Hurricane Allen's Impact on Jamaican Coral Reefs

Abstract

Coral reefs of north Jamaica, normally sheltered, were severely damaged by Hurricane Allen, the strongest Caribbean hurricane of this century. Immediate studies were made at Discovery Bay, where reef populations were already known in some detail. Data are presented to show how damage varied with the position and orientation of the substraturn and with the shape, size, and mechanical properties of exposed organisms. Data collected over succeeding weeks showed striking differences in the ability of organisms to heal and survive.

Tropical storm off Myanmar coast sweeps reefs in Ritchie’s Archipelago, Andaman

“…Similar storm related coral reef damages have been documented in French Polynesia in 1982-83 (Harmelin-Vivien andLaboute 1986), Jamaica in 1980 (Woodley et al 1981) and in Great Barrier Reef of Australia by Cyclone Joy in 1990 ( Van-Woesik et al 1995) and tropical cyclone Ingrid in 2005 (Fabricius et al 2008).…”

The Coral Reefs of Eilat — Past, Present and Future: Three Decades of Coral Community Structure Studies

“…Coral mass mortality on reefs may result from a variety of causes such as (below selected references) mechanical destruction during tropical storms (Woodley et al 1981;Rogers 1993), abnormally low or high seawater temperatures (Glynn 1981;Jokiel and Coles 1990), sedimentation (Loya 1976e;Rogers 1990) exposure to air during midday air temperature maxima (Glynn 1976;Loya 1976a), bleaching (Glynn 1993;Brown 1997;Hoegh-Guldberg 1999;Ostrander et al 2000;Loya et al 2001), diseases (Kushmaro et al 1996;Harvell et al 1999), Acanthaster predation (Lourey et al 2000) and anthropogenic activities (Brown and Howard 1985;Nystrom et al 2000). The period of time required for recruitment and recovery of reefs after such disturbances varies from very short (2 years; Shinn 1972) to prolonged (50 years or more; Grigg and Maragos 1974;Pearson 1981) and largely depends on local settings.…”

Ecological Shifts along the Florida Reef Tract: The Past as a Key to the Future

“…Geister (1980) explained that the almost exclusive occurrence of M. annularis in the Key Largo Limestone indicates protected conditions or a growth depth below normal wave base. It has been shown, however, that corals of the M. annularis species complex are extremely robust and resistant to the effects of storms, including hurricanes (Stoddart 1963;Woodley et al 1981;Graus, Macintyre, and Herchenroder 1984;Woodley 1992;Bythell, Hillis-Starr, and Rogers 2000;Jackson and Johnson 2000), and that their distribution and zonation are due to a combination of factors including, but not limited to, competitive interactions with other corals-notably the Acropora species Rylaarsdam 1983;Tunnicliffe 1983;Huston 1985;Aronson and Precht 2001b). In fact, large, centuries-old colonies of the M. annularis species complex appear to be the most resistant corals to catastrophic hurricanes in the Caribbean (Stoddart 1963;Woodley 1992;Aronson and Precht 2001b).…”

“…Some areas, such as Costa Rica and Panama, receive virtually no hurricanes while others, including the Florida reef tract, suffer from regular hurricane damage (Ball, Shinn, and Stockman 1967;Perkins and Enos 1968;Neumann et al 1993;Treml, Colgan, and Keevican 1997). Although hurricanes have been important at some localities (e.g., Stoddart 1963;Woodley et al 1981;Graus, Macintyre, and 9. Ecological Shifts along the Florida Reef TractHerchenroder 1984; Hubbard et al 1991;Lugo, Rogers, and Nixon 2000;Gardner et al 2005), they do not explain recent patterns of coral mortality in much of the Caribbean region, including Florida.…”