Multiple sources of stress have a cumulative
impact that weakens corals, making bleaching and eventual death
more likely. The most common causes of stress on coral communities
are:
• Warm water and bright sunlight
• Disease
• Pollution, such as urban and agricultural
run off
• Salinity shock, such as from heavy
rains or floods
• Sedimentation from activities such
as dredging
| SOURCES |
| Baker 2001, Brown et al. 2002,
Coles 2001, Coles and Brown 2003, CSIRO 2002, Glynn
1996, Goreau and Hayes 1994, Harvell et al. 1999,
Hoegh-Guldberg 1999, IUCN 1993, Pecheux 1997, Salm
and Coles 2001, Wilkinson and Buddemeier 1994 |
| Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change Report |
| http://www.ipcc.ch/ |
| Pecheux 1997: |
http://mars.reefkeepers.net/
USHomePage/USArticles/bleach
ing/bleaching1.html |
| ReefBase: |
http://www.reefbase.org/threats/
thr_bleaching.asp |
| Salm and Coles 2001 |
http://www.conserveonline.org/
2001/10/w/CoralBleechingMPAs
Workshop;internal&action
=buildframes.action |
| Wilkinson and Buddemeier 1994 |
http://www.iucn.org/themes/marine/
pdf/climchng.pdf |
|
|
|
“Bleaching can be caused by
a host of human-induced and natural factors such as A) Intense
sunlight causing an increase in water temperature; B) Diseases
caused by bacteria, fungi, and viruses; and C) City effluent
that is dumped on or near coral reef habitats.”
|
