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Localised hydrodynamics influence vulnerability of coral communities to environmental disturbances
- Source :
- Coral Reefs. 36:861-872
- Publication Year :
- 2017
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2017.
-
Abstract
- The movement of water can have a significant influence on the vulnerability of hermatypic corals to environmental disturbances such as cyclone damage, heat stress and anoxia. Here, we explore the relationship between small reef-scale water circulation patterns and measured differences in the abundance, composition and vulnerability of coral assemblages over decades. Changes in coral cover and community structure within Bill’s Bay (Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia) over a 22-yr period, during which multiple disturbance events (including mass bleaching, anoxia, and tropical cyclones) have impacted the area, were compared with spatial variation in water residence times (WRT). We found that reef sites associated with longer water residence times (WRT >15 h) experienced higher rates of coral mortality during acute environmental disturbances compared to reef sites with shorter WRT. Shifts in coral community composition from acroporid to faviid-dominated assemblages were also more prominent at sites with long WRT compared to reef sites with shorter WRT, although shifts in community composition were also observed at sites close to shore. Interestingly, these same long-WRT sites also tended to have the fastest recovery rates so that coral cover was returned to original levels of approximately 20% over two decades. This study provides empirical evidence that spatial patterns in water circulation and flushing can influence the resilience of coral communities, thus identifying areas sensitive to emerging threats associated with global climate change.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
geography
geography.geographical_feature_category
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Resilience of coral reefs
Ecology
010604 marine biology & hydrobiology
Coral
Community structure
Hermatypic coral
Aquatic Science
01 natural sciences
Oceanography
Disturbance (ecology)
Spatial ecology
Environmental science
Environmental issues with coral reefs
Reef
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14320975 and 07224028
- Volume :
- 36
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Coral Reefs
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........81e5d0786c0038fc78a5c89db3554ae9
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-017-1576-7