Publications des scientifiques de l'IRD

Penin L., Vidal-Dupiol J., Adjeroud Mehdi. (2013). Response of coral assemblages to thermal stress: are bleaching intensity and spatial patterns consistent between events ?. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 185 (6), p. 5031-5042. ISSN 0167-6369.

Titre du document
Response of coral assemblages to thermal stress: are bleaching intensity and spatial patterns consistent between events ?
Année de publication
2013
Type de document
Article référencé dans le Web of Science WOS:000318503100041
Auteurs
Penin L., Vidal-Dupiol J., Adjeroud Mehdi
Source
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2013, 185 (6), p. 5031-5042 ISSN 0167-6369
Mass bleaching events resulting in coral mortality are among the greatest threats to coral reefs, and are projected to increase in frequency and intensity with global warming. Achieving a better understanding of the consistency of the response of coral assemblages to thermal stress, both spatially and temporally, is essential to determine which reefs are more able to tolerate climate change. We compared variations in spatial and taxonomic patterns between two bleaching events at the scale of an island (Moorea Island, French Polynesia). Despite similar thermal stress and light conditions, bleaching intensity was significantly lower in 2007 (approximately 37 % of colonies showed signs of bleaching) than in 2002, when 55 % of the colonies bleached. Variations in the spatial patterns of bleaching intensity were consistent between the two events. Among nine sampling stations at three locations and three depths, the stations at which the bleaching response was lowest in 2002 were those that showed the lowest levels of bleaching in 2007. The taxonomic patterns of susceptibility to bleaching were also consistent between the two events. These findings have important implications for conservation because they indicate that corals are capable of acclimatization and/or adaptation and that, even at small spatial scales, some areas are consistently more susceptible to bleaching than others.
Plan de classement
Limnologie physique / Océanographie physique [032] ; Ecologie, systèmes aquatiques [036]
Description Géographique
POLYNESIE FRANCAISE ; MOOREA
Localisation
Fonds IRD [F B010060344]
Identifiant IRD
fdi:010060344
Contact