Coral reef structural complexity provides important coastal protection from waves under rising sea levels

Harris, David; Rovere, Alessio; Casella, Elisa; Power, Hannah E.; Remy, Canavesio; Collin, Antoine; Pomeroy, Andrew; Webster, Jody M.; Parravicini, Valeriano

doi:10.1126/sciadv.aao4350

Cited by 161 publications

(145 citation statements)

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“…(a) Plot showing reef accretion rates relative to reef rugosity for sites across the tropical western Atlantic ( TWA ) and Indian Ocean ( IO ) regions (data from Perry et al., ) in the context of the Reef Health Index of Harris et al. (). (b) Schematics showing the effects of different scenarios of reef keep‐up potential (as a function of accretion rate) and substrate friction (as a function of rugosity) in terms of limiting coastal wave exposure risk—scenarios a–d relate to the different states identified in (a)…”

Section: Impacts On Rates and Patterns Of Reef Growth (The Reducing Rmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several recent studies have modelled SLR impacts on wave energy regimes across reefs (e.g., Beetham, Kench, & Popinet, 2017;Storlazzi, Elias, Field, & Presto, 2011) Coral cover and assemblage composition strongly influence reef surface structural complexity, and this is important because complexity exerts a frictional effect on waves (Harris et al, 2018). Thus, reef surface complexity changes discussed above (section 2) have the potential to directly impact wave attenuation.…”

Section: Impac Ts On R Ate S and Pat Tern S Of Reef G Row Th ( Thementioning

confidence: 99%

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Changing geo‐ecological functions of coral reefs in the Anthropocene

2018

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The ecology of many coral reefs has changed markedly over recent decades in response to various combinations of local and global stressors. These ecological changes have important implications for the abundance of taxa that regulate the production and erosion of skeletal carbonates, and thus for many of the geo‐ecological functions that coral reefs provide, including reef framework production and sediment generation, the maintenance of reef habitat complexity and reef growth potential. These functional attributes underpin many of the ecosystem goods and services that reefs provide to society. Rapidly changing conditions of reefs in the Anthropocene are likely to significantly impact the capacity of reefs to sustain these geo‐ecological functions. Although the Anthropocene footprint of disturbance will be expressed differently across ecoregions and habitats, the end point for many reefs may be broadly similar: (a) progressively shifting towards net neutral or negative carbonate budget states; (b) becoming structurally flatter; and (c) having lower vertical growth rates. It is also likely that a progressive depth‐homogenisation will occur in terms of these processes. The Anthropocene is likely to be defined by an increasing disconnect between the ecological processes that drive carbonate production on the reef surface, and the net geological outcome of that production, that is, the accumulation of the underlying reef structure. Reef structures are thus likely to become increasingly relict or senescent features, which will reduce reef habitat complexity and sediment generation rates, and limit reef potential to accrete vertically at rates that can track rising sea levels. In the absence of pervasive stressors, recovery of degraded coral communities has been observed, resulting in high net‐positive budgets being regained. However, the frequency and intensity of climate‐driven bleaching events are predicted to increase over the next decades. This would increase the spatial footprint of disturbances and exacerbate the magnitude of the changes described here, limiting the capacity of many reefs to maintain their geo‐ecological functions. The enforcement of effective marine protection or the benefits of geographic isolation or of favourable environmental conditions (“refugia” sites) may offer the hope of more optimistic futures in some locations. A >plain language summary is available for this article.

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Section: Impacts On Rates and Patterns Of Reef Growth (The Reducing Rmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Impac Ts On R Ate S and Pat Tern S Of Reef G Row Th ( Thementioning

confidence: 99%

Changing geo‐ecological functions of coral reefs in the Anthropocene

2018

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“…Early forward models were 1-D (Schwarzacher, 1966) or 2-D in formulation (Bosence and Waltham, 1990;Kendall et al, 1991), but improvements in computing led to the development of more complex, 3-D models (e.g. DIONISOS, Granjeon and Joseph, 1999;Seard et al, 2013 andFUZZIM, Nordlund, 1999).…”

Section: Sfm Of Carbonate Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1, exposed setting) and lower in back-reef (Fig. 1, protected setting) lagoonal and marginal environments that are protected from the prevailing winds and wave energy (Harris et al, 2015(Harris et al, , 2018. As a result, wave-induced bottom stress strongly influences coral cover and community composition, with a clear zonation pattern from the reef crest to the reef slopes (Done, 1982;Kuffner, 2001).…”

