Increasing comparability among coral bleaching experiments

Temperature Stress and Coral Bleaching

Coral bleaching--how and why?

Bleaching refers to the loss of colour in symbioses between dinoflagellate algae of the genus Symbiodinium and marine benthic animals, e.g. corals. Bleaching generally results in depressed growth and increased mortality, and it can be considered as a deleterious physiological response or ailment. An explanatory framework for the causes of bleaching comprises three elements: the external factors...

Turning up the Heat: Increasing Temperature and Coral Bleaching at the High Latitude Coral Reefs of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands

BACKGROUND Coral reefs face increasing pressures particularly when on the edge of their distributions. The Houtman Abrolhos Islands (Abrolhos) are the southernmost coral reef system in the Indian Ocean, and one of the highest latitude reefs in the world. These reefs have a unique mix of tropical and temperate marine fauna and flora and support 184 species of coral, dominated by Acropora species...

Boring sponges, an increasing threat for coral reefs affected by bleaching events

Coral bleaching is a stress response of corals induced by a variety of factors, but these events have become more frequent and intense in response to recent climate-change-related temperature anomalies. We tested the hypothesis that coral reefs affected by bleaching events are currently heavily infested by boring sponges, which are playing a significant role in the destruction of their physical...

Coral diseases and bleaching on Colombian Caribbean coral reefs.

Since 1998 the National Monitoring System for the Coral Reefs of Colombia (SIMAC) has monitored the occurrence of coral bleaching and diseases in some Colombian coral reefs (permanent stations at San Andres Island, Rosario Islands, Tayrona, San Bernardo Islands and Urabá). The main purpose is to evaluate their health status and to understand the factors that have been contributing to their decl...