Coral reef resilience differs among islands within the Gulf of Mannar, southeast India, following successive coral bleaching events

Raj, K. Diraviya; Aeby, Greta S.; Mathews, G.; Williams, Gareth J.; Caldwell, Jamie M.; Laju, R.L.; Bharath, M. Selva; Kumar, P. Dinesh; Arasamuthu, A.; Asir, N. Gladwin Gnana; Wedding, Lisa M.; Davies, Andrew J.; Moritsch, Monica M.; Edward, J. K. Patterson

doi:10.1007/s00338-021-02102-0

Cited by 16 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…Rapid growth rate of space competitors such as macroalgae and sponges on live corals lead to coral degradation especially after bleaching events. Recent works in GoM report the severity of space competition between corals and other organisms (Raj et al 2006(Raj et al , 2018a(Raj et al , 2019(Raj et al , 2021aMachendiranathan et al 2016;Edward et al 2018). Degradation of coral reefs in GoM would directly mean the degradation of dependant livelihood.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Corals in GoM have been damaged significantly by various natural and human-induced threats (Edward et al 2008(Edward et al , 2012Samuel et al 2012). The corals of GoM have suffered massive mortalities on account of the coral bleaching incidences in 2010 and 2016 driven by climate change (Edward et al 2012(Edward et al , 2018Raj et al 2021a). Recent studies report that climate-stressed corals of GoM have taken advantage by space competing organisms such as macroalgae and sponges (Raj et al 2006(Raj et al , 2018a(Raj et al , 2019(Raj et al , 2021aMachendiranathan et al 2016;Edward et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The corals of GoM have suffered massive mortalities on account of the coral bleaching incidences in 2010 and 2016 driven by climate change (Edward et al 2012(Edward et al , 2018Raj et al 2021a). Recent studies report that climate-stressed corals of GoM have taken advantage by space competing organisms such as macroalgae and sponges (Raj et al 2006(Raj et al , 2018a(Raj et al , 2019(Raj et al , 2021aMachendiranathan et al 2016;Edward et al 2018). Sponges in particular have been reported to cause significant damage to the recovering corals of GoM (Raj et al 2018a(Raj et al , 2019.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Opportunistic spongivore fishes in a reef of Gulf of Mannar, India

et al. 2021

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Opportunistic spongivore fishes in a reef of Gulf of Mannar, India

et al. 2021

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“…Neorotalia calcar is a large benthic foraminifera having macroalgae as substratum preference (8) . In the Gulf of Mannar region, coral growth is favoured by an increase in algal cover and high fish densities 103 (3). When these massive macroalgal mats block sunlight penetration, the symbiont algae expels since it is unable to do photosynthesis.…”

Section: Faunal Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Coral reefs cover 61.01 km 2 in the Gulf of Mannar, with fringing reef, patchy reef, shrubs, and coral pinnacles (2) In 1986, the Tamil Nadu government designated these islands and the adjacent shallow coastal waters to the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park to safeguard marine species and the environment. The majority of previous research on the coral reef ecosystem of the Gulf of Mannar focused on the following topics like reef system's resilience, environmental monitoring using various factors, natural impacts on the reef system, radionuclides on marine biota, trace element studies, natural background radiation studies, and marine pollution studies (1)(2)(3)(4)(5) . A very few micropaleontological studies were conducted in the study region (6,7) .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foraminiferal Distribution Pattern and its Ecological Implications in the Koswari and Van Islands of the Tuticorin Group of Islands

Dev¹,

Ravindran²,

Nallusamy³

et al. 2022

IJST

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Objectives:The present investigation attempts to map the foraminiferal distribution pattern, its ecological significance, and the elemental composition of the Koswari and Van islands. Methods: Foraminiferal distribution patterns (both planktic and benthic) were recorded, and textural and geochemical analyses were carried out in the present study. Findings: The coastal environments are generally highly dynamic regions of the earth that possess imprints of global climatic variations. The islands of the Gulf of Mannar emerged during the last interglacial period. These islands are getting eroded due to the long-term impact of coral mining and climatic changes. The excess removal of corals from Koswari Island adversely affected the live coral cover of the Island. The Van island is in proximity to the Tuticorin coastal city and one-fourth of the Island has already become submerged due to several natural and anthropogenic factors. Both the islands are affected by the world coral bleaching event witnessed from 2014-2017. This study is an attempt to record how the foraminiferal assemblages of Koswari and Van islands responded to the world coral bleaching event. In the present investigation, we identified fifteen benthic foraminiferal species and two planktic foraminiferal species from both islands. The foraminiferal assemblages mark the abundance of Neorotalia calcar, Quinqueloculina seminulum, Elphidium crispum, Amphistegina lessonii, and Rotalidium annectens. The main ecological parameters which govern the foraminiferal distribution in these islands are coral reef flats, carbonate environments, and shallow coastal waters. Neorotalia calcar and Quinqueloculina seminulum are recorded as the most abundant species of both Koswari and Van islands. N. calcar prefers macroalgal mat as substratum, https://www.indjst.org/ 1569

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Recurring bleaching events disrupt the spatial properties of coral reef benthic communities across scales

Ford

Gove

Healey

et al. 2023

Remote Sens Ecol Conserv

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Marine heatwaves are causing recurring coral bleaching events on tropical reefs that are driving ecosystem change. Yet, little is known about how bleaching and subsequent coral mortality impacts the spatial properties of tropical seascapes, such as patterns of organism spatial clustering and heterogeneity across scales. Changes in these spatial properties can offer insight into ecosystem recovery potential following disturbance. Here we repeatedly quantified coral reef benthic spatial properties around the circumference of an uninhabited tropical island in the central Pacific over a 9‐year period that included a minor and subsequent severe marine heatwave. Benthic communities showed increased biotic homogenisation following both minor and mass bleaching, becoming more taxonomically similar with less diverse intra‐island community composition. Hard coral cover, which was highly spatially clustered around the island prior to bleaching, became less spatially clustered following minor bleaching and was indiscernible from a random distribution across all scales (100–2000 m) following mass bleaching. Interestingly, the reduced degree of hard coral cover spatial clustering was already evident by the onset of mass bleaching and before any dramatic wholesale loss in island‐mean coral cover occurred. Reductions in hard coral spatial clustering may therefore offer an early indication of the ecosystem becoming degraded prior to mass coral mortality. In contrast, the spatial clustering of competitive fleshy macroalgae remained unchanged through both bleaching events, while crustose coralline algae and fleshy turf algae became more spatially clustered at larger scales (200–700 m) following mass bleaching. Overall, benthic community spatial patterning became less predictable following bleaching and was no longer reflective of gradients in long‐term environmental drivers that typically structure these remote reefs. Our findings provide novel insights into how climate‐driven marine heatwaves can impact the spatial properties of coral reef communities over multiple scales.

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Coral reef resilience differs among islands within the Gulf of Mannar, southeast India, following successive coral bleaching events

Cited by 16 publications

References 74 publications

Opportunistic spongivore fishes in a reef of Gulf of Mannar, India

Opportunistic spongivore fishes in a reef of Gulf of Mannar, India

Foraminiferal Distribution Pattern and its Ecological Implications in the Koswari and Van Islands of the Tuticorin Group of Islands

Recurring bleaching events disrupt the spatial properties of coral reef benthic communities across scales

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