Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Coral Bleaching in Space and Time

  • Chapter
Coral Bleaching

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 205))

Abstract

Large-scale coral bleaching was recorded as early as 1931, but severe bleaching on a regional or global scale was not documented until 1983. We use records from a global database of bleaching records to show that severe bleaching events occurred at a global level on four recent occasions and demonstrate that these events occurred in close temporal proximity to a strong negative deviation in the Southern Oscillation Index. While there was no clear increase in the frequency or intensity of major global bleaching events, the number of bleaching records clearly increased during the past three decades. However, increased vigilance and reporting of mild bleaching by an ever-increasing number of researchers and conservation-minded divers has confounded efforts to definitively separate changes in bleaching frequency from changes in reporting.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Berkelmans R, Oliver J (1999) Large scale bleaching of corals on the Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 18:55–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkelmans R, Deɺth G, Kininmonth S, Skirving W (2004) A comparison of the 1998 and 2002 coral bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef: spatial correlation, patterns, and predictions. Coral Reefs 23:74–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown BE (1987) Worldwide death of corals — natural cyclical events or man-made pollution? Mar Pollut Bull 18:9–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coffroth MA, Lasker HA, Oliver JK (1990) Coral mortality outside of the eastern Pacific during 1982–1983: relationship to El Niño. In: Glynn PW (ed) Global ecological consequences of the 1982–83 El Niño—Southern Oscillation. (Elsevier oceanography series) Elsevier, New York, pp 141–182

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Donner SD, Skirving WJ, Little CM, Oppenheimer M, Hoegh-Guldberg O (2005) Global assessment of coral bleaching and required rates of adaptation under climate change. Global Change Biol 11:2251–2265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donner SD, Knutson TR, Oppenheimer M (2007) Model-based assessment of the role of human-induced climate change in the 2005 Caribbean coral bleaching event. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:5483–5488

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fabricius KE (2006) Effects of irradiance, flow, and colony pigmentation on the temperature microenvironment around corals: implications for coral bleaching? Limnol Ocean 51:30–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW (1983) Extensive “bleaching” and death of reef corals on the Pacific coast of Panama. Environ Conserv 10:149–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW (1984) Widespread coral mortality and the 1982–83 El Niño warming event. Environ Conserv 11:133–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW (1990) Coral mortality and disturbances to coral reefs in the tropical eastern Pacific. In: Glynn PW (ed) Global ecological consequences of the 1982–83 El Niño—Southern Oscillation. (Elsevier oceanography series) Elsevier, New York, pp 55–126

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW (1991) Coral reef bleaching in the 1980s and possible connections with global warming. Trends Ecol Evol 6:175–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW (1993) Coral reef bleaching: ecological perspectives. Coral Reefs 12:1–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW (1996) Coral reef bleaching: facts, hypotheses and implications. Global Change Biol 2:495–509

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW (2000) El Niño—Southern Oscillation mass mortalities of reef corals: a model of high temperature marine extinctions. In: Insalaco E, Skelton PW, Palmer TJ (eds) Carbonate platform systems: components and interactions. Geol Soc Lond Spec Pub 178:117–133

    Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW (2002) Effects of the 1997–98 El Niño—Southern Oscillation on eastern Pacific corals and coral reefs: an overview. In: Moosa MK, Soemodihardjo S, Soegiarto A, Romimohtarto K, Nontji A, Soekarno, Suharsono (eds) Proc Int Coral Reef Symp 9-2:1169–1174

    Google Scholar 

  • Goreau TF (1964) Mass expulsion of zooxanthellae from Jamaican coral reef communities after hurricane Flora. Science 145:383–386

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goreau TJ, Hayes RL (1994) Coral bleaching and ocean hot spots. Ambio 23:176–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoegh-Guldberg O (1999) Climate change, coral bleaching and the future of the world's coral reefs. Mar Freshwater Res 50:839–866

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes TP, Baird AH, Bellwood DR, Card M, Connolly SR, Folke, Grosberg R, Hoegh-Guldberg O, Jackson JBC, Kleypas J, Lough JM, Marshall P, Nyström M, Palumbi SR, Pandolfi JM, Rosen B, Roughgarden J (2003) Climate change, human impacts, and the resilience of coral reefs. Science 301:929–933

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huppert A, Stone L (1998) Chaos in the Pacific's coral bleaching cycle. Am Nat 152:447–458

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mantua NJ, Hare SR, Zhang Y, Wallace JM, Francis RC (1997) A Pacific interdecadal climate oscillation with impacts on salmon production. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 78:1069–1079

