Palumbia,1 adepartment of biology, hopkins marine station, stanford university, pacific grove, ca 93950 contributed by stephen r. C limate change and a range of human activities threaten the natural resilience of coral reef ecosystems. Some of the pioneering studies on coral reefs and indeed the very work that helped to define what a coral reef is and how it functions were conducted in the 1950s on the northern shore of jamaica. Resistance and resilience to coral bleaching wiley online library. Actions for managers enhancing reef resilience reduce bleaching reducelight stress coolreefs, increase mixing increase survival improvewater quality reducedisease prevalence aid recovery coral fragmentation encouragerecruitment. Coral reef resilience to climate change in the florida reef tract. Department of life sciences, imperial college london, kensington, london, sw7 2az uk. Climate change and ocean acidificationwhich can result in coral bleaching events, slower growth and reproduction rates, and degraded reef structureare the most pressing global threats to coral reefs watch as britt parker, noaa coral reef conservation program s climate. Using naturally occurring climate resilient corals to construct bleachingresistant nurseries megan k. The florida reef resilience program a publicprivate.
Nov 29, 2016 a resilient coral reef is one that can either resist a largescale stressful event, such as bleaching, or recover from it. Mass coral bleaching has affected hundreds to thousands of kilometres of reefs simultaneously. Jun 19, 2019 underpinning any organisms 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 coralalgal symbiosis that is directly disrupted by increases in water temperature. Coral reef resilience to climate change in the florida reef tract final report prepared by. Mar 18, 2020 the concept of resilience is long established across a widerange of disciplines, but its evaluation in many ecosystems has been challenging due to the complexities involved in quantifying a somewhat abstract dynamical phenomenon. Assessing coral reef resilience a primary output of the iucncccr was a general method for measuring resilience of coral reefs, to which cordios experience in coral reef monitoring contributed.
Evidence of coral bleaching avoidance, resistance and. Support local adaptation and management strategies aimed at increasing the resilience of coral reefs regionally. There are numerous factors that can promote reef resilience to coral bleaching. The factors that support coral reef ecosystems resilience to mass bleaching events can be. To counter the global decline of reefs, scientists have called for a move beyond conventional management to a focus on supporting the resilience of coral reefs, dependent people, and economies i. Resistance, tolerance and recovery reef resilience. These photos are of a reef near american samoa in the south pacific on december of 2014 left and then two months later right.
Interannual and interspecific variability in coral. Managers can take active steps toward restoring and maintaining the longterm resilience of coral reef ecosystems. The kaneohe bay ecosystem is located on the northeast coast of o. A guide to assessing coral reef resilience for decision support coral reefs are losing their resilience. In 1988 there was a massive bleaching event that affected the reefs in saudi arabia and in sudan, the southern reefs were more. Maynard j, byrne j, kerrigan k, tracey d, bohnsack k, pagan f, walczak j, and williams gj. Coral reef resilience and resistance to blaeaching. This paper synthesises much of the current scientific knowledge on coral reef resistance and resilience to bleaching, a possible major effect of climate change. Coral reef resilience and resistance to bleaching pipap. Implications for coral reef conservation and management.
Interannual and interspecific variability in coral resilience to thermal stress in the turks and caicos islands during the 20142017 global coral bleaching event acknowledgements the authors would like to thank erick geiger, noaa coral reef watch scientist, for providing the extracted noaa data products for the study site. Conduct surveys of coral community composition at sites and assess dominance of coral types known to be more resistant or tolerant to bleaching. The resilience of coral reefs is the biological ability of coral reefs to recover from natural disturbances such as storms and bleaching episodes. The concept of resilience is long established across a widerange of disciplines, but its evaluation in many ecosystems has been challenging due to the complexities involved in quantifying a somewhat abstract dynamical phenomenon. Assisted evolution approaches to build coral reef resilience the management and conservation of coral reefs has focused exclusively on the preservation of natural biodiversity, and any proposals to use corals enhanced via assisted evolution to promote resilience is a radical departure from this approach and thus likely to be controversial and. Advance effective coral reef resilience strategies through use of an innovative metaanalysis of the relationship between coral bleaching and water quality in florida.
