SGER: Exploratory research in the use of neutrally buoyant magnetic beads to track dispersal of planktonic organisms

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This Small Grant for Exploratory Research award provides funding for the PI to conduct a field study to track the dispersal of coral larvae after a mass-spawning event in the Florida Keys in August 2004. NOAA/NURP, NURC/UNCW and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary are supporting various components of the overall project. This SGER provides supplementary funding to test a new concept, of using magnetic particles of the size and buoyancy of the coral larvae, and an array of magnetic collectors, to measure the potential time-integrated dispersal patterns of the coral larvae. This is a conceptually new method that if it works, can be applied to many types of dispersal studies. The development has the potential to constitute a major advance in methods available for biological oceanographic studies.