Coral Disturbance and Recovery in a Changing World

Effect of short-term subaerial exposure on the cauliflower coral, Pocillopora damicornis, during a simulated extreme low-tide event

“…The role and impact of natural disturbances on coral reefs have long been appreciated (Connell 1978;Miller 2015).…”

Temporal dynamics of coral and algal cover and their potential drivers on a coral reef of Gorgona Island, Colombia (Eastern Tropical Pacific)

“…41(160):306-318, julio-septiembre de 2017 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18257/raccefyn.486 disturbance and recovery at la Azufrada reef; however, it indicates that the period of such cycle, if it indeed occurs, is in the order of decades. The view that coral reef benthic dynamics are driven by disturbance-recovery cycles dates to the work of Connell (1978) and there is good evidence that in the absence of anthropogenic disturbances coral reefs recover from acute natural disturbances (Connell, 1997;Connell, et al, 1997Connell, et al, , 2004Miller, 2015). This study strongly suggests that such is the case at La Azufrada reef and other coral reefs of Gorgona Island because they are exempt from the local environmental insults that many other reefs worldwide are exposed to.…”

“…However, coral reefs have also been increasingly exposed to anthropogenic, usually chronic, perturbations. Even though both natural and anthropogenic perturbations can be significant drivers of change in coral communities, the latter are increasingly becoming the dominant drivers of coral reef dynamics and appear to be responsible for the widespread decline of coral reefs (Gardner, et al, 2005;McClanahan, et al, 2008;Miller, 2015). However, because Gorgona Island is within a well-managed marine protected area, it is unlikely that the initial decline in coral cover observed in this study was caused by local, anthropogenic disturbances.…”

“…A major (~27.5%) decline in coral cover was observed over the first decade (1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008) of the study, causing concern that coral reefs of Gorgona Island were exhibiting a decline like that observed in many coral reefs worldwide (Gardner, et However, the recovering trend observed since 2009 and the lack of major changes in environmental conditions around La Azufrada coral reef during the time of the study suggest that changes in coral cover are not simply the result of deteriorating conditions caused by local anthropogenic impacts. Although coral reefs have long been known to be affected by acute natural perturbations that cause significant coral mortality (Miller, 2015), they have usually been able to recover from such perturbations within a few years (Connell, 1997;Connell, et al, 1997Connell, et al, , 2004. However, coral reefs have also been increasingly exposed to anthropogenic, usually chronic, perturbations.…”

“…Even though natural perturbations such as tropical storms, hurricanes, extreme-low-tide subaerial exposures, earthquakes and tsunamis have undoubtedly played a role in such degradation (Hughes, 1994;Jackson, et al, 2014;Miller, 2015), it is now thought that the impacts of natural disturbances are being exacerbated by their interaction with anthropogenic pressures (Nyström, et al, 2000;Hughes, et al, 2003;Pandolfi, et al, 2003). For instance, human-induced global warming appears to be increasing the intensity and frequency of El Niño warming events and the frequency of hurricanes and crownof-thorns (Acanthaster planci) outbreaks (Enfield, Ángel, 2003), the lack of detailed quantitative assessments through time has hampered the identification of drivers of change.…”