Dr Gareth Williams

Reader / Director of Impact and Engagement

Contact info

Room: 303 Craig Mair      Phone: +44(0)1248 382588

E-mail: g.j.williams@bangor.ac.uk      Twitter 

Google Scholar      Research Gate

 

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 

  1. Published

    Disease dynamics of Porites bleaching with tissue loss: prevalence, virulence, transmission, and environmental drivers

    Sudek, M., Williams, G. J., Runyon, C., Aeby, G. S. & Davy, S. K., 10 Feb 2015, In: Diseases of Aquatic Organisms. 113, 1, p. 59-68

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  2. Published

    Influence of upwelling on coral reef benthic communities: a systematic review and meta-analysis

    Spring, D. & Williams, G. J., 29 Mar 2023, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 290, 1995, p. 20230023 1 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  3. Published

    Co-occurrence of herbivorous fish functional groups correlates with enhanced coral reef benthic state

    Sheppard, C., Williams, G. J., Exton, D. & Keith, S., Mar 2023, In: Global Ecology and Biogeography. 32, 3, p. 435-449 15 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  4. Published

    Modelling the linkage between coral assemblage structure and pattern of environmental forcing

    Sandin, S. A., Eynaud, Y., Williams, G. J., Edwards, C. & McNamara, D., 14 Oct 2020, In: Royal Society Open Science. 7, 10, 200565.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  5. Published

    High frequency temperature variability reduces the risk of coral bleaching

    Safaie, A., Silbiger, N. J., McClanahan, T. R., Pawlak, G., Barshis, D. J., Hench, J. L., Rogers, J. S., Williams, G. & Davis, K. A., 2018, In: Nature Communications. 9, 1671.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  6. Published

    Linking variation in planktonic primary production to coral reef fish growth and condition

    Roche, R., Heenan, A., Taylor, B. M., Schwarz, J. N., Fox, M. D., Southworth, L., Williams, G. & Turner, J., 31 Aug 2022, In: Royal Society Open Science. 9, 8, p. 201012 201012.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  7. Published

    Towards Developing a Mechanistic Understanding of Coral Reef Resilience to Thermal Stress Across Multiple Scales

    Roche, R., Williams, G. & Turner, J., Mar 2018, In: Current Climate Change Reports. 4, 1, p. 51-64 D 87.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  8. Published

    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., Nov 2023, In: Nature Ecology and Evolution. 7, 11, p. 1844-1855 12 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  9. Environmental Factors Affecting Large-Bodied Coral Reef Fish Assemblages in the Mariana Archipelago

    Richards, B. L., Williams, I. D., Vetter, O. J. & Williams, G. J., 27 Feb 2012, In: PLoS ONE. 7, 2, e31374.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  10. Published

    A robust operational model for predicting where tropical cyclone waves damage coral reefs

    Puotinen, M., Maynard, J. A., Beeden, R., Radford, B. & Williams, G., May 2017, In: Scientific Reports. 6, 26009.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  11. Published

    Guiding coral reef futures in the Anthropocene

    Norstrom, A. V., Nystrom, M., Jouffray, J-B., Folke, C., Graham, N. A. J., Moberg, F., Olsson, P. & Williams, G., 1 Nov 2016, In: Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  12. Published

    Possible control of acute outbreaks of a marine fungal pathogen by nominally herbivorous tropical reef fish

    Neal, B., Honisch, B., Warrender, T., Williams, G. J., Work, T. & Price, N., 12 Jul 2020, In: Oecologia. 193, 3, p. 603-617

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  13. Published

    Positive and Negative Effects of a Threatened Parrotfish on Reef Ecosystems

    McCauley, D. J., Young, H. S., Guevara, R., Williams, G. J., Power, E. A., Dunbar, R. B., Bird, D. W., Durham, W. H. & Micheli, F., 26 Jul 2014, In: Conservation Biology. 28, 5, p. 1312-1321

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  14. Published

    Assessing relative resilience potential of coral reefs to inform management

    Maynard, J. A., McKagan, S., Raymundo, L., Johnson, S., Ahmadia, G. N., Johnston, L., Houk, P., Williams, G., Kendall, M., Heron, S. F., van Hooidonk, R., Mcleod, E., Tracey, D. & Planes, S., 1 Dec 2015, In: Biological Conservation. 192, December, p. 109-119

