Heat Waves Are a Major Threat to Turbid Coral Reefs in Brazil

Duarte, Gabriela; Villela, Helena; Deocleciano, Matheus; Silva, Denise; Barno, Adam; Cardoso, Pedro; Vilela, Caren L. S.; Rosado, Phillipe M.; Messias, Camila S. M. A.; Chacon, Maria Alejandra; Santoro, Erika P.; Olmedo, Daniele B.; Szpilman, Marcelo; Rocha, Luiz A.; Sweet, Michael; Peixoto, Raquel S.

doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00179

Cited by 77 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Further evidence for the resilience of South Atlantic reefs is that a heat stress of 7.7 • C-weeks (degree heating weeks, which accounts for the accumulation of temperature anomalies exceeding the monthly maximum mean Liu et al, 2006;Kayanne, 2017) caused 20% coral mortality in the Caribbean (Florida Keys) and 13 • C-weeks caused 80% mortality in Indo-Pacific (Australia) reefs, however, a remarkable value of 20 • C-weeks, ranking among the highest ever recorded, resulted in less than 2% mortality in the marginal reefs of the Southwestern Atlantic (Gilmour et al, 2013;Gintert et al, 2018;Banha et al, 2019). And even more recently, in late 2019, 19.6 • C-weeks recorded for the diverse Abrolhos reefs caused no significant mortality for any reef-building species with the exception of the branching and fast-growing hydrocoral Millepora alcicornis and, to a lesser extent, the phacelloid Mussismilia harttii, further highlighting the resilience of South Atlantic reefs to heat stress (Duarte et al, 2020). Two additional advantages are that the South Atlantic is historically and currently less exposed to heat waves (Skirving et al, 2019) and that the largest reefs in the South Atlantic are found in the Abrolhos Bank, which is systematically influenced by cooler-water eddies that reduce thermal stress (Ghisolfi et al, 2015).…”

Section: Mortality Associated With Bleaching Episodesmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…), which are typically branching and inhabit very shallow depths (Amaral et al, 2006;Santos et al, 2016;Teixeira et al, 2019). Only a single mass coral mortality episode has been recorded for the South Atlantic reefs (also mostly associated with Millepora spp., despite occurring in turbid conditions Duarte et al, 2020) and none of the three major global mass bleaching events that affected the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean had comparable effects in the South Atlantic (Kelmo et al, 2003;Teixeira et al, 2019). Further evidence for the resilience of South Atlantic reefs is that a heat stress of 7.7 • C-weeks (degree heating weeks, which accounts for the accumulation of temperature anomalies exceeding the monthly maximum mean Liu et al, 2006;Kayanne, 2017) caused 20% coral mortality in the Caribbean (Florida Keys) and 13 • C-weeks caused 80% mortality in Indo-Pacific (Australia) reefs, however, a remarkable value of 20 • C-weeks, ranking among the highest ever recorded, resulted in less than 2% mortality in the marginal reefs of the Southwestern Atlantic (Gilmour et al, 2013;Gintert et al, 2018;Banha et al, 2019).…”

Section: Mortality Associated With Bleaching Episodesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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South Atlantic Coral Reefs Are Major Global Warming Refugia and Less Susceptible to Bleaching

et al. 2020

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Mass coral bleaching has increased in intensity and frequency and has severely impacted shallow tropical reefs worldwide. Although extensive investigation has been conducted on the resistance and resilience of coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean, the unique reefs of the South Atlantic remain largely unassessed. Here we compiled primary and literature data for reefs from three biogeographical regions: Indo-Pacific, Caribbean and South Atlantic and performed comparative analyses to investigate whether the latter may be more resistant to bleaching. Our findings show that South Atlantic corals display critical features that make them less susceptible to mass coral bleaching: (i) deeper bathymetric distribution, as species have a mean maximum depth of occurrence of 70 m; (ii) higher tolerance to turbidity, as nearly 60% of species are found in turbid conditions; (iii) higher tolerance to nutrient enrichment, as nitrate concentration in the South Atlantic is naturally elevated; (iv) higher morphological resistance, as massive growth forms are dominant and comprise two thirds of species; and (v) more flexible symbiotic associations, as 75% of corals and 60% of symbiont phylotypes are generalists. Such features were associated with occurrence of fewer bleaching episodes with coral mortality in the South Atlantic, approximately 60% less than the Indo-Pacific and 50% less than the Caribbean. In addition, no mass coral mortality episodes associated with the three global mass bleaching events have been reported for the South Atlantic, which suffered considerably less bleaching. These results show that South Atlantic reefs display several remarkable features for withstanding thermal stress. Together with a historic experience of lower heat stress, our findings may explain why climate change impacts in this region have been less intense. Given the large extension and latitudinal distribution of South Atlantic coral reefs and communities, the region may be recognized as a major refugium and likely to resist climate change impacts more effectively than Indo-Pacific and Caribbean reefs.