Coral reef resilience to climate change in the florida. Recent advances in understanding coral resilience are. By nature, coral reefs have proven to be resilient and can bounce back from the. The interplay of biophysical factors and bleaching resistance under a changing climate the interplay of a reefs biophysical factors can mitigate the coral bleaching response. Define coral reef resilience as a two part process of resistance and recovery involves both engineering and ecological resilience note that a recent publication by mumby et al 2014 also discusses these two forms of resilience.
Distinct spatial trends exist in the thermal sensitivity of coral populations that correspond with location. Guidance is needed to apply reef resilience to support coral reefs and the benefits reefs provide. As a union, iucn seeks to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources. The algae provides up to 90 percent of the corals energy. The objective of this study is to determine whether corals in different habitats display varying resistance and resilience to bleaching stress and to indicate which environmental characteristics. While bleaching recovery and resilience have been linked to heterotrophy in some coral species, the consistent patterns of bleaching resistance remain unexplained 2429. A resilient coral reef is one that can either resist a largescale stressful event, such as bleaching, or recover from it. This publication will help inform the people responsible for reef management, as well as the broader public, of the current state of knowledge. Resiliencebased management supports stress tolerance, recovery and facilitates adaptation. One of the most serious consequences of global climate change for coral reefs is the increased frequency and severity of mass coral bleaching events and, since the first edition of this volume was published in 2009, there have been additional mass coral bleaching events. Science working group, focused on coral bleaching, resilience and climate change, was established in 2006 by the global marine programme of iucn on a 3year grant from the john d. In maui, the community came together to protect herbivorous fish that eat algae and control its growth on the reef. Although the early coral reefbleaching warning system noaausa is established, there is no feasible treatment that can minimize temperature bleaching.
If data are available, use physiological studies of dominant corals to assess likely resistance and tolerance based on zooxanthellae type, photoprotective pigments, or tissue condition lipid levels. Bleached corals continue to live but begin to starve after bleaching. The future of resiliencebased management in coral reef. The following seven indicators are included in the assessment of relative resilience. Most reef resilience assessments today are targeting one parameter in particular. The florida reef resilience program a publicprivate partnership. As baseline sea surface temperatures continue to rise, climate change may represent the single greatest threat to coral reefs worldwide. Building longterm reef resilience chapter 3 coral reef.
Citeseerx document details isaac councill, lee giles, pradeep teregowda. Based on evidence from the literature and systematically. Using naturally occurring climate resilient corals to. Iucn working group on climate change and coral reefs.
Seven broad approaches were identified under the three principle. Implications for coral reef conservation and management jordan m. Seven broad approaches were identified under the three. Iucn global marine programme, the world conservation union iucn, rue mauverney 28, 1196 gland, switzerland. Coral reef resilience and resistance to bleaching free download as pdf file. Efforts to promote reef resilience are yielding powerful results. It has caused stress, and in many cases extensive coral mortality, to nearly every coral reef. Jul 16, 2003 these target areas, where environmental conditions appear to boost resistance and resilience during and after large. Resilience concepts and their application to coral reefs. Baker1 ocean warming increases the incidence of coral bleaching, which reduces or eliminates the nutrition corals re. Coral reef resilience to crown of thorns starfish and. Grimsditch and others published coral reef resilience and resistance to bleaching find, read and cite all.
While the causes of coral bleaching are beyond the direct influence of local management, reef managers have important roles to play before, during and after bleaching events. Resilience refers to the ability of biological or social systems to overcome pressures and stresses by maintaining key functions through resisting or adapting to change. Facilitate access and synthesis of existing data in order to strengthen coral reef systems in the face of climate change, and. To test our hypothesis that chronic local stress reduces coral resistance and resilience to bleaching, we focus on coral growth before and after the 1998 massbleaching event from four sites on the mesoamerican reef fig. Jul 22, 2009 to test our hypothesis that chronic local stress reduces coral resistance and resilience to bleaching, we focus on coral growth before and after the 1998 mass bleaching event from four sites on the mesoamerican reef fig. For corals that survive a bleaching event, characteristics that influence a return to a healthy coral reef community include. Reef resistance measures how well coral reefs tolerate changes in ocean. As a union, iucn seeks to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. Coral bleaching occurs when coral polyps expel algae that live inside their tissues.
