Impacts of the 1998 and 2010 mass coral bleaching events on the Western Gulf of Thailand

Sutthacheep, Makamas; Yucharoen, Mathinee; Klinthong, Wanlaya; Pengsakun, Sittiporn; Sangmanee, Kanwara; Yeemin, Thamasak

doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2013.04.018

Cited by 26 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…This fits current trends associated with reefs on a global scale (Berkelmans & Oliver, 1999; Carpenter et al, 2008; Burke et al, 2012; Sutthacheep et al, 2013). Although there appears to be no escape for corals from global increases in sea surface temperature (Baker, Glynn & Riegl, 2008), the susceptibility of corals to bleaching appears to vary considerably.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Baseline reef health surveys at Bangka Island (North Sulawesi, Indonesia) reveal new threats

Ponti

Fratangeli²,

Dondi³

et al. 2016

PeerJ

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Worldwide coral reef decline appears to be accompanied by an increase in the spread of hard coral diseases. However, whether this is the result of increased direct and indirect human disturbances and/or an increase in natural stresses remains poorly understood. The provision of baseline surveys for monitoring coral health status lays the foundations to assess the effects of any such anthropogenic and/or natural effects on reefs. Therefore, the objectives of this present study were to provide a coral health baseline in a poorly studied area, and to investigate possible correlations between coral health and the level of anthropogenic and natural disturbances. During the survey period, we recorded 20 different types of coral diseases and other compromised health statuses. The most abundant were cases of coral bleaching, followed by skeletal deformations caused by pyrgomatid barnacles, damage caused by fish bites, general pigmentation response and galls caused by cryptochirid crabs. Instances of colonies affected by skeletal eroding bands, and sedimentation damage increased in correlation to the level of bio-chemical disturbance and/or proximity to villages. Moreover, galls caused by cryptochirid crabs appeared more abundant at sites affected by blast fishing and close to a newly opened metal mine. Interestingly, in the investigated area the percentage of corals showing signs of ‘common’ diseases such as black band disease, brown band disease, white syndrome and skeletal eroding band disease were relatively low. Nevertheless, the relatively high occurrence of less common signs of compromised coral-related reef health, including the aggressive overgrowth by sponges, deserves further investigation. Although diseases appear relatively low at the current time, this area may be at the tipping point and an increase in activities such as mining may irredeemably compromise reef health.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Baseline reef health surveys at Bangka Island (North Sulawesi, Indonesia) reveal new threats

Ponti

Fratangeli²,

Dondi³

et al. 2016

PeerJ

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“…Interestingly, total energy reserves in all three species of Eilat corals, irrespective of bleaching status, were higher than levels found in corals that were the most susceptible to repeat bleaching in the Caribbean and consistent with findings that high energy reserves is a common trait found among the most thermally tolerant corals (Rodrigues and Grottoli, 2007;Anthony et al, 2009;Grottoli et al, 2014;Schoepf et al, 2015). While, we found no isotopic evidence of increases in heterotrophy as a mechanism for coping with the declines in photoautotrophically fixed carbon supply in bleached corals, the isotopic signature of F. favus suggests that it has a high baseline input of heterotrophic C, which could underlie its low mortality rate following bleaching events (McClanahan, 2004;Sutthacheep et al, 2013), despite its energy reserve and biomass losses. In addition, endosymbiont type switching or shuffling to acquire or increase thermally tolerant Symbiodinium clade D is probably not an underlying trait to Eilat super-coral thermal tolerance as Symbiodinium D has never been detected in this population of corals even though it is present in more southern regions of the Red Sea (Baker et al, 2004;Ziegler et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 69%

“…The maintenance of Chl a and the apparent high baseline heterotrophic capacity of this coral could explain why this genus experiences little to no mortality following bleaching events (McClanahan, 2004;Sutthacheep et al, 2013). In Hawaii, the mounding coral Porites lobata can also bleach severely, but recovers quickly due to a high baseline contribution of heterotrophic carbon to the diet (Palardy et al, 2008;Levas et al, 2013).…”

Section: Favia Favusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physiological and Biogeochemical Responses of Super-Corals to Thermal Stress from the Northern Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea

