Journal article
Refugia under threat: Mass bleaching of coral assemblages in high-latitude eastern Australia
Global Change Biology, Vol.25(11), pp.3918-3931
31/08/2019
PMID: 31472029
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Source: InCites
Abstract
Environmental anomalies that trigger adverse physiological responses and mortality are occurring with increasing frequency due to climate change. At species' range peripheries, environmental anomalies are particularly concerning because species often exist at their environmental tolerance limits and may not be able to migrate to escape unfavourable conditions. Here, we investigated the bleaching response and mortality of 14 coral genera across high-latitude eastern Australia during a global heat stress event in 2016. We evaluated whether the severity of assemblage-scale and genus-level bleaching responses was associated with cumulative heat stress and/or local environmental history, including long-term mean temperatures during the hottest month of each year (SSTLTMAX), and annual fluctuations in water temperature (SSTVAR) and solar irradiance (PARZVAR). The most severely-bleached genera included species that were either endemic to the region (Pocillopora aliciae) or rare in the tropics (e.g. Porites heronensis). Pocillopora spp., in particular, showed high rates of immediate mortality. Bleaching severity of Pocillopora was high where SSTLTMAX was low or PARZVAR was high, whereas bleaching severity of Porites was directly associated with cumulative heat stress. While many tropical Acropora species are extremely vulnerable to bleaching, the Acropora species common at high latitudes, such as A. glauca and A. solitaryensis, showed little incidence of bleaching and immediate mortality. Two other regionally-abundant genera, Goniastrea and Turbinaria, were also largely unaffected by the thermal anomaly. The severity of assemblage-scale bleaching responses was poorly explained by the environmental parameters we examined. Instead, the severity of assemblage-scale bleaching was associated with local differences in species abundance and taxon-specific bleaching responses. The marked taxonomic disparity in bleaching severity, coupled with high mortality of high-latitude endemics, point to climate-driven simplification of assemblage structures and progressive homogenisation of reef functions at these high-latitude locations.
Details
- Title
- Refugia under threat: Mass bleaching of coral assemblages in high-latitude eastern Australia
- Creators
- Sun W Kim - Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, AustraliaEugenia M Sampayo - Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, AustraliaBrigitte Sommer - School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaCarrie A Sims - Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, AustraliaMaria Del C Gómez-Cabrera - Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, AustraliaSteve J Dalton - Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, AustraliaMaria Beger - School of Biological Sciences, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, AustraliaHamish A Malcolm - Fisheries Research, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Coffs Harbour, NSW, AustraliaRenata Ferrari - Australian Institute of Marine Sciences, Townsville, QLD, AustraliaNicola Fraser - Solitary Islands Underwater Research Group, Coffs Harbour, NSW, AustraliaWill F Figueira - School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaStephen D A Smith - National Marine Science Centre, Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, NSW, AustraliaScott F Heron - Coral Reef Watch, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, College Park, MD, USAAndrew H Baird - Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, AustraliaMaria Byrne - Anatomy and Histology, Bosch Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaC Mark Eakin - Coral Reef Watch, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, College Park, MD, USARobert Edgar - Solitary Islands Underwater Research Group, Coffs Harbour, NSW, AustraliaTerry P Hughes - Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, AustraliaNicole Kyriacou - Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, AustraliaGang Liu - Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USAPaloma A Matis - School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, NSW, AustraliaWilliam J Skirving - Coral Reef Watch, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, College Park, MD, USAJohn M Pandolfi - Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
- Publication Details
- Global Change Biology, Vol.25(11), pp.3918-3931
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.; England
- Grants
- Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites - CICS, NA14NES4320003, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (United States, Washington) - NOAACE110001014, Australian Research Council (Australia, Canberra) - ARCCE140100020, Australian Research Council (Australia, Canberra) - ARC
- Grant note
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Grant Number: NA14NES4320003 Korea Institute of Marine Science and Technology. Grant Number: PM61052 Australian Research Council. Grant Numbers: CE110001014, CE140100020 Great Barrier Reef Foundation International Postgraduate Research Scholarship University of Queensland Centennial Scholarship
- Identifiers
- 991012925594402368
- Copyright
- © 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering; National Marine Science Centre; School of Environment, Science and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article