Public Lecture
INVASIONS, EXTINCTIONS, AND THE
THREAT OF CLIMATE CHANGE TO
EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN REEFS
NBRR, Department of Biology
Date: 10 November 2014
Time: 1800 – 1900 hrs
Organised by the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Malta
Guest Speaker
Dr Gil Rilov
Senior Scientist and Head of the Marine Community Ecology Lab, National Institute of
Oceanography, Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute
Attendance is free of charge. Those wishing to attend are kindly asked to contact
Ms Michaela Psaila Custo, at the Department of Biology, University of Malta Tel:
23402272; Email: Michaela.stivala@um.edu.mt
LECTURE OVERVIEW
Dr Rilov’s lecture will include a description of the unique and fragile marine
reef ecosystems of the eastern Mediterranean, and their associated and
wonderful but changing biodiversity. Dr Rilov will demonstrate the profound
changes that these systems underwent in the last century, including
dominance by invasive species, the disappearance of ecologically-important
species and impacts of overfishing. The changes observed for these
important ecosystems will be placed within the context of climate change,
especially ocean warming which is of great concern in the eastern
Mediterranean. Lastly, Dr Rilov will reveal the novel experimental
techniques that were developed in his laboratory to test the effects of
global warming, ocean acidification and sea level rise.
LECTURER’S BIONOTE
Dr Gil Rilov is senior scientist at the National Institute of Oceanography of
the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute, and senior
lecturer at the Marine Biology Department in Haifa University. He has been
studying the ecology of coastal communities (coral reefs, rocky shores and
seagrass) in many biogeographic regions (Mediterranean, Red Sea, Pacific
and Atlantic coasts) for the past 22 years. His work includes ecological
surveys and field and lab experiments on benthic-pelagic coupling, species
interactions and more. He has 35 publications in international peer-reviewed
journals and 4 book chapters; he has edited a book on Marine Bioinvasions,
and is partner in three EU-FP7 projects. Dr Rilov currently heads the Marine
Community Ecology Lab at IOLR, where he studies the ecology and
biodiversity of Mediterranean coastal reefs, and the effects of bioinvasions,
climate change, fishing and marine protected areas on these ecosystems. He
also studies marine ecosystem services, and runs a new project using citizen
science to evaluate human activity and impacts in a marine reserve near
Haifa.