African dust and the demise of Caribbean Coral Reefs

• Published in: Geophysical research letters Vol. 27; no. 19; pp. 3029 - 3032
• Main Authors: Shinn, Eugene A., Smith, Garriet W., Prospero, Joseph M., Betzer, Peter, Hayes, Marshall L., Garrison, Virginia, Barber, Richard T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.10.2000; American Geophysical Union
• Subjects: Africa; Aspergillus; Aspergillus syndowii; Caribbean Region; Clay; Diadema; Dust; Earth, ocean, space; Ecosystems; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Fungi; Physics of the oceans; Sea-air exchange processes; Caribbean Sea; West Atlantic; ASW, Caribbean Sea; Transport process; Coral reef; Atmospheric fallout; Biological effect; Atmospheric dust
• ISSN: 0094-8276; 1944-8007
• DOI: 10.1029/2000GL011599

The vitality of Caribbean coral reefs has undergone a continual state of decline since the late 1970s, a period of time coincidental with large increases in transatlantic dust transport. It is proposed that the hundreds of millions of tons/year of soil dust that have been crossing the Atlantic during the last 25 years could be a significant contributor to coral reef decline and may be affecting other ecosystems. Benchmark events, such as near synchronous Caribbean‐wide mortalities of acroporid corals and the urchin Diadema in 1983, and coral bleaching beginning in 1987, correlate with the years of maximum dust flux into the Caribbean. Besides crustal elements, in particular Fe, Si, and aluminosilicate clays, the dust can serve as a substrate for numerous species of viable spores, especially the soil fungus Aspergillus. Aspergillus sydowii, the cause of an ongoing Caribbean‐wide seafan disease, has been cultured from Caribbean air samples and used to inoculate sea fans.