Coral Nitrogen Isotopes as a Tracer for Historic Nutrient Loading

University of California Santa Cruz, Institute of Marine Sciences (USCS) will use measurements of coral nitrogen isotopes evaluate historic input of nutrient from land-based sources and identify these sources and if and how they changed over time in order to help us understand the compounding effects of Land-Based Sources of Pollution on coral reef health in the West Maui watershed. The work associated with this project will include: (1) method developed and tested to accurately analyze d15N in organic matter preserved in coral skeletons; (2) corals cores drilled at sub annual resolution; (3) d15N 15N in organic matter preserved in coral skeletons analyzed using isotope ratio mass spectrometry; (4) data plotted and interpreted using isotope mass balance models; (5) results published and communicated with local and national stakeholders.