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Palau’s coral reefs show differential habitat recovery following the 1998-bleaching event  (summary by Audrey)

3/19/2018

2 Comments

 
Citation:
Golbuu, Y., Victor, S., Penland, L., Idip, D., Emaurois, C., Okaji, K., . . . Woesik, R. V. (2007). Palau’s coral reefs show differential habitat recovery following the 1998-bleaching event. Coral Reefs,26(2), 319-332. doi:10.1007/s00338-007-0200-7


Purpose:
Golbuu et al. examine coral species variation, recruitment, and recovery rates in Palau, Micronesia following a dramatic bleaching event in 1998. Coral bleaching is a significant threat to coral diversity and is ultimately caused by rising ocean temperatures. The authors express that it is necessary to assess these Palauan reefs to make predictions on how corals can respond to climate change in the future.   


Methods:
The authors examined 13 permanent study sites of varying reef habitat types in 2001, 2002, and 2004 using digital-video analysis and random transect sampling to define the presence and abundance of coral recruits. Statistical tests were used to determine significant differences in coral recruitment and cover of common coral species over time and at different habitat types and depths.


Results:
The amount of coral present increased over time in the more sheltered bays (e.g. Nikko Bay), and they supported significantly different colonies of corals than the reefs being exposed to more wave action. The more exposed reefs had high levels of new colony formation (recruitment). Therefore, Palau’s coral reefs can recover rapidly from disturbance because they’re either protected from the disturbance itself or establishing new coral colonies from larvae that came from those protected reefs.   


Significance for Palau:
The authors of this study concluded that Palau’s coral reefs exhibited remarkable recovery rates after the bleaching event in 1998. In fact, several coral reefs in Palau have demonstrated an observable resistance to bleaching – either due to their toughness, their resilience, or their environment. Nikko Bay is an especially interesting reef in the context of coral bleaching resistance. Its waters are highly acidic due to a combination of coral respiration, coral skeleton formation, and lack of water movement. This extreme climate has made the corals better adapted to dramatic changes in environmental conditions. Furthermore, reefs off the rock islands can also effectively resist bleaching due to the shade given off from the islands themselves. This shading results in lower temperatures and can keep the coral alive. If these resistant reefs are protected from anthropogenic threats, they could be the key to preserving Palau’s coral species.
2 Comments
Zakery T Ward
4/2/2018 04:18:50 am

Reading this blog post and the paper on the coral reefs recovering was like a ray of sun shine in a massive storm. The reefs in Palau may help with finding ways to help other reefs being affected. In the paper they discussed how the smaller colonies were able to bare the new load better than the larger ones. This could be an effective strategy for helping other reefs that have been effected by bleaching. However, there was a check to this. The recruitment level of the smaller colonies was much lower. The future plans are going to need to balance how they implement these strategies. This is still a ray of light in a dark tunnel.

Reply
Jack Zeng
4/16/2018 08:10:08 am

What quite interests me is that simply increasing the recruitment of corals is enough to increase the population. Coral recruitment, however, isn't the only important factor to consider in addressing coral bleaching. The coral polyps share a vital symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae, photosynthetic dinoflagellates that provide the main source of energy for coral polyps.
From what I learned in Diversity of Life II, when a coral is bleached, the polyps expel the zooxanthellae from their bodies. The corals lose color because the zooxanthellae provide the coloration for corals. Surprisingly, the corals aren't dead at least not immediately. Without the zooxanthellae, the polyps essentially can't gain enough energy to survive but if free-swimming zooxanthellae colonize the bleached corals, then the coral polyps will survive. Without the zooxanthellae, the coral polyps would die from starvation.

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    Rebecca Rundell & Jesse Czekanski-Moir

    Co-instructors, 2018

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