Caribbean corals in crisis: record thermal stress, bleaching, and mortality in 2005

Eakin, C. Mark, Morgan, Jessica A., Heron, Scott F., Smith, Tyler B., Lui, Gang, Alvarez-Filip, Lorenzo, Baca, Bart, Bartels, Erich, Bastidas, Carolina, Bouchon, Claude, Brandt, Marilyn, Bruckner, Andrew W., Bunkley-Williams, Lucy, Cameron, Andrew, Causey, Billy D., Chiappone, Mark, Christensen, Tyler R.L., Crabbe, M. James C., Day, Owen, de la Guardia, Elena, Díaz-Pulido, Guillermo, DiResta, Daniel, Gil-Agudelo, Diego L., Gilliam, David S., Ginsburg, Robert N., Gore, Shannon, Guzmán, Héctor M., Hendee, James C., Hernández-Delgado, Edwin A., Husain, Ellen, Jeffrey, Christopher F.G., Jones, Ross J., Jordán-Dahlgren, Eric, Kaufman, Les S., Kline, David I., Kramer, Philip A., Lang, Judith C., Lirman, Diego, Mallela, Jennie, Manfrino, Carrie, Maréchal, Jean-Phillipe, Marks, Ken, Mihaly, Jennifer, Miller, W. Jeff, Mueller, Erich M., Muller, Erinn M., Toro, Carlos A. Orozco, Oxenford, Hazel A., Ponce-Taylor, Daniel, Quinn, Norman, Ritchie, Kim B., Rodríguez, Sebastián, Ramírez, Alberto Rodríguez, Romano, Sandra, Samhouri, Jameal F., Sánchez, Juan A., Schmahl, George P., Shank, Burton V., Skirving, William J., Steiner, Sascha C.C., Villamizar, Estrella, Walsh, Shiela M., Walter, Cory, Weil, Ernesto, Williams, Ernest H., Roberson, Kimberly Woody, and Yusuf, Yusri (2010) Caribbean corals in crisis: record thermal stress, bleaching, and mortality in 2005. PLoS ONE, 5 (11). e13969.

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Abstract

Background: The rising temperature of the world's oceans has become a major threat to coral reefs globally as the severity and frequency of mass coral bleaching and mortality events increase. In 2005, high ocean temperatures in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean resulted in the most severe bleaching event ever recorded in the basin.

Methodology/Principal Findings: Satellite-based tools provided warnings for coral reef managers and scientists, guiding both the timing and location of researchers' field observations as anomalously warm conditions developed and spread across the greater Caribbean region from June to October 2005. Field surveys of bleaching and mortality exceeded prior efforts in detail and extent, and provided a new standard for documenting the effects of bleaching and for testing nowcast and forecast products. Collaborators from 22 countries undertook the most comprehensive documentation of basin-scale bleaching to date and found that over 80% of corals bleached and over 40% died at many sites. The most severe bleaching coincided with waters nearest a western Atlantic warm pool that was centered off the northern end of the Lesser Antilles.

Conclusions/Significance: Thermal stress during the 2005 event exceeded any observed from the Caribbean in the prior 20 years, and regionally-averaged temperatures were the warmest in over 150 years. Comparison of satellite data against field surveys demonstrated a significant predictive relationship between accumulated heat stress (measured using NOAA Coral Reef Watch's Degree Heating Weeks) and bleaching intensity. This severe, widespread bleaching and mortality will undoubtedly have long-term consequences for reef ecosystems and suggests a troubled future for tropical marine ecosystems under a warming climate.

Item ID: 15646
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1932-6203
Additional Information:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Public Domain declaration which stipulates that, once placed in the public domain, this work may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose.

Date Deposited: 16 May 2011 23:32
FoR Codes: 04 EARTH SCIENCES > 0405 Oceanography > 040503 Physical Oceanography @ 100%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9611 Physical and Chemical Conditions of Water > 961102 Physical and Chemical Conditions of Water in Coastal and Estuarine Environments @ 100%
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