Abstract
A series of cold fronts passing over the western Arabian Gulf from December 1988 to March 1989 produced the longest period of sustained low water temperatures ever recorded in a coral reef area. Sea water temperatures recorded on two reefs during this period provide new estimates of lower thermal limits for reef coral survival. Severe mortality of the corals Acropora pharaonis and Platygyra daedalea occurred at the northern site where minimum temperatures fell below 11.5°C on four consecutive days and mean daily temperatures were 13°C or less for more than 30 days. However, Porites compressa, the principal reef-former in this area, and various faviid corals initially showed only sub-lethal effects and appeared normal after six months. Corals were not damaged at the southern site, where minimum water temperature fell below 12.5°C for two consecutive days, but mean temperatures were 14°C or less for only 5 non-consecutive days.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Burchard JE (1979) Coral fauna of the Western Arabian Gulf. ARAMCO, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, 129 pp
Burns TP (1985) Hard coral distribution and cold-water disturbances in South Florida: Variation with depth and location. Coral Reefs 4:117–124
Clausen CD, Roth AA (1975) Effect of temperature and temperature adaptation on calcification rate in the hermatypic coral Pocillopora damicornis. Mar Biol 33:93–100
Coles SL (1988) Limitations in reef coral development in the Arabian Gulf: Temperature or algal competition? Proc 6th Int Coral Reef Symp 3:211–216
Coles SL, Jokiel PL (1977) Effects of temperature on photosynthesis and respiration in hermatypic corals. Mar Biol 43:209–216
Coles SL, Jokiel PL, Lewis CR (1976) Thermal tolerance in tropical versus subtropical pacific reef corals. Pac Sci 30:159–166
Crossland CJ (1984) Seasonal variations in the rates of calcification and productivity in the coral Acropora formosa on a high-latitude reef. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 15:135–140
Dana JD (1943) On the temperature limiting the distribution of corals. Am J Sci 45:130–131
Dana JD (1872) Corals and Coral Islands. Dodd Mead, New York
Davis GE (1982) A century of natural change in coral distribution at the Dry Tortugus: a comparison of reef maps from 1881–1976. Bull Mar Sci 32:608–623
Downing N (1985) Coral reef communities in an extreme environment: the northwestern Arabian Gulf. Proc 5th Int Coral Reef Symp 6:343–348
Edmondson CH (1928) The ecology of a Hawaiian coral reef. Bull Bernice P Bishop Mus 45:1–64
Fishelson L (1973) Ecology of coral reefs in the Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea) influenced by pollution. Oecologica 12:55–67
Hudson JH (1981a) Response of M. annularis to environmental change in the Florida Keys. Proc 4th Int Coral Reef Symp 2:233–240
Hudson JH (1981b) Growth rates in Montastrea annularis: A record of environmental change in Key Largo Coral Reef Marine Sanctuary, Florida. Bull Mar Sci 3:444–459
Jokiel PL, Coles SL (1977) Effects of temperature on the mortality and growth of Hawaiian reef corals. Mar Biol 43:201–208
Kinsman DJJ (1964) Reef coral tolerance of high temperatures and salinities. Nature 202:1280–1282
KFUPM/RI (1988) Marine monitoring and baseline survey, vol III: Coral reef studies. Final report prepared for the Australian Trade Commission by the Water Resources and Environment Division, Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Logan A (1988) Holocene reefs of Bermuda. Sedimenta IX. Comp Sedimentology Lab, University of Miami, p 62
McCain JC, Tarr AB, Carpenter KE, Coles SL (1984) Marine ecology of Saudi Arabia. A survey of coral reefs and reef fishes in the northern area, Arabian Gulf, Saudi Arabia. Fauna Saudi Arabia 6:102–126
Macintyre IG, Pilkey OH (1969) Tropical reef corals: tolerance of low temperatures on the North Carolina continental shelf. Science 166:374–375
Maragos JG (1978) Coral growth: geometrical relationship. In: Stoddart DR, Johannes RE (eds) Coral reefs: research methods. UNESCO Monographs on Oceanographic Methodology 5, Paris, pp 543–550
Mayer AG (1914) The effects of temperature on tropical marine animals. Carnegie Inst Washington Publ 183:1–25
Mayer AG (1915) The lower temperature at which reef corals lose their ability to capture food. Carnegie Inst Wash Yearbk 14:212
Porter JW, Battey J, Smith GJ (1982) Perturbation and change in coral reef communities. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 79:1678–1681
Potts DC, Swart PK (1984) Water temperature as an indicator of environmental variability on a coral reef. Limnol Oceanogr 29:504–516
Roberts HH, Rouse LJ Jr, Walker ND, Hudson JH (1982) Coldwater stress in Florida Bay and northern Bahamas: a product of winter cold-air outbreaks. J Sediment Petrol 52:145–155
Scheer G, Pillai CSG (1983) Report on the stony corals from the Red Sea. Zoologica 133:1–198
Sheppard CRC (1987) Coral species of the Indian Ocean and adjacent seas: a synonymized compilation and some regional distribution patterns. Atoll Res Bull 307
Shinn EA (1966) Coral growth rate, an environmental indicator. J Paleontol 40:233–241
Shinn EA (1976) Coral reef recovery in Florida and the Persian Gulf. Env Geol 1:241–254
Tribble GW, Randall RH (1986) A description of the high-latitude shallow water coral communities of Miyake-jima, Japan. Coral Reefs 4:151–159
Vaughan TW (1916) The results of investigations of the ecology of the Floridian and Bahaman shoal-water corals. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 2:95–100
Vaughan TW (1918) The temperature of the Florida reef tract. Pap Tortugas Lab v IX Carnegie Inst Wash 31:321–339
Verrill AE (1902) Remarkable instance of the death of fishes, etc., due to coldness of the sea, in 1901. Trans Conn Arts Sci 11:503–507
Walker ND, Roberts HH, Rouse LJ Jr, Huh OK (1982) Thermal history of reef-associated environments during a record cold-air outbreak event. Coral Reefs 1:83–87
Wells JW (1957a) Coral reefs. Geol Soc Am Mem 67:609–631
Wells JW (1957b) Corals. Geol Soc Am Mem 67:1087–1089
Wilson BR, Marsh LM (1980) Coral reef communities at the Houtman Abrolhos, Western Australia, in a zone of biogeographic overlap. Proc Intern Symp Mar Biogeogr Southern Hemisphere pp 259–278
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Coles, S.L., Fadlallah, Y.H. Reef coral survival and mortality at low temperatures in the Arabian Gulf: new species-specific lower temperature limits. Coral Reefs 9, 231–237 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00290427
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00290427