Ecology copyright 2020 trophic strategy and bleaching. Resilience assessment of coral reefs assessment protocol for coral reefs, focusing on coral bleaching and thermal stress. Understanding the factors that influence each of these. Grimsditch gd, salm rv 2006 coral reef resilience and resistance to bleaching. Evidence suggests that rbm plays an important role in supporting reefs and dependent communities. Coral reef resilience to crown of thorns starfish and coral. Interannual and interspecific variability in coral resilience. Local stressors reduce coral resilience to bleaching. A weakened immune system is less capable of fighting off. Trophic strategy and bleaching resistance in reefbuilding corals inga e. Coral reef resilience and resistance to bleaching iucn portals. Normally, coral polyps live in an endosymbiotic relationship with these algae, which are crucial for the health of the coral and the reef. Coral bleaching events can cause severe and widespread ecological damage with serious consequences for reef based communities and industries. Coral reef resilience and resistance to blaeaching docshare.
Change action plan determine and map areas of high and low resilience to climate change in order to prioritize management efforts. The effects of habitat on coral resistance and resilience. Although the early coral reef bleaching warning system noaausa is established, there is no feasible treatment that can minimize temperature bleaching and or disease impacts on corals in the field. Resilience is defined as the capacity of a system to absorb or withstand. Promote highlevel multidisciplinary research on the recent coral reef bleaching events, with a view to understanding resilience and adaptation needs, be better prepared to predict future events and thus orient public policies. Grimsditch and others published coral reef resilience and resistance to bleaching find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Coral reef resilience and resistance to bleaching citeseerx. First, some coral colonies host multiple symbiont types and can change the proportions of symbionts with different levels of heat resistance 8, 14. Managers are likely to have a range of responsibilities associated with. For reef building corals, the additional challenge of phenotypic plasticity matches colonies to local temperature conditions in two key ways. Reefbuilding corals and other organisms have symbiotic relationships with singlecelled photosynthetic algae dinoflagellates, known as zooxanthellae other similar symbionts occur in. Today, an estimated 20% of coral reefs worldwide have been destroyed, while 24% are in imminent danger and a further 26% are under longer term danger of collapse wilkinson, 2004. May 12, 2015 berkelmans 2002 constructed a predicted bleaching response model from highresolution in situ temperature records and historical observations of coral bleaching throughout the great barrier reef.
Reef resilience is the ability to resist and recover from disturbances while retaining. Responding to climate change for reef managers reef managers guide. Pdf coral reef resilience and resistance to bleaching. Building coral reef resilience through assisted evolution pnas.
The role of trophic strategy in bleaching resistance. Irrefutable evidence of coral reef degradation worldwide and increasing pressure from rising seawater temperatures and ocean acidification associated with climate change have led to a focus on reef resilience and a call to manage coral reefs for resilience. Environmental protection agency, 1200 pennsylvania avenue nw 8601d, washington, d. Your resilience assessment will involve measuring or assessing ecological factors that contribute to resistance and recovery e.
Implications for coral reef conservation and management article pdf available in conservation biology 174 september 2003 with 1,071 reads. In addition, coral reefs provide habitat for some of the greatest biological diversity in the world ray 1988. These target areas, where environmental conditions appear to boost resistance and resilience during and after large. Ideally, global action to reduce emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases will be accompanied by local action. We develop a framework of resilience related concepts and describe their methodological approaches. The website of the working group at iucn holds a range of publications on coral reef, seagrass, mangrove and social resilience to climate change. Bleached sinularia australia paul marshall, gbrmpa 3. Salm global change research program, office of research and development, u. We develop a framework of resiliencerelated concepts and describe their methodological approaches. Trophic strategy and bleaching resistance in reefbuilding. Reefscape with pink soft corals, schooling orange anthias and the silhouette of a diver in the background egypt mary l frost 2. This iucn publication has information on the factors affecting tolerance of corals to increased temperatures and mechanisms by which corals can avoid bleaching during periods of warmer temperatures e. Coral bleaching in the red sea is more common in the northern section of the reefs, the southern part of the reef has been plagued by coral eating starfish, dynamite fishing and human impacts on the environment.
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