and is a site of high geological activity as magma is pushed to the Earth's crust by the spreading of tectonic plates (Thomas).   

Obligate aerobes:   must have oxygen for respiration. 

Pedal laceration:  a form of asexual reproduction that consists of the pedal disc broadening, the original polyp moving away, and minute particles of the pedal disc left behind giving rise to a new progeny (Brusca et al.).   

Phycoerythrin:  photosynthetic pigment of red cyanobacteria (Carlton et al.).

Pleistocene epoch:  approximately 900,000 years ago, which marked a series of climatic changes from warm to cold and vice versa.  The formation of huge-ice caps at the poles reduced sea levels by 350ft (Thomas).

Scleractinia: is an order containing true or stony corals.  There are an estimated 2,500 species, 34 of which reside in Bermuda (Sterrer). 

Tentacular ring:  the site of tentacle attachment to polyp body, which forms a circle or ring from a bird's eye view (Merriam-Webster, Inc.).

Transverse fission:  is an asexual means of reproduction in which the body randomly divides into two parts perpendicular to the anterior and posterior planes of the body, opposite of longitudinal fission (Merriam-Webster, Inc.).

Yates' correction for continuity:  modifies a chi square test for a more modest p value and reduces the chances of accidentally rejecting the null hypothesis.  It is typically used when any expected value is less than 5, although there is debate regarding this rule.
          X² = the sum of ((|observed-expected-0.5|)²/expected)

Zooanthellae:  are symbiotic, photosynthetic dinoflagellate algae that reside in coral tissue, specifically the endodermal.  For the symbiosis, protection and transport of waste products is gained by the dinoflagellates.  Corals benefit from added nutrients and in some instances higher calcification rates (Sterrer).     

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