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Republic Of The Marshall Islands Coral Bleaching Report
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2014
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[PDF-6.72 MB]
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Alternative Title:Produced for;Marshall Islands Coastal Management Advisory Council (CMAC) and;NOAA Coral Watch;
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Description:The worst coral bleaching event ever recorded for the Marshall Islands has been occurring since about mid-September. Sea surface temperatures have been high since July. Thermal stress has been dropping off slowly since the third week of November. The event saw the highest bleaching impacts from mid-September through October, with evidence of bleaching as recent as mid-December. This has very significant consequences for coral reef health, food security, and coastal protection. This report serves multiple purposes: -The scale of the observations and locations may allow NOAA Coral Watch to calibrate/valid​ate their 5km thermal stress monitoring products. -It underscores the importance of herbivores in maintaining clean surfaces for coral recruitment. This may lead to a greater emphasis on limiting fishing of herbivores before, during, and after an event. -Photos may be used by others to further identify species resistant and vulnerable to certain bleaching thresholds, given the range of growth forms and depth considerations observed. -Rationale for obtaining dedicated funding in coral reef monitoring programs to rapidly respond to events as they occur. More comprehensive monitoring is needed, and sites need to be revisited to assess whether assumptions made about adequate herbivore grazing vs. collapse of algae-covered skeletal structures are correct. This can also inform whether later stage bleaching under lower thermal stress than what was observed at the onset is low enough to allow for repopulation of zooxanthellae in some cases.
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Sea Grant Document Number:HAWAU-T-14-001
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Document Type:
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Rights Information:Public Domain
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Compliance:Library
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