Mortality patterns and recovery challenges in Millepora alcicornis after mass bleaching event on Northeast Brazilian reefs.

Autor: Vidal TJ; Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Oceanography, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. Electronic address: thales.vidal@ufpe.br., Gouveia NA; Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Oceanography, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil., Müller MN; Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Oceanography, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil., da Silveira CBL; Federal University of Bahia, Department of Oceanography, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil., Maida M; Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Oceanography, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil., Ferreira BP; Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Oceanography, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Marine environmental research [Mar Environ Res] 2024 Nov 22; Vol. 204, pp. 106864. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Nov 22.
DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106864
Abstrakt: Coral reefs are suffering globally from the increased frequency and intensification of thermal anomalies, caused by anthropogenic climate change, leading to major mass bleaching events over the past three decades. Environmental factors, including temperature, geomorphology, interspecific competition, protection status and local settings, can modulate the severity of bleaching and the subsequent survival capacity of corals and hydrocorals after mass bleaching events. However, the complexity of environmental factors interacting over fine-scale spatial-temporal scales is still a major gap in understanding coral bleaching events of South Atlantic reefs. Here, we examined mortality and recovery patterns of the predominant hydrocoral species Millepora alcicornis after a mass bleaching event at the Northeastern coast of Brazil in 2019-2020. The ecological impact was evaluated by analyzing spatial factors, coral morphology, protection status and mortality rates in combination with the subsequent recovery potential influenced by overgrowth competition of dominant benthic organisms. The results indicate that hydrocorals located in proximity to the shore and shallow depths were more vulnerable with mortality rates of up to 90%, presumably related to higher light and temperature fluctuations. A total coral cover loss of approx. 50% was estimated for M. alcicornis within the study area and dead skeletons were overgrown by algal turfs and crustose coralline algae with the former being the predominant colonizer. In summary, our findings reveal fin-scale heterogeneous spatial vulnerability within the same coastal reef complex, indicating zones of high coral mortality. The described heterogeneous spatial vulnerability of the studied reef complex is an important factor to be considered in coral reef restauration and management plans to secure coral ecosystem services for the coming decades.
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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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