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Coral reef collapse in South-Central Vietnam: a consequence of multiple negative effects

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Abstract

Repeated coral reef surveys conducted in 2016–2021 in the coastal area of Nui Chua National Park in Ninh Thuan Province (South-Central Vietnam), formerly one of the richest coral areas in the Vietnamese coastal waters of the South China Sea, revealed dramatic degradation of coral communities over a five-year period. Coral cover decreased by 93% and coral diversity by six-fold. This phenomenon has resulted from a long-term outbreak of crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster sp. (COTS) reinforced by sea surface temperature anomalies in June 2019. The last survey, conducted in the target monitoring site in May 2021, revealed that the outbreak of COTS had ceased together with the disappearance of food sources for this starfish. Predator removal caused by overfishing and to some degree, nutrient enrichment resulting from the local seasonal upwelling, apparently determined the extent of the COTS outbreak. Degraded upstream coral reefs in the adjacent districts do not suggest coral recovery in this area in the near future.

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Data Availability Statement

The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Joint Vietnam—Russia Tropical Science and Technology Research Center, Ecolan 3.1, Task 4. We are grateful to the NCNP headquarters for permitting the coral surveys and assistance in the field work and the two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments which allowed us to improve the quality of the first draft. The manuscript was edited by Proof-Reading-Service.com.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Samara State University of Social Sciences and Education, 65/67, Maxim Gorky St., Samara, 443099, Russia

    Konstantin S. Tkachenko

  2. Coastal Branch of the Joint Vietnam–Russia Tropical Science and Technology Research Center, Nguyen Van Huyen, Nghia Do, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Vu V. Dung & Vo T. Ha

  3. Nha Trang Institute of Oceanography, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 1 Cau Da Street, Nha Trang, 650000, Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam

    Nguyen H. Huan

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  1. Konstantin S. Tkachenko
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KST was involved in formal analysis, visualization, investigation, methodology, data collection and curation and writing—original draft. VTH and VVD were involved in data collection and funding acquisition. NHH was involved in Chl-a data acquisition. KST and NHH were involved in supervision.

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Correspondence to Konstantin S. Tkachenko.

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Tkachenko, K.S., Dung, V.V., Ha, V.T. et al. Coral reef collapse in South-Central Vietnam: a consequence of multiple negative effects. Aquat Ecol 57, 65–83 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-022-09994-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-022-09994-2

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