Section: Hydrodynamic Energymentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring coral reef responses to millennial-scale climatic forcings: insights from the 1-D numerical tool pyReef-Core v1.0

et al. 2018

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Abstract. Assemblages of corals characterise specific reef biozones and the environmental conditions that change spatially across a reef and with depth. Drill cores through fossil reefs record the time and depth distribution of assemblages, which captures a partial history of the vertical growth response of reefs to changing palaeoenvironmental conditions. The effects of environmental factors on reef growth are well understood on ecological timescales but are poorly constrained at centennial to geological timescales. pyReefCore is a stratigraphic forward model designed to solve the problem of unobservable environmental processes controlling vertical reef development by simulating the physical, biological and sedimentological processes that determine vertical assemblage changes in drill cores. It models the stratigraphic development of coral reefs at centennial to millennial timescales under environmental forcing conditions including accommodation (relative sea-level upward growth), oceanic variability (flow speed, nutrients, pH and temperature), sediment input and tectonics. It also simulates competitive coral assemblage interactions using the generalised Lotka-Volterra system of equations (GLVEs) and can be used to infer the influence of environmental conditions on the zonation and vertical accretion and stratigraphic succession of coral assemblages over decadal timescales and greater. The tool can quantitatively test carbonate platform development under the influence of ecological and environmental processes and efficiently interpret vertical growth and karstification patterns observed in drill cores. We provide two realistic case studies illustrating the basic capabilities of the model and use it to reconstruct (1) the Holocene history (from 8500 years to present) of coral community responses to environmental changes and (2) the evolution of an idealised coral reef core since the last interglacial (from 140 000 years to present) under the influence of sea-level change, subsidence and karstification. We find that the model reproduces the details of the formation of existing coral reef stratigraphic sequences both in terms of assemblages succession, accretion rates and depositional thicknesses. It can be applied to estimate the impact of changing environmental conditions on growth rates and patterns under many different settings and initial conditions.

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“…1 exposed setting) and lower in back reef ( Fig. 1 protected setting) lagoonal and marginal environments that are protected from the prevailing winds and wave 30 energy (Harris et al, 2015(Harris et al, , 2018. As a result, wave-induced bottom stress strongly influences coral cover and community composition.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring coral reef responses to millennial scale climatic forcings: insights from a 1-D numerical tool pyReef-Core v1.0

Salles¹,

Pall²,

Webster³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Abstract.Assemblages of corals characterise specific reef biozones and the environmental conditions that change laterally across a reef and with depth. Drill cores through fossil reefs record the time-and depth-distribution of assemblages, which captures a partial history of the vertical growth response of reefs to changing palaeoenvironmental conditions. The effects of environmental factors on reef growth are well understood on ecological time-scales but are poorly constrained at centennial to millennial 5 timescales. pyReef-Core is a stratigraphic forward model designed to solve the inverse problem of unobservable environmental processes controlling vertical reef development by simulating the physical, biological and sedimentological processes that determine vertical assemblage changes in drill cores. It models the stratigraphic development of coral reefs at centennial to millennial timescales under environmental forcing conditions including accommodation (relative sea level upward growth), oceanic variability (flow speed, nutrients, pH and temperature), sediment input and tectonics. It also simulates competitive 10 coral assemblage interactions using the generalised Lotka-Volterra system of equations (GLVEs) and can be used to infer the influence of environmental conditions on the zonation and vertical accretion and stratigraphic succession of coral assemblages over decadal timescales and greater. The tool can quantitatively test carbonate platform development under the influence of ecological and environmental processes, and efficiently interpret vertical growth and karstification patterns observed in drill cores. We provide two realistic case studies illustrating the basic capabilities of the model and use it to reconstruct (1) the 15 Holocene history (from 8,500 years to present) of coral community responses to environmental changes, and (2) the evolution of an idealised coral-reef core since the Last Interglacial (from 140,000 years to present) under the influence of sea-level change, subsidence and karstification. We find that the model reproduces the details of the formation of existing coral-reef stratigraphic sequences both in terms of assemblages succession, accretion rates and depositional thicknesses. It can be applied to estimate the impact of changing environmental conditions on growth rates and patterns under many different settings and 1Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., https://doi

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Coral reef structural complexity provides important coastal protection from waves under rising sea levels

Abstract: If coral reefs continue to degrade, waves on coastlines may substantially increase, leading to greater coastal erosion.

Cited by 161 publications

References 58 publications

Changing geo‐ecological functions of coral reefs in the Anthropocene

Changing geo‐ecological functions of coral reefs in the Anthropocene

Exploring coral reef responses to millennial-scale climatic forcings: insights from the 1-D numerical tool pyReef-Core v1.0

Exploring coral reef responses to millennial scale climatic forcings: insights from a 1-D numerical tool pyReef-Core v1.0

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