Alumnus

Rucha Karkarey

Research Scholar, Oceans and Coasts

M.Sc (Tropical marine biology and coral reef ecology)

 I completed my MSc in Tropical marine biology from the James Cook University, Australia in 2009. Since then, I have been working with NCF in the Lakshadweep archipelago, studying the effects of repeated climate-change disturbances on the distribution of structure-dependent reef fish. I am interested in behavioural ecology (foraging and mating behaviours), ecomorphology and functional ecology of reef fish, particularly set within the context of rapid human-induced environmental change (HIREC).

Currently, I am pursuing a PhD with NCF and Manipal University, Karnataka. For my PhD I am studying the consequences of mass-bleaching driven rapid reef degradation, on groupers (Family: Epinephelidae), a functionally important, benthic piscivore guild. A part of my study looks at plasticity in foraging behaviour, which allows some grouper species to successfully survive in degraded habitats and tracks the physiological and demographic consequences of persisting in these degraded reefs. I am also study the mating system of  a high-density, squaretail grouper spawning aggregation and the impact of fishing on this unique system . 

Projects

Publications

Journal Article

2017

Coping with catastrophe: foraging plasticity enables a benthic predator to survive in rapidly degrading coral reefs

Journal Article

2017

Alternative reproductive tactics and inverse size-assortment in a high-density fish spawning aggregation

Dataset

2016

Long-lived groupers require structurally stable reefs in the face of repeated climate change disturbances.

Journal Article

2016

Homeward bound: fish larvae use dispersal corridors when settling on coral reefs

Popular Article

2015

Survival tips to a young fish from an old fish

Popular Article

2015

Life of fry

Popular Article

2015

On the line

Book

2015

Common Marine Life of Lakshadweep

Journal Article

2014

Long-lived benthic predators require structurally stable reefs in the face of repeated climate-change disturbances

Poster

2014

Larval connectivity in Lakshadweep

Poster

2014

The life-history of a grouper along a Lakshadweep time-line

Poster

2014

Responsible Fishing

Popular Article

2013

She sells seashells on the sea shore

Popular Article

2013

Steamed, with salt and a dash of lime

Popular Article

2012

A thousand leopards in the Sea

Sequential overgrazing by green turtles causes archipelago-wide functional extinctions of seagrass meadows