John S. Stimson
PhD UC Santa Barbara, 1968

Professor, Department of Zoology
Department of Zoology, University of Hawai`i
2538 McCarthy Mall, Edmondson 152
Honolulu, HI 96822
phone: (808) 956-6174
fax: (808) 956-9812
jstimson@hawaii.edu

Population and community ecology of corals and reef fishes

My research is primarily concerned with the population and community ecology of reef animals, particularly corals, and can be divided into the following topics:
The influence of the interactions between coral species on the diversity within coral communities;

- The operation of the zooxanthellae--coral mutualism;
- The influence of the interactions between corals and other organisms on the diversity within coral communities;
- The process of succession in coral communities; and
- The growth rates and morphology of corals.

At the present time a large part of my research is concerned with the competition between a macroscopic green alga and the reef building corals in Kaneohe Bay.
In all these ecological studies, my approach has been a combination of field-observation, and field and laboratory experiments.

Representative publications
Stimson J.,Sakai D., and Sembali H. 2002 Interspecific comparison of the symbiotic relationship in corals with high and low rates of bleaching-induced mortality. Coral Reefs 21:409-421.

Stimson J. Larned S.T. and Conklin E. 2001 Effects of herbivory,nutrient levels and introduced algae on the distribution and abundance of the invasive macroalga Dicyosphaeria cavernosa in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii Coral Reefs 19:343-357.

Stimson J. 1997 The annual cycle of density of zooxanthellae in the tissues of field and laboratory-held Pocil­lopora damicornis (Linnaeus) J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 214:35-48.

Stimson J. 1996 Wave-like outward growth of some table- and plate- forming corals, and a hypothetical mechanism. Bull Mar Sci 58:301- 313

Stimson J, Larned S, McDermid K. 1996. Seasonal growth of the coral reef macroalga Dictyosphaeria cavernosa (Forskal) Borgesen and the effects of nutrient availability, temper­ature and herbivory on growth rate. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 196:53-67.

Larned S, Stimson J. 1996. Nitrogen- limited growth in the coral reef chlo­rophyte Dictyosphaeria cavernosa, and the effect of exposure to sedi­ment derived nitrogen on growth. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 145:95-108.

Polacheck T, Stimson J. 1994. Experi­mental analysis of the basis of the uniform dispersion pattern of Pocil­lopora meandrina Dana var. nobilis Verrill, 1864. J Exp Mar BioI Ecol 181:189-199.

Stimson J, Kinzie R. 1991. The diel pattern of release of zooxanthellae by colonies of Pocillopora damicornis maintained under control and nitrogen-enriched conditions. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 153:63-74.

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