Climate Change ☀️ Flashcards
Using this extended dataset (25þ years), we review the short- and long- term ecological impacts of coral bleaching on reef ecosystems, and quantitatively synthesize recovery data worldwide 🍞🍞🍞
Bleaching episodes =
loss of coral cover
changed coral community
critical influence on the maintenance of biodiversity in the marine tropics
declines in reef health - coral diseases, the breakdown of reef framework by bioeroders, and the loss of critical habitat for associated reef fishes and other biota.
Secondary ecological effects, such as the concentration of predators on remnant surviving coral populations
some reefs have experienced relatively rapid recovery from severe bleaching impacts. There has been a significant overall recovery of coral cover in the Indian Ocean, where many reefs were devastated by a single large bleaching event in 1998. In contrast, coral cover on western Atlantic reefs has generally continued to decline in response to multiple smaller bleaching events and a diverse set of chronic secondary stressors. No clear trends are apparent in the eastern Pacific, the central-southern-western Pacific or the Arabian Gulf, where some reefs are recovering and others are not.
The majority of survivors and new recruits on regenerating and recovering coral reefs have originated from broadcast spawning taxa with a potential for asexual growth, relatively long distance dispersal, successful settlement, rapid growth and a capacity for framework construction
Whether or not affected reefs can continue to function as before will depend on:
1) how much coral cover is lost, and which species are locally extirpated;
2) the ability of remnant and recovering coral communities to adapt or acclimatize to higher temperatures and other climatic factors such as reductions in aragonite saturation state;
3) the changing balance between reef accumulation and bioerosion;
4) our ability to maintain ecosystem resilience by restoring healthy levels of herbivory, macroalgal cover, and coral recruitment.
Bleaching = consid- erable societal, as well as biological concern. Coral reef conservation strategies now recognize climate
Baker et al. 2008. Estuarine, coastal and shelf science.
We show that adult corals, at least in some circumstances, are capable of acquiring increased thermal tolerance and that the increased tolerance is a direct result of a change in the symbiont type dominating their tissues from Symbiodinium type C to D
This is the first study to show that thermal acclimatization is causally related to symbiont type and provides new insight into the ecological advantage of corals harbouring mixed algal populations.h
Berklemans & van Oppen (2006). Proceedings of the Royal Society.
