Regional hard coral distribution within geomorphic and reef flat ecological zones determined by satellite imagery of the Xisha Islands, South China Sea

Zuo, Xiaoli; Su, Fenzhen; Huan-ting, Zhao; Zhang, Junjue; Wang, Qi; Wu, Di

doi:10.1007/s00343-017-5336-x

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Increased CCA6 on reef flats between the years 2005 and 2014 indicated this habitat was more degraded than that of reef slopes or lagoons. This may be related to the fast-growing Montipora and Acropora corals, which dominated these areas, and that the branching M. digitata was most abundant [44]. These species occurs on reef flats where disturbance is infrequent, and it grows fast and fragments often.…”

Section: Trends On Reefs In the Western Xisha Islandsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Using Landsat Data to Detect Change in Live to Recently (<6 Months) Dead Coral Cover in the Western Xisha Islands, South China Sea

Zuo

Zhang

et al. 2020

Sustainability

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The amount of live and dead coral is related to recruitment, but differentiating them by remote sensing techniques is difficult. We measured change in the amount of live, bleached, and recently (<6 months) dead coral cover (CCA6) for an island archipelago in the South China Sea. Six Landsat 4/7 ETM/8 OLI images from 1989–1990, 2005, and 2014 were analyzed to assess changes in CCA6 at 14 coral reefs in the western Xisha Islands. Satellite images were georectified and calibrated to remote sensing reflectance. Models for three shallow water (<6 m) geomorphic zones throughout the western Xisha Islands are proposed based on ground-truthed data collected in 2014 and satellite-determined spectral values for 2014 images. Nonlinear models based on Landsat image blue spectral bands for reef slope and lagoon habitats, and green bands for reef flat habitats, are determined as optimal models. Significant changes in CCA6 from 2005 to 2014, and changes in coral reefs and geomorphic zones, correlate with increased numbers of both crown-of-thorns starfish, and sea surface temperature in 2007. Detecting change in CCA6 by remote sensing can provide large-scale information of value for coral reef management, restoration, and protection.

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Section: Trends On Reefs In the Western Xisha Islandsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Using Landsat Data to Detect Change in Live to Recently (<6 Months) Dead Coral Cover in the Western Xisha Islands, South China Sea

Zuo

Zhang

et al. 2020

Sustainability

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“…The latest research indicates that there is great zonal difference within atolls and table reefs in the SCS, and the common zones are reef slopes, reef crests, the biotic sparse zones of the reef flat, the biotic dense zones of the reef flat, and lagoons [36][37][38]. Field benthic community videos at 54 sites in different geomorphic and ecological zones on eight atolls and table reefs of Xisha Islands were recorded from 1 to 7 June 2014.…”

Section: Field Survey and Data Extractionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The inventory of geomorphic and ecological zones was guided by satellite imagery from Landsat ETM+ and mapped using the satellite image in the ArcGIS 10.2 software. Those zones were distinguished based on color and texture differences presented on the satellite images [36], just as we supposed that color and texture differences indicated diverse habitats. Ground verification of geomorphic and ecological zones was realized by following 20 m transects across the reef where the substrate has visual changes on the remote sensing image.…”

Section: Field Survey and Data Extractionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Exposed patch reefs in the lagoon in the SCS have clear but narrow zones (slope, crest, patchy flats). Some parts of the patchy flat have coral distribution similar to the reef flat biotic dense zone, while some parts have low hard coral cover [36]. Zones of patch reefs may have the same response as reef slope, reef crest, biotic sparse zone of reef flat or biotic dense zone of reef flat to global warming and SLR scenarios.…”

Section: Synergistic Impacts Of Global Warming and Sea-level Risementioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatially Modeling the Synergistic Impacts of Global Warming and Sea-Level Rise on Coral Reefs in the South China Sea

Zuo

et al. 2021

Remote Sensing

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Global warming and sea-level rise (SLR) induced by rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations can cause coral bleaching, death, and submergence of the world’s coral reefs. Adopting the GIS and RS methods, we modeled how these two stressors combine to influence the future growth of the atolls and table reefs of three archipelagoes in the South China Sea (SCS), based on geomorphic and ecological zones. A large-scale survey of the coral communities in Xisha Islands in 2014, Dongsha Islands in 2014–2016 and Nansha Islands in 2007 provided zone-specific process datasets on the range of reef accretion rates. Sea surface temperature and extreme (minimum and maximum) SLR data above 1985–2005 levels by 2100 in the SCS were derived from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) models forced with the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). Our model projected that: (1) the Xisha Islands and Dongsha Islands may have a better growth status, because the reef flat biotic sparse zone may be recolonized with hard coral and become a biotic dense zone; (2) the southern Nansha Islands reefs have a risk of stopping growing due to their earlier annual bleaching years. The increasing of water depths of these reefs is stronger in the RCP with more emissions. Our approach offers insights into the best-case and worst-case impacts of two global environmental pressures on potential future reef growth under a changing climate.

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“…The Xisha Islands in the central South China Sea consist of different types of coral reefs with important ecological and biodiversity value ( Wang et al, 2011 ; Yang et al, 2015 ; Zuo et al, 2017 ), providing an ideal area to study microbial biodiversity. Previous studies have shown that many coral reefs of the Xisha Islands are being threatened or have already degraded over the past few decades ( Shi et al, 2012 ; Hughes et al, 2013 ; Ding et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Composition and assembly of the bacterial community in the overlying waters of the coral reef of China’s Xisha Islands

Liu

Xie²,

Wu³

et al. 2022

Front. Microbiol.

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Coral reef ecosystems are one of the most diverse and productive habitats on Earth. Microbes in the reef-overlying waters are key players in maintaining this ecosystem through regulating biogeochemical and ecological processes. However, the composition structure and assembly mechanism of microbial community in the reef-overlying waters remain largely unknown. In the present study, the bacterial communities from the overlying waters of atolls and fringing reefs as well as the surface waters of the adjacent open ocean of the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea were investigated using 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing combined with a size-fractionation strategy. The results showed that environments of all sampling stations were similar, characterized by an almost complete lack of inorganic nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Bacteroidetes were the dominant phyla, and Synechococcus was most abundant at the genus level in both large fraction (LF; 1.6–200 μm) and small fraction (SF; 0.2–1.6 μm) communities. Only a slight difference in community composition between LF and SF samples was observed. The bacterial communities among the three habitat types showed noticeable differences, and the bacterial composition among the atoll reefs was more varied than that among the fringing reefs. The similarity of bacterial communities significantly declined with the increasing geographic distance, and stochastic processes were more important than deterministic processes in bacterial community assembly. This study sheds lights on the bacterial biodiversity of coral reefs and the importance of stochastic process in structuring bacterial communities.

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Regional hard coral distribution within geomorphic and reef flat ecological zones determined by satellite imagery of the Xisha Islands, South China Sea

Cited by 10 publications

References 30 publications

Using Landsat Data to Detect Change in Live to Recently (<6 Months) Dead Coral Cover in the Western Xisha Islands, South China Sea

Using Landsat Data to Detect Change in Live to Recently (<6 Months) Dead Coral Cover in the Western Xisha Islands, South China Sea

Spatially Modeling the Synergistic Impacts of Global Warming and Sea-Level Rise on Coral Reefs in the South China Sea

Composition and assembly of the bacterial community in the overlying waters of the coral reef of China’s Xisha Islands

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