In situ observations of coral bleaching in the central Saudi Arabian Red Sea during the 2015/2016 global coral bleaching event
Alison A. Monroe,Maren Ziegler,Anna Krystyna Roik,Anna Krystyna Roik,Till Röthig,Till Röthig,Royale S. Hardenstine,Madeleine Anne Emms,Thor Jensen,Christian R. Voolstra,Michael L. Berumen +10 more
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TLDR
Bleaching was most prevalent on inshore reefs and on shallower transects within reefs, and Coral genera with the highest levels of bleaching were also among the rarest (<1% of coral cover) in 2015.Abstract:
Coral bleaching continues to be one of the most devastating and immediate impacts of climate change on coral reef ecosystems worldwide. In 2015, a major bleaching event was declared as the "3rd global coral bleaching event" by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, impacting a large number of reefs in every major ocean. The Red Sea was no exception, and we present herein in situ observations of the status of coral reefs in the central Saudi Arabian Red Sea from September 2015, following extended periods of high temperatures reaching upwards of 32.5°C in our study area. We examined eleven reefs using line-intercept transects at three different depths, including all reefs that were surveyed during a previous bleaching event in 2010. Bleaching was most prevalent on inshore reefs (55.6% ± 14.6% of live coral cover exhibited bleaching) and on shallower transects (41% ± 10.2% of live corals surveyed at 5m depth) within reefs. Similar taxonomic groups (e.g., Agariciidae) were affected in 2015 and in 2010. Most interestingly, Acropora and Porites had similar bleaching rates (~30% each) and similar relative coral cover (~7% each) across all reefs in 2015. Coral genera with the highest levels of bleaching (>60%) were also among the rarest (<1% of coral cover) in 2015. While this bodes well for the relative retention of coral cover, it may ultimately lead to decreased species richness, often considered an important component of a healthy coral reef. The resultant long-term changes in these coral reef communities remain to be seen.read more
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Causes and consequences of the 2017 coral bleaching event in the southern Persian/Arabian Gulf
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the causes and consequences of the 2017 bleaching event on eight reefs located across 350 km of the southern basin of the Persian/Arabian Gulf and showed that 2017 was characterized by an extended period of mid-summer calm when winds rarely exceeded breeze conditions.
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Stable mucus-associated bacterial communities in bleached and healthy corals of Porites lobata from the Arabian Seas.
Ghaida Hadaidi,Till Röthig,Lauren K. Yum,Maren Ziegler,Chatchanit Arif,Cornelia Roder,John A. Burt,Christian R. Voolstra +7 more
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Marine heatwaves reveal coral reef zones susceptible to bleaching in the Red Sea
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Response of bleached and symbiotic sea anemones to plastic microfiber exposure.
TL;DR: The decreased ability of bleached anemones to reject plastic microfiber indicates that the susceptibility of anthozoans to plastic pollution is exacerbated by previous exposure to other stressors, particularly concerning given that coral reef ecosystems are facing increases in the frequency and intensity of bleaching events due to ocean warming.
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Global warming and recurrent mass bleaching of corals
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TL;DR: The distinctive geographic footprints of recurrent bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef in 1998, 2002 and 2016 were determined by the spatial pattern of sea temperatures in each year, suggesting that local protection of reefs affords little or no resistance to extreme heat.
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