(Madagascar) Assessment of sea water quality in the Velondriake region: is water quality a limiting factor in coral recovery?

Fieldwork in Madagascar required.

In field data collection needs to conducted to compare oceanographic conditions across a variety of regularly surveyed sites e.g. salinity, pH, nutrient content, turbidity, light availability. Need to conduct a lit review of methods for marine water quality assessments and determine what equipment they need to conduct this study. Could be tied in with hard coral cover data to aid in resilience/recovery estimates for the Velondriake coral reefs. Sea surface temp data already collected through temp loggers and can be tied in with HADISST data. Levels of light intensity can be recorded using loggers we have on site.

Project Requirements

• 2-3 months of field data collection required.

Student Requirements

• Probably need AOW SCUBA certification although data could be collected by volunteers and staff just coordinated by MSc student i.e. staff and volunteers collect samples during dives that student analyses.