Hurricanes benefit bleached corals

Recent, global mass-mortalities of reef corals due to record warm sea temperatures have led researchers to consider global warming as one of the most significant threats to the persistence of coral reef ecosystems. The passage of a hurricane can alleviate thermal stress on coral reefs, highlighting...

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Published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 104; no. 29; pp. 12035 - 12039
Main Authors Manzello, Derek P, Brandt, Marilyn, Smith, Tyler B, Lirman, Diego, Hendee, James C, Nemeth, Richard S
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States National Academy of Sciences 17.07.2007
National Acad Sciences
Subjects
Animals
Anthozoa - physiology
Biological Sciences
Bleaching
Cold Temperature
Cooling
Coral reefs
Corals
Data Collection
Disasters
Environmental science
Florida
Global warming
Heating
Hurricanes
Marine
Oceans and Seas
Reefs
Regression Analysis
Seas
Storms
Symbiosis
Thermal stress
Time Factors
Wind velocity
Florida
Virgin Islands-US
ASW, USA, Florida, Florida Reef
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Summary:Recent, global mass-mortalities of reef corals due to record warm sea temperatures have led researchers to consider global warming as one of the most significant threats to the persistence of coral reef ecosystems. The passage of a hurricane can alleviate thermal stress on coral reefs, highlighting the potential for hurricane-associated cooling to mitigate climate change impacts. We provide evidence that hurricane-induced cooling was responsible for the documented differences in the extent and recovery time of coral bleaching between the Florida Reef Tract and the U.S. Virgin Islands during the Caribbean-wide 2005 bleaching event. These results are the only known scenario where the effects of a hurricane can benefit a stressed marine community.
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Author contributions: M.B., T.B.S., and R.S.N. performed research; D.P.M., M.B., T.B.S., D.L., and J.C.H. analyzed data; and D.P.M. and M.B. wrote the paper.
Edited by Erica Hendy, Columbia University, New York, NY, and accepted by the Editorial Board June 7, 2007
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0701194104