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Section: Mortality Associated With Bleaching Episodesmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Mortality Associated With Bleaching Episodesmentioning

confidence: 99%

South Atlantic Coral Reefs Are Major Global Warming Refugia and Less Susceptible to Bleaching

et al. 2020

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“…While nearshore dominance of zoanthids seems related to higher turbidity baselines [ 33 , 85 ] and positive feedback from high abundances (“abundance refuge”, sensu [ 86 ]), it is remarkable that their relative cover steadily increased only in SGOM, which is under the direct influence of a major dredging operation since 2002 (see S2 Text ). Zoanthid dominance seemed conditioned to local chronic stress, while thermal anomalies are likely the major source of stress at the regional scale [ 26 , 87 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decadal (2006-2018) dynamics of Southwestern Atlantic’s largest turbid zone reefs

et al. 2021

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Tropical reefs are declining rapidly due to climate changes and local stressors such as water quality deterioration and overfishing. The so-called marginal reefs sustain significant coral cover and growth but are dominated by fewer species adapted to suboptimal conditions to most coral species. However, the dynamics of marginal systems may diverge from that of the archetypical oligotrophic tropical reefs, and it is unclear whether they are more or less susceptible to anthropogenic stress. Here, we present the largest (100 fixed quadrats at five reefs) and longest time series (13 years) of benthic cover data for Southwestern Atlantic turbid zone reefs, covering sites under contrasting anthropogenic and oceanographic forcing. Specifically, we addressed how benthic cover changed among habitats and sites, and possible dominance-shift trends. We found less temporal variation in offshore pinnacles’ tops than on nearshore ones and, conversely, higher temporal fluctuation on offshore pinnacles’ walls than on nearshore ones. In general, the Abrolhos reefs sustained a stable coral cover and we did not record regional-level dominance shifts favoring other organisms. However, coral decline was evidenced in one reef near a dredging disposal site. Relative abundances of longer-lived reef builders showed a high level of synchrony, which indicates that their dynamics fluctuate under similar drivers. Therefore, changes on those drivers could threaten the stability of these reefs. With the intensification of thermal anomalies and land-based stressors, it is unclear whether the Abrolhos reefs will keep providing key ecosystem services. It is paramount to restrain local stressors that contributed to coral reef deterioration in the last decades, once reversal and restoration tend to become increasingly difficult as coral reefs degrade further and climate changes escalate.

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“…In particular, the ecological functions performed by nearshore habitats are deteriorating rapidly due to the cumulative impacts of multiple human disturbances (e.g. Copertino et al., 2016; Cruz et al., 2018; Duarte et al., 2020; Giglio et al., 2015; Gorman et al., 2020; Magris & Giarrizzo, 2020; Magris et al., 2019). Our study therefore demonstrates the utility of the cumulative impact maps in developing integrated conservation planning and offers critical insights for the strategic implementation of conservation actions in Brazil.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A blueprint for securing Brazil's marine biodiversity and supporting the achievement of global conservation goals

Magris

Costa

Ferreira

et al. 2020

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim: As a step towards providing support for an ecological approach to strengthening marine protected areas (MPAs) and meeting international commitments, this study combines cumulative impact assessment and conservation planning approach to undertake a large-scale spatial prioritization. Location: Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Brazil, Southwest Atlantic Ocean. Methods: We developed a prioritization approach to protecting different habitat types, threatened species ranges and ecological connectivity, while also mitigating the impacts of multiple threats on biodiversity. When identifying priorities for conservation, we accounted for the co-occurrence of 24 human threats and the distribution of 161 marine habitats and 143 threatened species, as well as their associated vulnerabilities. Additionally, we compared our conservation priorities with MPAs proposed by local stakeholders. Results: We show that impacts to habitats and species are widespread and identify hot spots of cumulative impacts on inshore and offshore areas. Industrial fisheries, climate change and land-based activities were the most severe threats to biodiversity. The highest priorities were mostly found towards the coast due to the high cumulative impacts found in nearshore areas. As expected, our systematic approach showed a better performance on selecting priority sites when compared to the MPAs proposed by local stakeholders without a typical conservation planning exercise, increasing the existing coverage of MPAs by only 7.9%. However, we found that proposed MPAs still provide some opportunities to protect areas facing high levels of threats. Main conclusions: The study presents a blueprint of how to embrace a comprehensive ecological approach when identifying strategic priorities for conservation. We advocate protecting these crucial areas from degradation in emerging conservation efforts is key to maintain their biodiversity value. | 199 MAGRIS et Al.

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Heat Waves Are a Major Threat to Turbid Coral Reefs in Brazil

Cited by 77 publications

References 34 publications

South Atlantic Coral Reefs Are Major Global Warming Refugia and Less Susceptible to Bleaching

South Atlantic Coral Reefs Are Major Global Warming Refugia and Less Susceptible to Bleaching

Decadal (2006-2018) dynamics of Southwestern Atlantic’s largest turbid zone reefs

A blueprint for securing Brazil's marine biodiversity and supporting the achievement of global conservation goals

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