Cloudy weather may have saved Society Island reef corals during the 1998 ENSO event

Mumby, Peter J.; Chisholm, John R. M.; Edwards, Alasdair J.; Andréfouët, Serge; Jaubert, Jean

doi:10.3354/meps222209

Cited by 184 publications

(171 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The association between multivariate community structure and rainfall is likely to reflect the role of this variable in integrating the effects of other factors including seawater temperature, storms, underwater light intensity, and the AMO. For instance, cloud cover (associated with rain) reduced light intensities and ameliorated bleaching in French Polynesia in 1998 (Mumby et al 2001), and hurricanes (also usually associated with heavy rainfall) in the Caribbean during 2005 reduced thermal bleaching in the Virgin Islands through vertical mixing of seawater (Man zello et al 2007). In the present study, smoothed rainfall was correlated with smoothed mean temperature (with a 3 yr centered average 1992−2013, r = 0.566, df = 20, p = 0.006), and there is a well-established framework describing the pervasive effects of temperature on ectothermic reef organisms (Bruno et al 2015).…”

Section: Cryptic Regime Change In St Johnmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cryptic regime shift in benthic community structure on shallow reefs in St. John, US Virgin Islands

Edmunds¹,

Lasker²

2016

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Section: Cryptic Regime Change In St Johnmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cryptic regime shift in benthic community structure on shallow reefs in St. John, US Virgin Islands

Edmunds¹,

Lasker²

2016

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…Coral bleaching is a consequence of high-irradiance and high water temperatures (Iglesias-Prieto et al 1992;Jones et al 1998;Warner et al 1999Warner et al , 2002Mumby et al 2001). Recently, it has been shown that the interrelatedness of temperature and light has reciprocal effects, whereby the increase in temperature under high light conditions will be perceived by the symbionts as an increase in light stress, and vice versa (Iglesias-Prieto et al 2004;Takahashi et al 2004;Nakamura et al 2005).…”

Section: Palau's Reefs In Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the bay sites, the rock islands also provide some shading at certain times of day, whilst underwater, the slope and azimuth of the seabed further attenuate the irradiance on the benthic community. In combination, these factors result in a lower irradiance and dose on corals at Nikko Bay compared with the offshore sites, which could have led to reduced bleaching-related mortality during 1998 (Mumby et al 2001).…”

Section: Palau's Reefs In Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Palau’s coral reefs show differential habitat recovery following the 1998-bleaching event

et al. 2007

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Documenting successional dynamics of coral communities following large-scale bleaching events is necessary to predict coral population responses to global climate change. In 1998, high sea surface temperatures and low cloud cover in the western Pacific Ocean caused high coral mortality on the outer exposed reefs of Palau (Micronesia), while coral mortality in sheltered bays was low. Recovery was examined from 2001 to 2005 at 13 sites stratified by habitat (outer reefs, patch reefs and bays) and depth (3 and 10 m). Two hypotheses were tested: (1) rates of change of coral cover vary in accordance with habitat, and (2) recovery rates depend on recruitment. Coral cover increased most in the sheltered bays, despite a low recruitment rate, suggesting that recovery in bays was primarily a consequence of remnant regrowth. Recruitment densities were consistently high on the wave-exposed reefs, particularly the western slopes, where recovery was attributed to both recruitment and regrowth of remnants. Recovery was initially more rapid at 10 m than 3 m on outer reefs, but in 2004, recovery rates were similar at both depths. Rapid recovery was possible because Palau's coral reefs were buffered by remnant survival and recruitment from the less impacted habitats.

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“…Across a scale of tens of kilometers, disparities in coral bleaching have been noted in Palau, where reefs within bays are less impacted than offshore reefs, apparently due to the shad ing effects of the rock islands (Golbuu et al 2007). The same phenomenon has been observed among the Society Islands, where corals that are shaded by clouds during a thermal stress event do not bleach (Mumby et al 2001). Berkelmans and Oliver (1999) examined variation in the degree of bleaching across large scales (hundreds of kilometers) along the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), and found that inshore reefs were subject to more severe bleaching due to their lower salinity.…”

mentioning

confidence: 58%

Recovery of corals a decade after a thermal stress event at Motobu, Okinawa, Japan: spatial variability in winners and losers

Cabaitan

Yamamoto²,

Sakai

2012

Galaxea, Journal of Coral Reef Studies

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Coral communities at nine sites off the coast of Motobu, Okinawa, were examined 6 and 12 years after a 1998 mass coral bleaching event caused by anomalous seawater temperatures. Overall, mean coral coverage in creased from 17% in 2006 to 28% in 2010 at these sites, although these percentages were lower than the coral coverage at a nearby reef at Sesoko Island. Some of the corals that had not recovered (the "losers") at the Sesoko reef were found at some sites in the present study. Domi nant coral taxa differed among sites, probably because of differences in the environmental conditions at the sites, e.g., the so called massive type coral Porites dominated at a protected site near a river, while branching type Acropora was dominant at exposed sites. Acropora was one of the prominent short term losers, but contributed significantly to coral coverage increases due to its fast growth at some exposed sites. Adjacent reefs, which may share similar environmental conditions, also showed some variability, possibly due to processes such as coral recruit ment and post settlement survival, which acted on a smaller spatial scale. Multivariate analyses such as multi dimensional scaling were more sensitive than univariate analyses. Overall, recruitment was low, especially at sites with high coral coverage, which implies that remnant corals may have contributed to the recovery of these reefs.Coral communities in this area are recovering and there has been no apparent shift to algae dominated commu nities. The recovery of coral communities appears to be related to the life history traits of corals and environmental conditions.

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Cloudy weather may have saved Society Island reef corals during the 1998 ENSO event

Cited by 184 publications

References 27 publications

Cryptic regime shift in benthic community structure on shallow reefs in St. John, US Virgin Islands

Cryptic regime shift in benthic community structure on shallow reefs in St. John, US Virgin Islands

Palau’s coral reefs show differential habitat recovery following the 1998-bleaching event

Recovery of corals a decade after a thermal stress event at Motobu, Okinawa, Japan: spatial variability in winners and losers

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