Mapped coral mortality and refugia in an archipelago-scale marine heat wave

Asner, Gregory P.; Vaughn, Nicholas R.; Martin, Roberta E.; Foo, Shawna A.; Heckler, Joseph; Neilson, Brian J; Gove, Jamison M.

doi:10.1073/pnas.2123331119

Cited by 21 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 35 publications

(41 reference statements)

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“…Identifying coral reef refugia to climate change can be improved by recognizing coral sensitivity and recovery, such as adaptive capacity, that reduces sensitivity to exposures (Bairos‐Novak et al., 2021). Adaptive capacity is increasingly being recognized as highly variable among taxa and locations and influenced by connectivity (Asner et al., 2022; Eladawy et al., 2022; McLachlan et al., 2020; McManus et al., 2021). Sensitivity to thermal exposure is variable at many spatial scales and likely driven by interactions between historical exposure and species acclimation and adaptation (Louis et al., 2016; Evensen et al., 2022; McClanahan, Darling, et al., 2020; McClanahan, Maina, et al., 2020).…”

Section: Changing Coursementioning

confidence: 99%

“…As climate change provokes rapid, intensive, and large‐scale impacts to coral reefs, there are some historical precedents that indicate the possibility of considerable adaptation (Pandolfi et al., 2011). For example, reef communities often show predictable changes and adaptation to stress across reef zones, along inshore to offshore gradients, from windward to leeward sides of islands, across archipelagos, across seasons, and along large ocean–basin geographic gradients (Asner et al., 2022; Camp et al., 2018; McClanahan, Darling, et al., 2020; McClanahan, Maina, et al., 2020; Selmoni et al., 2020). Therefore, coral reefs are expected to display a variety of responses, as exemplified in the diverse terminology and concepts used to describe outcomes of climate change (Camp, 2022; Kavousi & Keppel, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Diversification of refugia types needed to secure the future of coral reefs subject to climate change

McClanahan

Darling

Beger

et al. 2023

Conservation Biology

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Identifying locations of refugia from the thermal stresses of climate change for coral reefs and better managing them is one of the key recommendations for climate change adaptation. We review and summarize approximately 30 years of applied research focused on identifying climate refugia to prioritize the conservation actions for coral reefs under rapid climate change. We found that currently proposed climate refugia and the locations predicted to avoid future coral losses are highly reliant on excess heat metrics, such as degree heating weeks. However, many existing alternative environmental, ecological, and life‐history variables could be used to identify other types of refugia that lead to the desired diversified portfolio for coral reef conservation. To improve conservation priorities for coral reefs, there is a need to evaluate and validate the predictions of climate refugia with long‐term field data on coral abundance, diversity, and functioning. There is also the need to identify and safeguard locations displaying resistance toprolonged exposure to heat waves and the ability to recover quickly after thermal exposure. We recommend using more metrics to identify a portfolio of potential refugia sites for coral reefs that can avoid, resist, and recover from exposure to high ocean temperatures and the consequences of climate change, thereby shifting past efforts focused on avoidance to a diversified risk‐spreading portfolio that can be used to improve strategic coral reef conservation in a rapidly warming climate.

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Section: Changing Coursementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversification of refugia types needed to secure the future of coral reefs subject to climate change

McClanahan

Darling

Beger

et al. 2023

Conservation Biology

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“…Deployment of camera systems on autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) will further enhance spatial coverage of reef imaging efforts, including depths challenging for divers . While our focus here is on in situ measurements, we acknowledge that integration of satellite and airborne mapping approaches − with in situ imaging could bridge the gap between capturing detailed and broad-scale reef changes.…”

Section: Toward a New Era Of Monitoring: Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a New Era of Coral Reef Monitoring

Apprill

Girdhar

Mooney

et al. 2023

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Coral reefs host some of the highest concentrations of biodiversity and economic value in the oceans, yet these ecosystems are under threat due to climate change and other human impacts. Reef monitoring is routinely used to help prioritize reefs for conservation and evaluate the success of intervention efforts. Reef status and health are most frequently characterized using diver-based surveys, but the inherent limitations of these methods mean there is a growing need for advanced, standardized, and automated reef techniques that capture the complex nature of the ecosystem. Here we draw on experiences from our own interdisciplinary research programs to describe advances in in situ diver-based and autonomous reef monitoring. We present our vision for integrating interdisciplinary measurements for select "case-study" reefs worldwide and for learning patterns within the biological, physical, and chemical reef components and their interactions. Ultimately, these efforts could support the development of a scalable and standardized suite of sensors that capture and relay key data to assist in categorizing reef health. This framework has the potential to provide stakeholders with the information necessary to assess reef health during an unprecedented time of reef change as well as restoration and intervention activities.

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“…MHWs are defined as prolonged periods of anomalously warm ocean temperature (Hobday et al, 2016), and have been the focus of growing attention over the last two decades because of their impact on the oceans as a whole (IPCC, 2014;Frölicher et al, 2018;Oliver et al, 2018;IPCC, 2021;Oliver et al, 2021). Across the global ocean, MHWs have disastrous effects on marine species (Smale et al, 2019;Bensoussan et al, 2019;Turner et al, 2020;Smith et al, 2022), habitats such as seagrass meadows (Arias-Ortiz et al, 2018), kelp forests (Wernberg, 2021), coral reef (Hughes et al, 2018;Asner et al, 2022) and human societies (Oliver et al, 2018;Smith et al, 2022;IPCC, 2022). In the past, the Mediterranean Sea experienced several MHWs which caused economic and ecological damage, such as critical losses of seafood products and mass mortality events, such as in the summer of 1999 (Perez et al, 2000;Cerrano et al, 2000;Garrabou et al, 2001;Linares et al, 2005) and in the summer of 2003 (Schiaparelli et al, 2007;Diaz-Almela et al, 2007;Garrabou et al, 2009;Munari, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine heat waves in the Mediterranean Sea: An assessment from the surface to the subsurface to meet national needs

et al. 2023

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In the Mediterranean Sea, marine ecosystems and the resource-based economy are shared among many countries, making this a regional sea of important geopolitical and economic stakes. Over the last decades, marine heat waves (MHWs) in the Mediterranean Sea have caused mass-mortality events in various marine species and critical losses for seafood industries. MHWs are expected to become more intense, longer and more frequent through anthropogenic warming. This study proposes to better understand how much each Mediterranean country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) waters may be affected by MHW changes, to contribute to decision support for management and adaptation at national scale. The variability of surface and subsurface MHWs is assessed over the 1987-2019 period in the Mediterranean EEZs, which are ocean areas where sovereign states have special rights. Combining high-resolution satellite observations and a regional reanalysis, sea surface temperature and ocean heat content are used to define surface and subsurface MHWs. The MHW characteristics selected in this study highlight the important differences between surface and subsurface extreme events. MHW frequency is higher at the surface than in the subsurface and has significantly increased in most EEZs both at the surface and in the subsurface, while MHW duration is longer in the subsurface than at the surface in all EEZs. MHW intensities decrease with depth, while its increase over time is more disparate throughout the basin. MHW maximum intensity displays significant positive trends with higher surface values in the western Mediterranean Sea, while in the subsurface it reaches its extreme values in the EEZs of the Levantine basin. In contrast, MHW cumulative intensity exhibits its extreme trend values in the eastern Mediterranean Sea both at the surface and in the subsurface. The choice of a “Top-Ten” list of EEZs shows that the impact to EEZs is different depending on the MHW characteristics and the depth, emphasizing the need to consider all MHW characteristics and to avoid focusing only on the surface. Overall, the results highlight the necessity of strengthening surface and subsurface observing systems in most national waters to better establish local-scale risk assessments and to respond to diverse stakeholder needs.

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Mapped coral mortality and refugia in an archipelago-scale marine heat wave

Cited by 21 publications

References 35 publications

Diversification of refugia types needed to secure the future of coral reefs subject to climate change

Diversification of refugia types needed to secure the future of coral reefs subject to climate change

Toward a New Era of Coral Reef Monitoring

Marine heat waves in the Mediterranean Sea: An assessment from the surface to the subsurface to meet national needs

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