Growth modelling indicates hurricanes and severe storms are linked to low coral recruitment in the Caribbean

Crabbe, M. James C.; Martinez, Edwin; Garcia, Christina; Chub, Juan; Castro, Leonardo; Guy, James D.

doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2007.11.006

Cited by 37 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Existing 20th century global climate change of 0.6 ± 0.2°C has already resulted in significant ecological changes across an expanse of different ecosystems and ecological hierarchies (McCarty 2001, Walther et al 2002, Ward et al 2005, Hoegh-Guldberg et al 2007, Prezeslawski et al 2008. These responses are expected to accelerate, resulting in habitat degradation, species loss and range changes caused by increases in temperature (McCarty 2001, Poloczanska et al 2007, storm frequency and intensity (Harley et al 2006, Crabbe et al 2008) and acidification of aquatic environments (Kleypas et al 1999, Orr et al 2005.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term climate-associated dynamics of a tropical seagrass meadow: implications for the future

Rasheed¹,

Unsworth²

2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

105

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The long-term changes of tropical intertidal seagrass, mainly Halodule uninervis and Halophila ovalis meadows and their relationship to climate are poorly documented. Developing a greater understanding of the effects of climate on seagrass meadows is critical for estimating the effects of future climate change scenarios. Here we document the temporal dynamics of coastal intertidal seagrass in tropical northeast Australia over 16 yr of detailed monitoring. This study is the first to directly relate such change to long-term climate variability in the Indo-Pacific region and southern hemisphere. Regression modelling was used to relate seagrass biomass and meadow area measurements to climate data. The aboveground biomass and area of the meadow were correlated with the interacting factors of air temperature, precipitation, daytime tidal exposure and freshwater runoff from nearby rivers. Elevated temperature and reduced flow from rivers were significantly correlated (R 2 = 0.6, p < 0.001) with periods of lower seagrass biomass. Results of this study have important implications for the long-term viability of seagrasses with regard to climate change scenarios. Modelling of our findings indicates that future higher temperatures could be detrimental to Indo-Pacific intertidal, coastal and estuarine seagrass meadows.KEY WORDS: Climate change · Global warming · Halophila ovalis · Halodule uninervis · Temperature · Rainfall · Indo-Pacific · Queensland · Australia Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 422: [93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103] 2011 been lost at an unprecedented rate from a variety of anthropogenic influences (Waycott et al. 2009). Predictions of the influence of climate change scenarios on seagrass (Short & Neckles 1999, Harley et al. 2006, Poloczanska et al. 2007, Waycott et al. 2007) are largely based on incidences of seagrass loss associated with extreme weather (Cardoso et al. 2008, Micheli et al. 2008 as reported in short-term experimental studies (Campbell et al. 2006). Long-term studies directly measuring seagrass changes and how they are correlated with climate are rare. Such studies are restricted to the Mediterranean Sea and coastal areas of Florida (Marba & Duarte 1997, Tomasko et al. 2005; no similar studies have been reported for the tropical Indo-Pacific region.Throughout the Indo-Pacific region, turbid estuarine and coastal environments commonly contain abundant and productive intertidal seagrass meadows dominated by the small colonising floral species of Halodule uninervis (Forssk.) Aschers., 1882 and Halophila ovalis (R.Br.) J. D. Hooker, 1858, Coles et al. 2003. Such meadows are often spatially expansive , Coles et al. 2003 and are particularly important food sources for dugong Dugong dugong and green turtles Chelonia mydas (Bjorndal 1985, Preen & Marsh 1995. The intertidal and coastal location of these meadows makes them susceptible to large climatic events, such as flooding , Campbell & McKenzie 2004, drought...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term climate-associated dynamics of a tropical seagrass meadow: implications for the future

Rasheed¹,

Unsworth²

2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

105

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“…The authors of this essay have successfully transferred scientific expertise in Belize to local participants to generate scientific evidence to underpin future management and conservation decisions. Our scientific findings on the impact of hurricanes on reefs in Belize suggested that hurricanes and severe storms limited the recruitment and survival of nonbranching corals of the Mesoamerican barrier reef and advised marine park managers to assist coral recruitment in years where there are hurricanes or severe storms (Crabbe et al 2008;2009b;2009c).…”

Section: Sustainable Marine Reservesmentioning

confidence: 89%

Identifying management needs for sustainable coral-reef ecosystems

Crabbe

Martinez

Garcia³

et al. 2009

Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy

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M. James Crabbe's Personal Statement:In 2007, I developed with the aid of the Earthwatch Institute and the Oak Foundation a capacity-building program in southern Belize to address issues of marine reserve management underpinned by science. The first component included group discussions on important issues related to the management of the reserves and review of scientific papers, strategic plans, and action plans. The second component included field research in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve and the Port Honduras Marine Reserve. The project's overall objectives and outcomes were to increase the participants' capacity to lead and educate regarding sustainable development and to promote networking among organizations that manage marine resources, enhancing their collective influence over policy decisions. From that program, the project group developed the concepts and management protocols for coral-reef sustainability elucidated below.

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“…Details of data sampling have been described for North Jamaica and South Jamaica [23], Belize [25] and Tobago [26]. In summary, corals 2m either side of transect lines were photographed for archive information, and surface areas measured with flexible tape as described previously using SCUBA.…”

Section: Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For Belize, sites were selected as described previously [25] in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve (six sites: Mantas garden, Franks I, Franks II, Nicholas Cay, Protected I site and Seal Cay) and the Port Honduras Marine Reserve (two sites: South snake Cay and Barracuda Bank). The work was carried out in July and August 2006, and in August 2007.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Influence of Extreme Climate Events on Models of Coral Colony Recruitment and Survival in the Caribbean

Crabbe

2012

AJCC

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Knowledge of coral recruitment patterns helps us understand how reefs react following major disturbances and provides us with an early warning system for predicting future reef health problems. We have reconstructed and interpreted historical and modern-day recruitment patterns, using growth modeling, in order to understand how hurricanes, storms and bleaching events have influenced coral recruitment in the Caribbean. The results indicate that regional hurricane events negatively impact coral recruitment patterns in the Caribbean, from the south in Tobago to more northerly areas in Belize and Jamaica. However, despite multiple large-scale disturbances, corals are still recruiting to marginal reef systems, and to the Mesoamerican Barrier reef off the coast of Belize. While recruitment and initial growth since the Caribbean-wide bleaching event of 2005 has been successful for Colpophylia natans at the sites studied in North Jamaica, medium and large sized colonies of this species have decreased in numbers since the bleaching event at most sites, except where the rugosity is highest, at Dairy Bull reef.

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Growth modelling indicates hurricanes and severe storms are linked to low coral recruitment in the Caribbean

Cited by 37 publications

References 31 publications

Long-term climate-associated dynamics of a tropical seagrass meadow: implications for the future

Long-term climate-associated dynamics of a tropical seagrass meadow: implications for the future

Identifying management needs for sustainable coral-reef ecosystems

The Influence of Extreme Climate Events on Models of Coral Colony Recruitment and Survival in the Caribbean

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