Climate and Ocean Change | Reef Resilience

Chronic Nutrient Enrichment Increases Prevalence and Severity of Coral Disease and Bleaching

by reefres | Jul 7, 2014

After exposing test plots in the Florida Keys, USA to increased nutrients (at levels equivalent to nutrient input from onshore sources), researchers found that increased nutrient levels led to increased prevalence and severity of coral diseases and coral bleaching....

Tool shows future predictions of bleaching and acidification

by reefres | Apr 11, 2014 | News

A new Google Earth tool contains the most recent projections of coral bleaching and ocean acidification for all coral reef areas.

Managing coral reefs in the face of acidification

by reefres | Apr 11, 2014 | News

In “Preparing to manage coral reefs for ocean acidification: lessons from coral bleaching,” Dr. Elizabeth McLeod and her co-authors discuss how management strategies designed to address coral bleaching can be modified to address the impacts of ocean acidification.

Caught in the Middle: Combined Impacts of Shark Removal and Coral Loss on the Fish Communities of Coral Reefs

by reefres | Apr 2, 2014

Researchers used long-term monitored reefs off the coast of north-western Australia to understand how fishing changed shark communities in coral reef ecosystems. Two uninhabitated areas with atoll-like reefs with differing management regimes, closed marine protected...

Mass Coral Bleaching in 2010 in the Southern Caribbean

by reefres | Apr 2, 2014

The authors, Alemu and Clement, monitored the bleaching response at 3 sites across Tobago during a bleaching event in 2010. The purpose was to find nodes of reef resilience in Tobago by identifying taxa resilient to bleaching. This will assist local coral reef...

Opposite Latitudinal Gradients in Projected Ocean Acidification and Bleaching Impacts on Coral Reefs

by reefres | Apr 2, 2014

A new Google Earth tool contains the most recent projections of coral bleaching and ocean acidification for all coral reef areas. The projections are based on climate models from the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report. Using this tool, managers can go to areas of interest...

Modelling Coral Reef Futures to Inform Management: Can Reducing Local-Scale Stressors Conserve Reefs under Climate Change?

by reefres | Apr 2, 2014

A lack of understanding of the impacts of multiple stressors on coral reefs in a changing climate and the most effective management strategies was addressed in a recent paper using a simulation model. Researchers validated the model at four sites in Bolinao, the...

Managing Resilience to Reverse Phase Shifts in Coral Reefs

by reefres | Apr 2, 2014

In this article, the authors advocate for managing resilience of degrading ecosystems to reverse phase shifts from a macro-algal state back to a coral state, however they assert that it is unlikely that coral reefs will ever return to a pristine state. They suggest...

The 2nd Annual Coral Reef Conservation and Management Conference

by reefres | Apr 2, 2014

This document provides a written summary of the talks presented. The summaries are organized chronologically with a paragraph describing each speaker. Powerpoint slides of the presentations are not available to the general public. Please contact the speakers...

Adaptive Comanagement of a Marine Protected Area Network in Fiji

by reefres | Apr 2, 2014

Adaptive management is an iterative process by which management strategies are adjusted with new information. Although there are calls for adaptive management, few on-the-ground examples of success in conservation planning and MPA network design exist. This article...

Restrictions in Marine Protected Areas in the Coral Triangle – The coral reef crisis: The critical importance of <350 ppm CO2

by reefres | Apr 2, 2014

The authors of this paper outline the grim state and future of coral reef ecosystems, and the consequential domino effects to follow for other systems associated with reefs. Mass bleaching and mortality are identified as the current crisis to corals, and based on the...

Do Some Corals Like It Hot?

by reefres | Apr 2, 2014

The Adaptive Bleaching Hypothesis is a controversial theory that states that stress resistant coral-zooxanthellae associations can develop from frequent and severe environmental stress. This hypothesis is reviewed and future directions for research are suggested....

Are U.S. Coral Reefs on the Slippery Slope to Slime?

by reefres | Apr 2, 2014

This article has received significant attention from researchers, managers, and the public. It is a bit controversial and the doom and gloom picture presented may or may not most accurately describe the current state of affairs. Regardless, the paper draws attention...

Do Fluctuating Temperature Environments Elevate Coral Thermal Tolerance?

by reefres | Apr 1, 2014

While differences in thermal tolerance among regions with distinct annual mean temperatures were first recognized as evidence of coral thermal adaptation or acclimatization, thermal variation on much smaller spatial and temporal scales also appears to affect coral...

Coral Larvae Under Ocean Acidification: Survival, Metabolism, and Metamorphosis

by reefres | Apr 1, 2014

The authors examined the metabolism of coral larvae under different pH conditions to explain the observed, uniform, survival rate of coral larvae under different pH conditions: pH 8.0 (control), pH 7.6, and pH 7.3. Larvae of Acropora digitifera was used in the study...

Marine Reserves Enhance the Recovery of Corals on Caribbean Reefs

by reefres | Apr 1, 2014

The results of this study demonstrate that reserves can enhance coral recovery. In this study, the authors evaluated coral population dynamics to determine if reductions in macroalgal cover, caused by recovery of herbivorous parrotfishes in a reserve result in a...

Evidence That Marine Reserves Enhance Resilience to Climatic Impacts

by reefres | Apr 1, 2014

In this study of benthic invertebrates in Baja California, Mexico, the authors examined the effects of marine reserves on the population of an abalone after a mass mortality event. After widespread death of the economically valuable pink abalone, Haliotis corrugata...

Large-scale Stress Factors Affecting Coral Reefs: Open Ocean Sea Surface Temperature and Surface Seawater Aragonite Saturation Over the Next 400 Years

by reefres | Apr 1, 2014

This study seeks to investigate three IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) representative pathways (RCP) and their differing impacts of environmental stressors to coral reefs including rising sea surface temperatures and changes in seawater aragonite...

Preparing to Manage Coral Reefs for Ocean Acidification: Lessons from Coral Bleaching

by reefres | Apr 1, 2014

The authors examine the lessons learned from the implementation of management strategies to address the impacts of coral reef bleaching and how these strategies may be modified to address the impacts of ocean acidification. Because stabilizing CO2 emissions is the...

Prioritizing Key Resilience Indicators to Support Coral Reef Management in a Changing Climate

by reefres | Apr 1, 2014

The authors of this study ranked coral reef resilience factors based on their perceived importance by 28 coral reef experts and based on scientific evidence from a literature review. The top 11 factors for resilience management were determined to be: resistant coral...

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