Shading as a mitigation tool for coral bleaching in three common Indo-Pacific species

Coelho, Vânia R.; Fenner, Douglas; Caruso, Carlo; Bayles, Brett R.; Huang, Yu-Ti; Birkeland, Charles

doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2017.09.016

Cited by 51 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…However, during thermal stress events, solar radiation can act synergistically to intensify the impact on corals (Mumby et al, 2001;Anthony et al, 2007). Consequently, shaded (Coelho et al, 2017) and low-light environments (e.g., turbid reefs and mesophotic reefs) that are typically considered marginal for coral growth, could become increasingly valuable for corals under climate change and ocean warming.…”

Section: Low Light Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Effective refugia have recently been described by Kavousi and Keppel (2017) as needing to provide long-term buffering to multiple-stressors. As such, consideration could be given to environmental engineering to facilitate the suite of conditions required for effective refugia, e.g., artificial shading (Coelho et al, 2017).…”

Section: The Potential Of Refuge Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Future of Coral Reefs Subject to Rapid Climate Change: Lessons from Natural Extreme Environments

et al. 2018

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Global climate change and localized anthropogenic stressors are driving rapid declines in coral reef health. In vitro experiments have been fundamental in providing insight into how reef organisms will potentially respond to future climates. However, such experiments are inevitably limited in their ability to reproduce the complex interactions that govern reef systems. Studies examining coral communities that already persist under naturally-occurring extreme and marginal physicochemical conditions have therefore become increasingly popular to advance ecosystem scale predictions of future reef form and function, although no single site provides a perfect analog to future reefs. Here we review the current state of knowledge that exists on the distribution of corals in marginal and extreme environments, and geographic sites at the latitudinal extremes of reef growth, as well as a variety of shallow reef systems and reef-neighboring environments (including upwelling and CO 2 vent sites). We also conduct a synthesis of the abiotic data that have been collected at these systems, to provide the first collective assessment on the range of extreme conditions under which corals currently persist. We use the review and data synthesis to increase our understanding of the biological and ecological mechanisms that facilitate survival and success under sub-optimal physicochemical conditions. This comprehensive assessment can begin to: (i) highlight the extent of extreme abiotic scenarios under which corals can persist, (ii) explore whether there are commonalities in coral taxa able to persist in such extremes, (iii) provide evidence for key mechanisms required to support survival and/or persistence under sub-optimal environmental conditions, and (iv) evaluate the potential of current sub-optimal coral environments to act as potential refugia under changing environmental conditions. Such a collective approach is critical to better understand the future survival of corals in our changing environment. We finally outline priority areas for future research on extreme and marginal coral environments, and discuss the additional management options they may provide for corals through refuge or by providing genetic stocks of stress tolerant corals to support proactive management strategies.

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Section: Low Light Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Potential Of Refuge Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Future of Coral Reefs Subject to Rapid Climate Change: Lessons from Natural Extreme Environments

et al. 2018

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“…The benefits of natural protection from intense solar insolation during high‐temperature events have been observed at local scales (1 – 1000 m) caused by low‐light environments, and also within coral assemblages at smaller scales where shading due to microhabitats may be important in determining variation in bleaching patterns . This is primarily through a direct reduction in light stress on symbiont photosystems . For example, a study conducted after the recent 2016 mass bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), provided compelling evidence that recorded levels of bleaching were reduced in inshore highly turbid environments .…”

Section: Biophysical Factors Influencing Bleaching Heterogeneitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Seeking Resistance in Coral Reef Ecosystems: The Interplay of Biophysical Factors and Bleaching Resistance under a Changing Climate

et al. 2019

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If we are to ensure the persistence of species in an increasingly warm world, of interest is the identification of drivers that affect the ability of an organism to resist thermal stress. Underpinning any organism's capacity for resistance is a complex interplay between biological and physical factors occurring over multiple scales. Tropical coral reefs are a unique system, in that their function is dependent upon the maintenance of a coral-algal symbiosis that is directly disrupted by increases in water temperature. A number of physical factors have been identified as affecting the biological responses of the coral organism under broadscale thermal anomalies. One such factor is water flow, which is capable of modulating both organismal metabolic functioning and thermal environments. Understanding the physiological and hydrodynamic drivers of organism response to thermal stress improves predictive capabilities and informs targeted management responses, thereby increasing the resilience of reefs into the future.

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“…We present these strategies from small (1) to large scale (4), following the same order as Table 1. At the habitat scale, alleviation of mortality may be achieved via heat mitigation strategies such as shading that reduce the heating effects of incoming solar radiation; several technologies and built structures have been advocated as potential intervention strategies for some time (see review by Rau, McLeod, & Hoegh-Guldberg, 2012). These strategies are designed to reduce light stress and to prevent the thermal upper limit of habitat formers, such as corals, from being reached (Coelho et al, 2017). Recently, biopolymer surface films have been proposed as a sun shield to provide heat mitigation on habitat scales on coral reefs throughout summer, and will likely be adaptable for other ecosystems suffering loss of benthic primary producers due to the combined effects of heat and light stress (see review by McDonald et al, 2019; funding agency feasibility for biopolymer report available at https ://www.barri erreef.…”

Section: Prop Os Ed Ecosys Tem Interventions From the Org Anis Mal mentioning

confidence: 99%

How do we overcome abrupt degradation of marine ecosystems and meet the challenge of heat waves and climate extremes?

Ainsworth

Hurd

Gates

et al. 2019

Global Change Biology

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Extreme heat wave events are now causing ecosystem degradation across marine ecosystems. The consequences of this heat‐induced damage range from the rapid loss of habitat‐forming organisms, through to a reduction in the services that ecosystems support, and ultimately to impacts on human health and society. How we tackle the sudden emergence of ecosystem‐wide degradation has not yet been addressed in the context of marine heat waves. An examination of recent marine heat waves from around Australia points to the potential important role that respite or refuge from environmental extremes can play in enabling organismal survival. However, most ecological interventions are being devised with a target of mid to late‐century implementation, at which time many of the ecosystems, that the interventions are targeted towards, will have already undergone repeated and widespread heat wave induced degradation. Here, our assessment of the merits of proposed ecological interventions, across a spectrum of approaches, to counter marine environmental extremes, reveals a lack preparedness to counter the effects of extreme conditions on marine ecosystems. The ecological influence of these extremes are projected to continue to impact marine ecosystems in the coming years, long before these interventions can be developed. Our assessment reveals that approaches which are technologically ready and likely to be socially acceptable are locally deployable only, whereas those which are scalable—for example to features as large as major reef systems—are not close to being testable, and are unlikely to obtain social licence for deployment. Knowledge of the environmental timescales for survival of extremes, via respite or refuge, inferred from field observations will help test such intervention tools. The growing frequency of extreme events such as marine heat waves increases the urgency to consider mitigation and intervention tools that support organismal and ecosystem survival in the immediate future, while global climate mitigation and/or intervention are formulated.

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Shading as a mitigation tool for coral bleaching in three common Indo-Pacific species

Cited by 51 publications

References 36 publications

The Future of Coral Reefs Subject to Rapid Climate Change: Lessons from Natural Extreme Environments

The Future of Coral Reefs Subject to Rapid Climate Change: Lessons from Natural Extreme Environments

Seeking Resistance in Coral Reef Ecosystems: The Interplay of Biophysical Factors and Bleaching Resistance under a Changing Climate

How do we overcome abrupt degradation of marine ecosystems and meet the challenge of heat waves and climate extremes?

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