Sara Galal Abbass Ahmed

The Red Sea is a unique ecosystem with a strong environmental gradient characterized by temperature extremes, high salinities, and differential nutrient concentrations. It is currently undergoing significant changes and transitions in its species dominance and composition that will critically impact the present and future dynamics of its reef ecosystems.

Considering the global relevance of the Red Sea reefs and, in particular, the northern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba region as a potential marine refuge area from climate change. There are many initiatives envisioned to take action and keep these environments safe. These initiatives include monitoring programs and collaborations between the countries that border the Red Sea of which Egypt is one. The Egyptian reefs face the same challenges as the coral reefs worldwide due to climate change, including e.g., ocean warming modifying the reef communities and their dynamics.

This project aims to first, evaluate the current status and significant changes occurring in selected Egyptian Red Sea reefs and secondly, predict the future dynamics of these reefs through novel modeling and simulation approaches. Here, we will model relevant ecosystem characteristics and interactions as a function of changes in the distribution of selected stressors and further investigate their impact on the spatial reorganization of several interacting organisms.