2017

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Mass coral bleaching is increasing in frequency and severity, leading to the loss of coral abundance and diversity. However, some corals are less susceptible to bleaching than others and can provide a model for identifying the physiological and biogeochemical traits that underlie coral resilience to thermal stress. Corals from Eilat in the Gulf of Aqaba in the northern Red Sea do not bleach unless seawater temperatures are sustained at +6 • C or higher above their average summer maximum. This extreme thermal tolerance qualifies these as super-corals, as most corals bleach when exposed to temperatures that are only +1-2 • C above their thermal maximum. Here, we conducted a controlled bleaching experiment (+6 • C) for 37 days (equivalent to 32 • heating weeks) on three species of corals from Eilat: Stylophora pistillata, Pocillopora damicornis, and Favia favus. To assess the response of the holobiont to thermal stress, the following variables were measured on each coral: endosymbiotic algal cell density, Chlorophyll a, endosymbiotic mitotic cell division, total lipids, protein, carbohydrate, and the stable carbon (δ 13 C) and oxygen (δ 18 O) isotopic composition of the skeleton and the δ 13 C of the animal host tissue and endosymbiotic algae. While all three species appeared visibly bleached, their physiological and biogeochemical responses were species-specific. S. pistillata catabolized lipids but still maintained total energy reserves and biomass. Increases in both skeletal δ 13 C and δ 18 O indicates that calcification declined in this species. P. damicornis was the least affected by bleaching. It maintained its total energy reserves and biomass, and isotopic evidence suggests that it maintained calcification and was not dependent on heterotrophy for meeting metabolic demand when bleached. Finally, F. favus catabolized protein and carbohydrates, and suffered losses in total energy reserves and biomass. Nevertheless, isotopic evidence suggest that photosynthesis and calcification were maintained, and that this species has a high baseline heterotrophic capacity. Thus, just like their non-super-coral conspecific counterparts, maintaining energy reserves Grottoli et al.Response of Super-Corals to Thermal Stress and biomass, and heterotrophic capacity appear to be traits that underlie the thermal tolerance of these super-corals from Eilat. Given the high thermal tolerance of these super-corals, these populations could provide viable seed stock for repopulating coral losses on other reefs.

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“…Widespread coral mortality from mass coral bleaching events between 1998 and 2010 in Thai waters has been reported previously (Yeemin et al, 2009;Phongsuwan and Chansang, 2012;Sutthacheep et al, 2013;Yucharoen et al, 2015). Coral reefs along the Gulf of Thailand experienced high mortality, and a subsequent loss of Acropora species was reported in the region (Yeemin et al, 2009;Hoeksema et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…Highly abundant and diverse Acropora populations are uncommon on most inshore reefs in the Gulf of Thailand, making the coral community at Losin Pinnacle a unique potential reservoir of Acropora diversity. After the 2010 bleaching event, coral communities in the Gulf of Thailand have been dominated by bleaching-resistant taxa, with a lower coral diversity than in previous periods (Sutthacheep et al, 2013(Sutthacheep et al, , 2019. Losin Pinnacle has a much higher species diversity, over 75 species, compared to other Thai reefs; 47 species were recorded from twelve sites in the Andaman Sea (Phongsuwan and Chansang, 2012), and only 44 species were recorded from six sites in the Gulf of Thailand (Yeemin et al, 2009;Sutthacheep et al, 2012Sutthacheep et al, , 2013.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Coral Diversity at Losin Pinnacle, an Offshore Reef in the Gulf of Thailand: Toward a Future MPA

Yucharoen

Chankong²,

Phongsuwan³

et al. 2020

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Impacts of the 1998 and 2010 mass coral bleaching events on the Western Gulf of Thailand

Cited by 26 publications

References 26 publications

Baseline reef health surveys at Bangka Island (North Sulawesi, Indonesia) reveal new threats

Baseline reef health surveys at Bangka Island (North Sulawesi, Indonesia) reveal new threats

Physiological and Biogeochemical Responses of Super-Corals to Thermal Stress from the Northern Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea

Coral Diversity at Losin Pinnacle, an Offshore Reef in the Gulf of Thailand: Toward a Future MPA

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