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  15. Published

    Projections of climate conditions that increase coral disease susceptibility and pathogen abundance and virulence

    Maynard, J., van Hooidonk, R., Eakin, C. M., Puotinen, M., Garren, M., Williams, G. J., Heron, S. F., Lamb, J., Weil, E., Willis, B. & Hervell, C. D., 4 May 2015, In: Nature Climate Change. 5, p. 688-694

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  16. Published

    Improving marine disease surveillance through sea temperature monitoring, outlooks and projections

    Maynard, J., van Hooidonk, R., Harvell, C. D., Eakin, C. M., Liu, G., Willis, B. L., Williams, G., Groner, M. L., Dobson, A., Heron, S. F., Glenn, R., Reardon, K. & Shields, J. D., 5 Mar 2016, In: Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 371, 1689

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  17. Published

    Spatial and temporal scales of coral reef fish ecological research and management: a systematic map protocol

    Lawrence, A., Heenan, A., Levine, A., Haddaway, N., Powell, F., Wedding, L., Roche, R., Lawrence, P., Szostek, C., Ford, H., Southworth, L., Sannassy Pilly, J., Richardson, L. & Williams, G. J., 25 Jan 2021, In: Environmental Evidence. 10, 3.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  18. Published

    Artificial shorelines lack natural structural complexity across scales

    Lawrence, P., D'Urban Jackson, T., Jenkins, S., Williams, G. J. & Davies, A., 26 May 2021, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 288, 1951, p. 20210329 rspb.2021.0329.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  19. Published

    Influence of local environmental variables on the viral consortia associated with the coral Montipora capitata from Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, USA

    Lawrence, S. A., Wilkinson, S. P., Davy, J. E., Arlidge, W. N., Williams, G. J., Wilson, W. H., Aeby, G. S. & Davy, S. K., 24 Mar 2015, In: Aquatic Microbial Ecology. 74, p. 251-262

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  20. Published

    Environmental and ecological controls of coral community metabolism on Palmyra Atoll

    Koweek, D., Dunbar, R. B., Rogers, J. S., Williams, G., Price, N., Mucciarone, D. & Teneva, L., Mar 2015, In: Coral Reefs. 34, 1, p. 339-351

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  21. Restriction of sponges to an atoll lagoon as a result of reduced environmental quality

    Knapp, I. S. S., Williams, G. J., Luis Carballo, J., Antonio Cruz-Barraza, J., Gardner, J. P. A. & Bell, J. J., 15 Jan 2013, In: Marine Pollution Bulletin. 66, 1-2, p. 209-220

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  22. Published

    Temporal dynamics and persistence of sponge assemblages in a Central Pacific atoll lagoon

    Knapp, I. S. S., Williams, G. & Bell, J. J., Oct 2016, In: Marine Ecology. 37, 5, p. 1147-1153

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  23. Published

    Cryptic species obscure introduction pathway of the blue Caribbean sponge (Haliclona (Soestella) caerulea), (order: Haplosclerida) to Palmyra Atoll, Central Pacific

    Knapp, I. S., Forsman, Z. H., Williams, G. J., Toonen, R. J. & Bell, J. J., 6 Aug 2015, In: PeerJ. 3

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  24. Black reefs: iron-induced phase shifts on coral reefs

    Kelly, L. W., Barott, K. L., Dinsdale, E., Friedlander, A. M., Nosrat, B., Obura, D., Sala, E., Sandin, S. A., Smith, J. E., Vermeij, M. J. A., Williams, G. J., Willner, D. & Rohwer, F., Mar 2012, In: The ISME Journal. 6, 3, p. 638-649

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  25. Published

    Local genomic adaptation of coral reef-associated microbiomes to gradients of natural variability and anthropogenic stressors

    Kelly, L. W., Williams, G. J., Barott, K. L., Carlson, C. A., Dinsdale, E. A., Edwards, R. A., Haas, A. F., Haynes, M., Lim, Y. W., McDole, T., Nelson, C. E., Sala, E., Sandin, S. A., Smith, J. E., Vermeij, M. J., Youle, M. & Rohwer, F., 30 Jun 2014, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 111, 28, p. 10227-10232

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review