Journal ArticleDOI
Nearshore coral growth declining on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System.
Justin H. Baumann,Justin B. Ries,John P. Rippe,Travis A. Courtney,Travis A. Courtney,Travis A. Courtney,Hannah E. Aichelman,Hannah E. Aichelman,Isaac T. Westfield,Karl D. Castillo +9 more
TLDR
It is postulate that the decline in skeletal extension rates for nearshore corals is driven primarily by the combined effects of long-term ocean warming and increasing exposure to higher levels of land-based anthropogenic stressors, with acute thermally induced bleaching events playing a lesser role.Abstract:
Anthropogenic global change and local stressors are impacting coral growth and survival worldwide, altering the structure and function of coral reef ecosystems. Here, we show that skeletal extension rates of nearshore colonies of two abundant and widespread Caribbean corals (Siderastrea siderea, Pseudodiploria strigosa) declined across the Belize Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS) over the past century, while offshore coral conspecifics exhibited relatively stable extension rates over the same temporal interval. This decline has caused nearshore coral extension rates to converge with those of their historically slower growing offshore coral counterparts. For both species, individual mass coral bleaching events were correlated with low rates of skeletal extension within specific reef environments, but no single bleaching event was correlated with low skeletal extension rates across all reef environments. We postulate that the decline in skeletal extension rates for nearshore corals is driven primarily by the combined effects of long-term ocean warming and increasing exposure to higher levels of land-based anthropogenic stressors, with acute thermally induced bleaching events playing a lesser role. If these declining trends in skeletal growth of nearshore S. siderea and P. strigosa continue into the future, the structure and function of these critical nearshore MBRS coral reef systems is likely to be severely impaired.read more
Citations
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A review of the combined effects of climate change and other local human stressors on the marine environment
Elena Gissi,Elisabetta Manea,Antonios D. Mazaris,Simonetta Fraschetti,Vasiliki Almpanidou,Stanislao Bevilacqua,Marta Coll,Giuseppe Guarnieri,Elena Lloret-Lloret,Marta Pascual,Dimitra Petza,Gil Rilov,Maura Schonwald,Vanessa Stelzenmüller,Stelios Katsanevakis +14 more
TL;DR: A systematic review on how cumulative effect assessments have addressed CC in the marine realm investigated at different levels of biological organization ecological responses, functional aspects, and the combined effect of CC and HS suggests that the combined effects ofCC and LS are context-dependent and vary among and within ecosystems.
Journal ArticleDOI
The fundamental links between climate change and marine plastic pollution.
Helen Ford,Nia H. Jones,Andrew J. Davies,Brendan J. Godley,Jenna Jambeck,Imogen E. Napper,Coleen C. Suckling,Gareth J. Williams,Lucy C. Woodall,Heather J. Koldewey,Heather J. Koldewey +10 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore how plastic contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the beginning to the end of its life cycle, and show that more extreme weather and floods associated with climate change, will exacerbate the spread of plastic in the natural environment.
Journal ArticleDOI
The fundamental links between climate change and marine plastic pollution
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors explore how plastic contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the beginning to the end of its life cycle, and show that more extreme weather and floods associated with climate change, will exacerbate the spread of plastic in the natural environment.
Journal ArticleDOI
Paradise lost: End-of-century warming and acidification under business-as-usual emissions have severe consequences for symbiotic corals.
Rene M. van der Zande,Michelle Achlatis,Dorothea Bender-Champ,Andreas Kubicek,Sophie Dove,Ove Hoegh-Guldberg +5 more
TL;DR: The results indicate that ocean warming and acidification under business-as-usual CO2 emission scenarios will likely extirpate thermally-sensitive coral species before the end of the century, while slowing the recovery of more thermologically-tolerant species from increasingly severe mass coral bleaching and mortality.
Journal ArticleDOI
Recovery disparity between coral cover and the physical functionality of reefs with impaired coral assemblages
TL;DR: A coral identity approach to assess species turnover is needed to understand and quantify changes in the functionality of coral reefs, and physical functionality increased at a markedly lower rate compared to that of coral cover between 2005 and 2018.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Temperature regimes impact coral assemblages along environmental gradients on lagoonal reefs in Belize
Justin H. Baumann,Joseph E. Townsend,Travis A. Courtney,Travis A. Courtney,Travis A. Courtney,Hannah E. Aichelman,Sarah W. Davies,Sarah W. Davies,Fernando P. Lima,Karl D. Castillo +9 more
TL;DR: Investigating coral community composition across three different temperature and productivity regimes along a nearshore-offshore gradient on lagoonal reefs of the Belize Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System suggests that corals utilizing these two life history strategies may be better suited to cope with warmer oceans and thus may warrant protective status under climate change.
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Depth-Dependent Thermal Stress Around Corals in the Tropical Pacific Ocean
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Corals sustain growth but not skeletal density across the Florida Keys Reef Tract despite ongoing warming.
John P. Rippe,Justin H. Baumann,Daphne N. De Leener,Hannah E. Aichelman,Hannah E. Aichelman,Eric Friedlander,Sarah W. Davies,Sarah W. Davies,Karl D. Castillo +8 more
TL;DR: It is proposed that the subtropical climate of the FKRT may buffer corals from chronic growth declines associated with climate warming, though the significant reduction in skeletal density may indicate underlying vulnerability to present and future trends in ocean acidification.
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A study on the recovery of Tobago's coral reefs following the 2010 mass bleaching event.
TL;DR: The juvenile distribution and the response of individual species to the bleaching event support the notion that Caribbean reefs are becoming dominated by weedy non-framework building taxa which are more resilient to disturbances.
Journal ArticleDOI
Baseline Levels of Siderastrea siderea Bleaching under Normal Environmental Conditions in Little Cayman
Samantha Banks,Kristi A. Foster +1 more
TL;DR: If the return to normal color is indicative of resistance to reef disturbances, S. siderea may be among the “winning” coral species following elevated temperature anomalies which are predicted to occur with increasing frequency and severity as a result of climate change.