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PREDICTING CORAL BLEACHING IN RESPONSE TO ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSORS USING 8 YEARS OF GLOBAL-SCALE DATA.
Citation:
YEE, S. H. AND M. G. BARRON. PREDICTING CORAL BLEACHING IN RESPONSE TO ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSORS USING 8 YEARS OF GLOBAL-SCALE DATA. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT. Springer, New York, NY, 161(1-4):423-438, (2010).
Impact/Purpose:
Reporting 8 years of data on coral bleaching using an improved global model.
Description:
Coral reefs are among the most diverse marine ecosystems on the planet (Wilkinson 2002), but have experienced extensive mortality over the past few decades as a result of mass bleaching events (Hoegh-Guldberg 1999, Wilkinson 2002, Hughes 2003, Obura 2005). Historically, elevated sea-temperatures have been used almost exclusively to predict incidences of mass coral bleaching (Goreau and Hayes 1994, Goreau et al. 2000, Liu et al. 2003). Although temperature-based models have proven effective at predicting severe bleaching events at a global scale, there is considerable variation in the degree of bleaching across spatial and temporal scales (Berkelmans et al 2004, Obura 2005). At local and regional scales, there is an increaseing realization that other environmental factors, including water circulation, solar radiation, water depth, and water clarity, interact with temperature in ways that either exacerbate bleaching or enhance coral resisstance to bleaching. Here we show, using data from 708 leaching surveys across the globe, increased accurancy in our ability to predict the degree of coral bleaching when key environmental factgors, in addition to temperature stress, are incorporated into models. Results provide insights into the effects ofenvironmental parameters on bleaching. Prediction of low to moderate bleaching may serve as an early warning to the onset of severe bleaching events.