Dr Gareth Williams
Reader / Director of Impact and Engagement
![](https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/files/20248218/Gareth_headshot_small.jpg)
Affiliations
Links
- https://www.bangor.ac.uk/oceansciences/staff/gareth-williams
Department Home Page - https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EfvZsI8AAAAJ&hl=en
Google Scholar Page
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
- 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. 59-68Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- 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 journal › Article › peer-review
- 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 journal › Article › peer-review
- 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 journal › Article › peer-review
- 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 journal › Article › peer-review
- 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 journal › Article › peer-review
- 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 journal › Article › peer-review
- 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 journal › Article › peer-review
-
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 journal › Article › peer-review
- 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 journal › Article › peer-review
- 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 journal › Article › peer-review
- 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. 603-617Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- 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. 1312-1321Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- 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. 109-119Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- 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. 688-694Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- 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, 1689Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- 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 journal › Article › peer-review
- 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 journal › Article › peer-review
- 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. 251-262Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- 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. 339-351Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
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. 209-220Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- 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. 1147-1153Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- 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. 3Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
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. 638-649Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- 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. 10227-10232Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review