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Improved water quality can ameliorate effects of climate change on corals
Author(s) -
Wooldridge Scott A.,
Done Terence J.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
ecological applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.864
H-Index - 213
eISSN - 1939-5582
pISSN - 1051-0761
DOI - 10.1890/08-0963.1
Subject(s) - reef , coral reef , coral bleaching , coral , climate change , resilience of coral reefs , ecology , anthozoa , environmental science , resistance (ecology) , aquaculture of coral , biology , oceanography , geology
The threats of wide‐scale coral bleaching and reef demise associated with anthropogenic climate change are widely known. Moreover, rates of genetic adaptation and/or changes in the coral–zooxanthella partnerships are considered unlikely to be sufficiently fast for corals to acquire increased physiological resistance to increasing sea temperatures and declining pH. However, it has been suggested that coral reef resilience to climate change may be improved by good local management of coral reefs, including management of water quality. Here, using major data sets from the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, we investigate geographic patterns of coral bleaching in 1998 and 2002 and outline a synergism between heat stress and nutrient flux as a major causative mechanism for those patterns. The study provides the first concrete evidence for the oft‐expressed belief that improved coral reef management will increase the regional‐scale survival prospects of coral reefs to global climate change.