Dr Gareth Williams
Darllenydd
Contact info
Room: 303 Craig Mair Phone: +44(0)1248 382588
E-mail: g.j.williams@bangor.ac.uk Twitter
I graduated in Marine Biology (University of Liverpool) in 2004 and completed an MSc in Marine Environmental Protection (Bangor University) in 2006. I began a PhD in Marine Biology (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand) in 2007 in coral disease ecology, combining macroecology, experimental ecology, and histopathology to identify disease baselines and drivers of disease prevalence on Pacific coral reefs. A focus study site of mine was Palmyra Atoll, an uninhabited atoll in the Northern Line Islands. After obtaining my PhD in 2011, I was awarded a post-doctoral scholarship at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego (UCSD) where I continued to work on the macroecology of Pacific coral reefs. This role at Scripps transitioned into an Assistant Project Scientist position within the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation in 2013. I left Scripps in late 2015 to return to the UK and take up my full-time role within the School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University.
I am a marine ecologist specialising in coral reef ecology. My work focuses on the interaction of organisms with their environment, often taking a macroecological approach. I am particularly interested in how human activities and natural biophysical gradients interact to drive community patterns across multiple trophic levels (microbes to sharks) and scales (individual reefs to entire ocean basins). Much of my work incorporates remote coral reefs free from direct human impact, providing key replication at the unimpacted end of an intact-to-degraded ecosystem spectrum. By surveying across extensive geographical areas we address broad questions pertaining to: 1. the human, climatic and oceanographic drivers of coral reef ecosystem structure and function, 2. climate change impacts to coral reef ecosystems, 3. the spatial ecology of coral reefs, and 4. disease dynamics on coral reefs.
Research Areas
- 2024
- Cyhoeddwyd
Regional reef fish assemblage maps provide baseline biogeography for tropicalization monitoring
Walker, B., Becker, D., Williams, G. J., Kilfoyle, A., Smith, S. & Kozachuk, A., 3 Ebr 2024, Yn: Scientific Reports. 14, 1, t. 7893 7893.Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid
- 2023
- Cyhoeddwyd
Local human impacts disrupt depth-dependent zonation of tropical reef fish communities
Richardson, L., Heenan, A., Delargy, A., Neubauer, P., Lecky, J., Gove, J. M., Green, M., Kindinger, T., Ingeman, K. & Williams, G. J., Tach 2023, Yn: Nature Ecology and Evolution. 7, 11, t. 1844-1855 12 t.Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid
- Cyhoeddwyd
Coral reefs benefit from reduced land–sea impacts under ocean warming
Gove, J. M., Williams, G. J., Lecky, J., Brown, E., Conklin, E., Counsell, C., Davis, G., Donovan, M., Falinski, K., Kramer, L., Kozar, K., Li, N., Maynard, J. A., McCutcheon, A., McKenna, S., Neilson, B., Safaie, A., Teague, C., Whittier, R. & Asner, G., 21 Medi 2023, Yn: Nature. 621, 7979, t. 536-542 7 t.Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid
- E-gyhoeddi cyn argraffu
Near-island enhancement in mesopelagic micronekton communities off Hawaiʻi
Drazen, J., Clark, B., Gove, J. M., Phipps, J., Copeland, A., Lecky, J., Green, M., Kobayashi, D., Turner, J., Whitney, J. & Williams, G. J., 10 Gorff 2023, (E-gyhoeddi cyn argraffu) Yn: Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers. 104107.Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid
- Cyhoeddwyd
Recurring bleaching events disrupt the spatial properties of coral reef benthic communities across scales
Ford, H., Gove, J. M., Healey, J., Davies, A., Graham, N. & Williams, G. J., 10 Gorff 2023, Yn: Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation. 10, 1, t. 39-55 17 t.Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid
- E-gyhoeddi cyn argraffu
Host density and anthropogenic stress are drivers of variability in dark spot disease in Siderastrea siderea across the Florida Reef Tract
Aeby, G. S., Williams, G. J., Whitall, D., Davies, A., Fromuth, E. & Walker, B. K., 27 Meh 2023, (E-gyhoeddi cyn argraffu) Yn: Bulletin of Marine Science .Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid
- Cyhoeddwyd
Ocean currents magnify upwelling and deliver nutritional subsidies to reef-building corals during El Niño heatwaves
Fox, M., Guillaume-Castel, R., Edwards, C., Glanz, J., Gove, J. M., Green, M., Juhlin, E., Smith, J. & Williams, G. J., 14 Meh 2023, Yn: Science Advances. 9, 24, eadd5032.Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid
- Cyhoeddwyd
Macroalgae exhibit diverse responses to human disturbances on coral reefs
Cannon, S., Donner, S., Liu, A., Gonzalez Espinosa, P., Baird, A., Baum, J., Bauman, A., Beger, M., Benkwitt, C., Birt, M., Chancerelle, Y., Cinner, J., Crane, N., Denis, V., Depczynski, M., Fadli, N., Fenner, D., Fulton, C., Golbuu, Y., Graham, N., Guest, J., Harrison, H., Hobbs, J-P., Hoey, A., Holmes, T., Houk, P., Januchowski-Hartley, F., Jompa, J., Kuo, C-Y., Valentino Limmon, G., Lin, Y., McClanahan, T., Muenzel, D., Paddack, M., Planes, S., Pratchett, M., Radford, B., Reimer, J., Richards, Z., Ross, C., Rulmal Jr., J., Sommer, B., Williams, G. J. & Wilson, S., 1 Meh 2023, Yn: Global Change Biology. 29, 12, t. 3318-3330Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid
- Cyhoeddwyd
Influence of upwelling on coral reef benthic communities: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Spring, D. & Williams, G. J., 29 Maw 2023, Yn: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 290, 1995, t. 20230023 1 t.Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid
- Cyhoeddwyd
Co-occurrence of herbivorous fish functional groups correlates with enhanced coral reef benthic state
Sheppard, C., Williams, G. J., Exton, D. & Keith, S., Maw 2023, Yn: Global Ecology and Biogeography. 32, 3, t. 435-449 15 t.Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid