Outline for talks and seminars in Hurghada November/December 2006

General outline for seminars:

The seminars do not require any prior knowledge of coral reef organisms or ecological theory. All the seminars will be held at an introductory level. In all seminars we will have a closing section with pointers to how you can observe the subjects covered in the talk during your own diving.

Practicalities:

The duration of seminars will be approximately one hour. Seminars are free of charge.

Titles of seminars:

1. Reef Builders and Basic Reef Ecology

Coral reefs are among the most species rich ecosystems on the planet. This talk will cover the different living organisms that build coral reefs. The focus will be on different types of hard corals and their adaptations to different environmental conditions but other types of reef builders will be covered as well. A very obvious question when observing a coral reef is how the amazingly high diversity is maintained on a coral reef? We will discuss different types of interactions between coral reef inhabitants that form the pattern of species diversity on coral reefs. We will end this talk with a discussion of where you can expect different coral species or forms to be found.

2. Coral Reef Fishes

The most obvious observation for every coral reef observer is that reef fishes come in a great variety of sizes and body shapes. The variety of fish sizes and shapes can be somewhat overwhelming. In this talk we will put some order in all this variation, and give you some simple rules to determine what kind of fish you are seeing. We will not only discuss colours and shapes, but also the feeding ecology of the most important fish groups on coral reefs. After this talk, you will have a good starting point to being able to determine the name of the fish that you saw while no one else was watching.

3. Symbiotic reef interactions - living together for better or worse…

Animals on coral reefs show some of the most intricate examples known of symbiosis. I will talk about different examples of symbiotic relationships and how they can affect reef animals. We will not only discuss positive interactions, where both parts of an interaction benefit from the presence of the other, but also some interactions that clearly benefit one of the parts while the other probably would be happier alone. After this talk you will know the answer to the question whether Nemo really had to brush himself in an anemone before going to school, why a fish would like to live it’s life in the anus of a sea cucumber, why many corals soaks sun for lunch despite being animals as well as other fascinating facts about coral reef animals.

4. Sex on reefs.

Coral reef animals have some of the most bizarre behaviors and colors of all animals. Furthermore, many of them change sex during life or are both sexes at the same time. Much, or probably most, of this variation is related to the search for a partner. I will talk about the different ways coral reef animals attract partners and also the different ways coral reef animals take care of their offspring. Finally, we will discuss how this will affect the distribution of animals on coral reefs. After this talk you will have a lot more insight in the problems of finding a partner, and probably a whole new view and understanding of the activities in the bars and night clubs of Hurghada!

The lecturer

Info on the lecturer:

Bent Christensen, associate professor at the University of Umeå, Sweden

Bent Christensen has been involved in teaching ecology classes at university level since 1990. Bent got his PhD in fish ecology in 1997 and has worked as a researcher in fish ecology from 1989 till 2000. Currently he teaches at levels from kindergartens up to master students, with the main part of his teaching focused on university level teaching in general ecology, fish ecology and tropical ecology classes. Bent is also involved in research projects in Sabah, Borneo. Every year he heads a course in tropical ecology in Sarawak and Sabah, Borneo, which includes a section on coral reef ecology. Bent has been diving in tropical waters since 1998.