Abstract
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are one of the Union Territories of India, located in the eastern part of the Bay of Bengal. In 2010 summer, the increment in sea surface water temperature (up to 34°C) resulted in the bleaching of about 74% to 77% of corals in the South Andaman. During this event, coral species such as Acropora cerealis, A. humilis, Montipora sp., Favia pallida, Diploastrea sp., Goniopora sp. Fungia concinna, Gardineroseries sp., Porites sp., Favites abdita and Lobophyllia robusta were severely affected. This study is to assess the recovery status of the reef ecosystem by estimating the percentage of Live Coral cover, Bleached coral cover, Dead coral with algae, Rubble, Sandy flat, Algal assemblage and other associated organisms. The sedimentation rate (mg cm−2 d−1) and coral coverage (%) were assessed during this study period. The average sedimentation rate was ranged between 0.27 and 0.89 mg cm−2 d−1. The observed post bleaching recovery of coral cover was 21.1% at Port Blair Bay and 13.29% at Havelock Island. The mortality rate of coral cover due to this bleaching was estimated as 2.05% at Port Blair Bay and 9.82% at Havelock Island. Once the sea water temperature resumed back to the normal condition, most of the corals were found recovered.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arthur, R., 2000. Coral bleaching and mortality in three Indian reef regions during an El Niño Southern Oscillation event. Current Science, 79(12): 1723–1728.
Baird, A. H., and Marshall, P. A., 1998. Mass bleaching of corals of Great Barrier Reefs. Coral Reefs, 17: 376.
Celliers, L., and Schleyer, H. M., 2002. Coral bleaching on high-latitude marginal reefs at Sodwana Bay, South Africa. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 44: 1380–1387.
Cook, N., and Tao, E. K., 2010. Coral bleaching report. http://-www.coralwatch.org/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=899a9fc0-215a-4386-a58e-adc88a378a9d&groupId=10136.
Eakin, M., 2010. 2010 is bad year for coral reefs around the world. http://earthsky.org/biodiversity/mark-eakin-warm-oceans-causing-worldwide-coral-bleaching-in-2010.
English, S., Wilkinson, C., and Baker, V. 1997. Survey Manual for Tropical Marine Resource. Australian Institute of Marine Sciences, Townsville, Australia, 390pp.
IMD, 2010. Report on Rainfall Data for the Year 2010. India Meteorological Department, Port Blair, India, 12pp.
Klinthong, W., and Yeemin, T., 2011. An analysis of in situ seawater temperature measurement at Similan Island during the 2010 coral bleaching event. 37th Congress on Science and Technology of Thailand, Bangkok, Thailand, 1–5.
Krishnan, P., Roy, D. S., George, G., Srivastava, R. C., Anand, A., Murugesan, S., Kaliyamoorthy, M., Vikas, N., and Soundararajan, R., 2011. Elevated sea surface temperature during May 2010 induces mass bleaching of corals in the Andaman. Current Science, 100(1):111–117.
Kumaraguru, A. K., 2000. Coral reefs in the Gulf of Mannar and the conservation strategies required. Ecology, Environment and Conservation, 6(1): 1–12.
Kumaraguru, A. K., Jeyakumar, K., and Ramakritinan, C. M., 2003. Coral bleaching 2002 in the Palkbay, Southeast Coast of India. Current Science, 85(12): 1787–1793.
Marimuthu, N., Dharani, G., Vinithkumar, N. V., Vijayakumaran, M., and Kirubagaran, R., 2011. Recovery status of sea anemones from bleaching event of 2010 in the Andaman waters. Current Science, 101(6): 734–736.
Marimuthu, N., Wilson, J. J., and Kumaraguru, A. K., 2010. Reef status in the Mandapam group of Islands, Gulf of Mannar. Galaxea Journal of Coral Reef Studies, 12(2): 65–75.
NOAA., 2011. Report on Sea Surface Temperature Through National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service. http://www.ospd.noaa.gov/ml/ocean/sst/anomaly_2010.html.
Pearson, R. G., 1981. Recovery and recolonization of coral reefs. Marine Ecology Progressive Series, 4: 105–122.
Ravindran, J., Raghukumar, C., and Raghukumar, S., 1999. Disease and stress-induced mortality of corals in Indian reefs and observations on bleaching of corals in the Andamans. Current Science, 76(2): 233–237.
Sukresno, B., 2010. Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF) analysis of SST variability in Indonesian water concerning with ENSO and IOD. International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Science, 38(8): 116–121.
Suresh, V. R., 1991. Studies on the coral reefs of Lakshadweep. Ph.D. Thesis. Cochin University of Science and Technology, India.
Turner, J. R., Vousden, D., Klaus, R., Satyanarayana, C., Fenner, D., Venkataraman, K., Rajan, P. T., and Subba Rao, N. V., 2001. Remote sensing and rapid site assessment survey. In: Coral Reef Systems of the Andaman Island. Government of India and United Nations Development Programme, Global Environment Facility, 76pp.
Vinoth, R., Gopi, M., Thipramalai Kumar, T. T. A., Thangaradjou, T., and Balasubramanian, T., 2012. Coral reef bleaching at Agatti Island of Lakshadweep atolls, India. Journal of Ocean University of China, 11(1): 105–110.
Wafar, M. V. M., 1990. Global warming and coral reefs. In: Sea Level Variation and Its Impact on Coastal Environment. Tamil University Publication, Tamilnadu, 131: 411–432.
Wilson, J. J., Marimuthu, N., and Kumaraguru, A. K., 2005. Sedimentation of silt in the coral reef environment of southeast coast of India. Journal of Marine Biological Association of India, 47(1): 83–87.
Winter, A., Appealdoorn, R. S., Bruckner, A., Williams, Jr. E. H., Goenaga, C., 1998. Sea surface temperatures and coral reef bleaching off La Peraguera, Puerto Rico (Northern Caribbean Sea). Coral Reefs, 17: 377–382.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Marimuthu, N., Jerald Wilson, J., Vinithkumar, N.V. et al. Coral reef recovery status in south Andaman Islands after the bleaching event 2010. J. Ocean Univ. China 12, 91–96 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-013-2014-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-013-2014-2