Post-bleaching alterations in coral reef communities.

Autor: Elma E; School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: e.elma2@newcastle.ac.uk., Gullström M; School of Natural Sciences, Technology and Environmental Studies, Södertörn University, Huddinge, Sweden., Yahya SAS; Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, Tanzania., Jouffray JB; Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden., East HK; Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK., Nyström M; Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Marine pollution bulletin [Mar Pollut Bull] 2023 Jan; Vol. 186, pp. 114479. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Dec 21.
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114479
Abstrakt: We explored the extent of post-bleaching impacts, caused by the 2014-2016 El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event, on benthic community structure (BCS) and herbivores (fish and sea urchins) on seven fringing reefs, with differing protection levels, in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Results showed post-bleaching alterations in BCS, with up to 68 % coral mortality and up to 48 % increase in turf algae cover in all reef sites. Herbivorous fish biomass increased after bleaching and was correlated with turf algae increase in some reefs, while the opposite was found for sea urchin densities, with significant declines and complete absence. The severity of the impact varied across individual reefs, with larger impact on the protected reefs, compared to the unprotected reefs. Our study provides a highly relevant reference point to guide future research and contributes to our understanding of post-bleaching impacts, trends, and evaluation of coral reef health and resilience in the region.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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