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manzello DP, Berkelmans R, Hendee JC (2007) Coral bleaching indices and thresholds for the Florida Reef Tract, Bahamas, and St Croix, US Virgin Islands. Mar Pollut Bull 54:1923–1931

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall P, Shuttenberg H (2006) A reef managers guide to coral bleaching. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer AG (1914) The effects of temperature on tropical marine animals. Carnegie Inst Washington Pap Tort Lab 6:1–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Michalek-Wagner K, Willis BL (2001) Impacts of bleaching on the soft coralLobophytum com-pactum. II. Fecundity, fertilization and offspring viability. Coral Reefs 19:231–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oliver J (1985) Recurrent seasonal bleaching and mortality of corals on the Great Barrier Reef. In: Gabrie C, Salvat B (eds) Proc Int Coral Reef Congr 5-4:201–212

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver J, Marshall P, Setiasih N, Hansen, L (2004) A global protocol for assessment and monitoring of coral bleaching. WorldFish Center, Penang/WWF Indonesia, Jakarta

    Google Scholar 

  • Salm RV, Coles SL (eds) (2001) Coral bleaching and marine protected areas. (Proceedings of the workshop on mitigating coral bleaching impact through MPA design, Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii, 29-31 May 2001. Asia Pacific coastal marine program report 0102) The Nature Conservancy, Honolulu

    Google Scholar 

  • Shinn EA (1961) Coral growth-rate: an environmental indicator. J Paleontol 40:233–240

    Google Scholar 

  • Skirving W, Heron M, Heron S (2006) The hydrodynamics of a bleaching event: implications for management and monitoring. In: Phinney JT, Hoegh-Guldberg O, Kleypas J, Skirving W, Strong A (eds) Coral reefs and climate change science and management. (Coastal and estua-rine studies 61) American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C., pp 145–161

    Google Scholar 

  • Trenberth, KE, Hurrell JW (1994) Decadal atmosphere—ocean variations in the Pacific. Clim Dyn 9: 303–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wellington GM, Glynn PW (2007) Responses of coral reefs to El Niño—Southern Oscillation sea-warming events. In: Aronson RB (ed) Geological approaches to coral reef ecology. Springer, New York, pp 342–385

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Whelan KR, Miller TJ, Sanchez O, Patterson M (2007) Impact of the 2005 coral bleaching event onPorites porites and Colpophyllia natans at Tektite reef, US Virgin Islands. Coral Reefs 26:689–693

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson CR (1998) Status of coral reefs of the world: 1998. Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson CR (2000) Status of coral reefs of the world: 2000. Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson CR (2002) Status of coral reefs of the world: 2002. Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson C, Souter D (2008) Status of Caribbean coral reefs after bleaching and hurricanes in 2005. Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network and Reef and Rainforest Research Centre, Townsville

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams EH, Bunkley-Williams L (1990) The worldwide coral bleaching cycle and related sources of coral mortality. Atoll Res Bull 335:1–71

    Google Scholar 

  • Wooldridge S, Done T (2004) Learning to predict large-scale coral bleaching from past events: a Bayesian approach using remotely sensed data, in situ data, and environmental proxies. Coral Reefs 23:96–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wooldridge S, Brodie J, Furnas M (2006) Exposure of inner-shelf reefs to nutrient enriched runoff entering the Great Barrier Reef lagoon: post-European changes and the design of water quality targets. Mar Pollut Bull 52:1467–1479

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yonge CM, Nicholls AG (1931) The structure, distribution and physiology of the zooxanthellae. (Studies on the physiology of corals IV) Sci Rep Great Barrier Reef Exped 1928–29 1:135–176

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The WorldFish Center, PO Box 500, GPO 10670, Penang, Malaysia

    J. K. Oliver

  2. Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville MC, Queensland, 4810, Australia

    R. Berkelmans

  3. NOAA Coral Reef Watch, 1335 East West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland, 20910-3226, USA

    C. M. Eakin

Authors
  1. J. K. Oliver
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. Berkelmans
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. C. M. Eakin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to J. K. Oliver , R. Berkelmans or C. M. Eakin .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville MC, Queensland, 4810, Australia

    Madeleine J. H. van Oppen  & Janice M. Lough  & 

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Oliver, J.K., Berkelmans, R., Eakin, C.M. (2009). Coral Bleaching in Space and Time. In: van Oppen, M.J.H., Lough, J.M. (eds) Coral Bleaching. Ecological Studies, vol 205. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69775-6_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation