Temperature patterns and mechanisms influencing coral bleaching during the 2016 El Niño

Tim R. McClanahan (), Emily S. Darling, Joseph M. Maina, Nyawira A. Muthiga, Stéphanie D ’agata, Stacy D. Jupiter, Rohan Arthur, Shaun K. Wilson, Sangeeta Mangubhai, Yashika Nand, Ali M. Ussi, Austin T. Humphries, Vardhan J. Patankar, Mireille M. M. Guillaume, Sally A. Keith, George Shedrawi, Pagu Julius, Gabriel Grimsditch, January Ndagala and Julien Leblond
Additional contact information
Tim R. McClanahan: Global Marine Program
Emily S. Darling: Global Marine Program
Joseph M. Maina: Global Marine Program
Nyawira A. Muthiga: Global Marine Program
Stéphanie D ’agata: Global Marine Program
Stacy D. Jupiter: Global Marine Program
Rohan Arthur: Nature Conservation Foundation
Shaun K. Wilson: Marine Science Program
Sangeeta Mangubhai: Global Marine Program
Yashika Nand: Fiji Country Program
Ali M. Ussi: The State University of Zanzibar
Austin T. Humphries: University of Rhode Island
Vardhan J. Patankar: Centre for Wildlife Studies
Mireille M. M. Guillaume: Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Aviv, Laboratoire BOrEA MNHN-SU-CNRS-IRD-UCN-UA EcoFunc
Sally A. Keith: Lancaster University
George Shedrawi: Marine Science Program, Department of Parks and Wildlife
Pagu Julius: Mafia Island Marine Park
Gabriel Grimsditch: International Union for the Conservation of Nature—Maldives
January Ndagala: Tanga Coelacanth Marine Park
Julien Leblond: Madagascar Program

Nature Climate Change, 2019, vol. 9, issue 11, 845-851

Abstract: Abstract Under extreme heat stress, corals expel their symbiotic algae and colour (that is, ‘bleaching’), which often leads to widespread mortality. Predicting the large-scale environmental conditions that reinforce or mitigate coral bleaching remains unresolved and limits strategic conservation actions1,2. Here we assessed coral bleaching at 226 sites and 26 environmental variables that represent different mechanisms of stress responses from East Africa to Fiji through a coordinated effort to evaluate the coral response to the 2014–2016 El Niño/Southern Oscillation thermal anomaly. We applied common time-series methods to study the temporal patterning of acute thermal stress and evaluated the effectiveness of conventional and new sea surface temperature metrics and mechanisms in predicting bleaching severity. The best models indicated the importance of peak hot temperatures, the duration of cool temperatures and temperature bimodality, which explained ~50% of the variance, compared to the common degree-heating week temperature index that explained only 9%. Our findings suggest that the threshold concept as a mechanism to explain bleaching alone was not as powerful as the multidimensional interactions of stresses, which include the duration and temporal patterning of hot and cold temperature extremes relative to average local conditions.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41558-019-0576-8

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