Coral bleaching: the winners and the losers

Ecology Letters - Tập 4 Số 2 - Trang 122-131 - 2001
Yossi Loya1, Kazuhiko Sakai2, K. Yamazato3, Y. Nakano1, Hariyani Sambali2, Robert van Woesik4
1Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
2Sesoko Station, Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyus, Sesoko, Motobu, Okinawa, 905-0227, Japan
3Research Institute for Subtropics, 1 Asahimachi Naha, Okinawa 900–0029, Japan,
4Department of Marine Sciences, University of the Ryukyus, Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa 903–0213, Japan

Tóm tắt

Sea surface temperatures were warmer throughout 1998 at Sesoko Island, Japan, than in the 10 preceding years. Temperatures peaked at 2.8 °C above average, resulting in extensive coral bleaching and subsequent coral mortality. Using random quadrat surveys, we quantitatively documented the coral community structure one year before and one year after the bleaching event. The 1998 bleaching event reduced coral species richness by 61% and reduced coral cover by 85%. Colony morphology affected bleaching vulnerability and subsequent coral mortality. Finely branched corals were most susceptible, while massive and encrusting colonies survived. Most heavily impacted were the branched Acropora and pocilloporid corals, some of which showed local extinction. We suggest two hypotheses whose synergistic effect may partially explain observed mortality patterns (i.e. preferential survival of thick‐tissued species, and shape‐dependent differences in colony mass‐transfer efficiency). A community‐structural shift occurred on Okinawan reefs, resulting in an increase in the relative abundance of massive and encrusting coral species.

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Ecology Letters

Tập 4 Số 2

122-131

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