Research
Rapid change in coral composition alters the footprint of mass bleaching
Current Biology · By Mike McWilliam, Terry P. Hughes, Andrew H. Baird, Peter C. Doll, Genevieve Hennessy, Nicholas L. James, Kelsey M. Kingsbury, Emily J. Pertile & Morgan S. Pratchett ·
The Brief
- McWilliam et al. report that the severity of recent coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef depends on climate stress accumulated over the preceding 8 years.
- The study links bleaching severity to changes in coral community composition during that period.
- Rapidly recovering coral assemblages were more likely to undergo severe bleaching, according to the study summary.
Why it matters
Bleaching severity appears to depend on prior stress history and on which corals make up a reef, not only on current temperatures, which could matter for how reef damage is predicted and monitored.
Who’s affected
- marine ecologists and coral reef researchers
- reef managers and anyone with a stake in Great Barrier Reef conservation
- #coral-bleaching
- #great-barrier-reef
- #coral-reefs
- #climate-change
- #marine-ecology
McWilliam et al. show that the severity of recent coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef is contingent on accumulating climate stress and associated change in coral composition in the preceding 8 years. Rapidly recovering coral assemblages were more likely to undergo severe…
Timeline
Study by McWilliam et al. published in Current Biology
cell.com
Rapid change in coral composition alters the footprint of mass bleaching