Abundance, Size, And Survival Of Recruits Of The Reef Coral Pocillopora Acuta Under Ocean Warming And Acidification

Bahr, Keisha D.; Tran, Tiana; Jury, Christopher P.; Toonen, Robert J.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0228168

i

Abundance, Size, And Survival Of Recruits Of The Reef Coral Pocillopora Acuta Under Ocean Warming And Acidification

2020
By Bahr, Keisha D. ; Tran, Tiana ; Jury, Christopher P. ; ...

Details

Journal Title:

PLoS One
Personal Author:

Bahr, Keisha D. ; Tran, Tiana ; Jury, Christopher P. ; Toonen, Robert J.
NOAA Program & Office:

Sea Grant ; OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research)
Sea Grant Program:

HAWAU (Hawaii Sea Grant)
Description:

Ocean warming and acidification are among the greatest threats to coral reefs. Massive coral bleaching events are becoming increasingly common and are predicted to be more severe and frequent in the near future, putting corals reefs in danger of ecological collapse. This study quantified the abundance, size, and survival of the coral Pocillopora acuta under future projections of ocean warming and acidification. Flow-through mesocosms were exposed to current and future projections of ocean warming and acidification in a factorial design for 22 months. Neither ocean warming or acidification, nor their combination, influenced the size or abundance of P. acuta recruits, but heating impacted subsequent health and survival of the recruits. During annual maximum temperatures, coral recruits in heated tanks experienced higher levels of bleaching and subsequent mortality. Results of this study indicate that P. acuta is able to recruit under projected levels of ocean warming and acidification but are susceptible to bleaching and mortality during the warmest months.
Keywords:

Coral Reefs And Islands Global Warming Ocean Acidification Coral Reefs And Islands Global Warming Ocean Acidification
Source:

PLoS ONE 15(2): e0228168
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228168
Sea Grant Document Number:

HAWAU-R-20-005
Document Type:

Journal Article
Rights Information:

CC BY
Compliance:

Library
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha256:72c016932a1a979d44b32fe8728b9c5d76b171bd57aadf84d45fc95560fcf08a
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/37339/noaa_37339_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 1.22 MB ]

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