Drivers of Holocene sea-level change in the Caribbean

Khan, Nicole S.; Ashe, Erica; Horton, Benjamin P.; Dutton, Andrea; Kopp, Robert; Brocard, Gilles; Engelhart, Simon E.; Hill, David F.; Peltier, W. R.; Vane, Christopher H.; Scatena, F. N.

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.08.032

Cited by 135 publications

(218 citation statements)

References 133 publications

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“…By the middle Holocene, however, the rate of sea‐level rise had slowed (Khan et al. ), and the relative abundances of reef‐building taxa were broadly similar over the last ~8,000 yr (Appendix : Table S2; Figs. S5, S7).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The unprecedented loss of Florida's reef‐building corals and the emergence of a novel coral‐reef assemblage

Toth

Stathakopoulos

Kuffner

et al. 2019

Ecology

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Over the last half century, climate change, coral disease, and other anthropogenic disturbances have restructured coral‐reef ecosystems on a global scale. The disproportionate loss of once‐dominant, reef‐building taxa has facilitated relative increases in the abundance of “weedy” or stress‐tolerant coral species. Although the recent transformation of coral‐reef assemblages is unprecedented on ecological timescales, determining whether modern coral reefs have truly reached a novel ecosystem state requires evaluating the dynamics of reef composition over much longer periods of time. Here, we provide a geologic perspective on the shifting composition of Florida's reefs by reconstructing the millennial‐scale spatial and temporal variability in reef assemblages using 59 Holocene reef cores collected throughout the Florida Keys Reef Tract (FKRT). We then compare the relative abundances of reef‐building species in the Holocene reef framework to data from contemporary reef surveys to determine how much Florida's modern reef assemblages have diverged from long‐term baselines. We show that the composition of Florida's reefs was, until recently, remarkably stable over the last 8000 yr. The same corals that have dominated shallow‐water reefs throughout the western Atlantic for hundreds of thousands of years, Acropora palmata, Orbicella spp., and other massive coral taxa, accounted for nearly 90% of Florida's Holocene reef framework. In contrast, the species that now have the highest relative abundances on the FKRT, primarily Porites astreoides and Siderastrea siderea, were rare in the reef framework, suggesting that recent shifts in species assemblages are unprecedented over millennial timescales. Although it may not be possible to return coral reefs to pre‐Anthropocene states, our results suggest that coral‐reef management focused on the conservation and restoration of the reef‐building species of the past, will optimize efforts to preserve coral reefs, and the valuable ecosystem services they provide into the future.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The unprecedented loss of Florida's reef‐building corals and the emergence of a novel coral‐reef assemblage

Toth

Stathakopoulos

Kuffner

et al. 2019

Ecology

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“…As a result, most Pacific reefs that initiated during the middle Holocene can no longer accrete vertically and have instead formed extensive, laterally accreting reef‐flat habitats (Hubbard, ; Montaggioni, ). In contrast, sea level in the western Atlantic has been gradually rising to its present position during the Holocene (Khan et al, ; Figure b), and the extensive reef‐flat habitats that are so ubiquitous in the western Pacific are not common (Dullo, ; Hubbard, ). Instead, most western Atlantic reefs continued to grow with rising sea level throughout the late Holocene (Dullo, ; Gischler & Hudson, ; Hubbard, ), suggesting that regional reef development was not significantly limited by accommodation space.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Comparison of the trends in average reef accretion on the Florida Keys Reef Tract (FKRT) with regional environmental variability. Trends in average reef accretion (a) for the entire FKRT (black line) and within subregions (colored lines) are plotted against (b) relative sea level (dark blue line) and rates of sea‐level change (light blue line) in south Florida (Khan et al, ) and (c) global temperature anomalies (Marcott et al, ). Uncertainties (shaded areas) represent 95% CIs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 3,000‐year lag between the geological and ecological shutdown of Florida's coral reefs

Toth

Kuffner

Stathakopoulos

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

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The global-scale degradation of coral reefs has reached a critical threshold wherein further declines threaten both ecological functionality and the persistence of reef structure. Geological records can provide valuable insights into the long-term controls on reef development that may be key to solving the modern coral-reef crisis. Our analyses of new and existing coral-reef cores from throughout the Florida Keys reef tract (FKRT) revealed significant spatial and temporal variability in reef development during the Holocene. Whereas maximum Holocene reef thickness in the Dry Tortugas was comparable to elsewhere in the western Atlantic, most of Florida's reefs had relatively thin accumulations of Holocene reef framework. During periods of active reef development, average reef accretion rates were similar throughout the FKRT at ~3 m/ky. The spatial variability in reef thickness was instead driven by differences in the duration of reef development. Reef accretion declined significantly from ~6,000 years ago to present, and by ~3,000 years ago, the majority of the FKRT was geologically senescent. Although sea level influenced the development of Florida's reefs, it was not the ultimate driver of reef demise. Instead, we demonstrate that the timing of reef senescence was modulated by subregional hydrographic variability, and hypothesize that climatic cooling was the ultimate cause of reef shutdown. The senescence of the FKRT left the ecosystem balanced at a delicate tipping point at which a veneer of living coral was the only barrier to reef erosion. Modern climate change and other anthropogenic disturbances have now pushed many reefs past that critical threshold and into a novel ecosystem state, in which reef structures built over millennia could soon be lost. The dominant role of climate in the development of the FKRT over timescales of decades to millennia highlights the potential vulnerability of both geological and ecological reef processes to anthropogenic climate change.

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“…Relative sea‐level records for the circum‐Caribbean region [ Toscano and Macintyre , ; Milne and Peros , ; Khan et al ., ] indicate a high rate of RSL rise during the early Holocene, and the transition at ~7600 cal yr B.P. (e.g., disappearance of cattail) likely represents a water level increase which connected the water in the sinkhole to the regional saline aquifer, turning the sinkhole into an open water, more saline pond.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multistage 8.2 kyr event revealed through high‐resolution XRF core scanning of Cuban sinkhole sediments

Peros

Collins

G'Meiner

et al. 2017

Geophysical Research Letters

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We use sediments from a flooded sinkhole (Cenote Jennifer) in northern Cuba to provide new, well‐dated, high‐resolution evidence for the 8.2 kyr event. From ~7600 to 8700 cal yr B.P. the sinkhole contained shallow, low‐salinity water, which supported a marsh dominated by cattail and grass. Peaks in Cl and Br—occurring at 8150, 8200, and 8250 cal yr B.P.—are attributable to increased evaporation due to regional drying associated with the 8.2 kyr event. The three peaks in these elements also closely correspond to the greyscale record from the Cariaco Basin, indicative of increased upwelling in the southern Caribbean Sea at this time, supporting the notion of a multistage 8.2 kyr event. Our work provides new data that help to clarify the initiation, behavior, and impacts of the 8.2 kyr event in the northern tropics.

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Drivers of Holocene sea-level change in the Caribbean

Cited by 135 publications

References 133 publications

The unprecedented loss of Florida's reef‐building corals and the emergence of a novel coral‐reef assemblage

The unprecedented loss of Florida's reef‐building corals and the emergence of a novel coral‐reef assemblage

A 3,000‐year lag between the geological and ecological shutdown of Florida's coral reefs

Multistage 8.2 kyr event revealed through high‐resolution XRF core scanning of Cuban sinkhole sediments

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