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Coral bleaching: one disturbance too many for near-shore reefs of the Great Barrier Reef

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Abstract

The dynamic nature of coral communities can make it difficult to judge whether a reef system is resilient to the current disturbance regime. To address this question of resilience for near-shore coral communities of the Great Barrier Reef (Australia) a data set consisting of 350 annual observations of benthic community change was compiled from existing monitoring data. These data spanned the period 1985–2007 and were derived from coral reefs within 20 km of the coast. During years without major disturbance events, cover increase of the Acroporidae was much faster than it was for other coral families; a median of 11% per annum compared to medians of less than 4% for other coral families. Conversely, Acroporidae were more severely affected by cyclones and bleaching events than most other families. A simulation model parameterised with these observations indicated that while recovery rates of hard corals were sufficient to compensate for impacts associated with cyclones and crown-of-thorns starfish, the advent of mass bleaching has lead to a significant change in the composition of the community and a rapid decline in hard coral cover. Furthermore, if bleaching events continue to occur with the same frequency and severity as in the recent past, the model predicts that the cover of Acroporidae will continue to decline. Although significant cover of live coral remains on near-shore reefs, and recovery is observed during inter-disturbance periods, it appears that this system will not be resilient to the recent disturbance regime over the long term. Conservation strategies for coral reefs should focus on both mitigating local factors that act synergistically to increase the susceptibility of Acroporidae to climate change while promoting initiatives that maximise the recovery potential from inevitable disturbances.

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Acknowledgments

The data used in this study were derived from monitoring studies conducted by a range of agencies. In particular, we acknowledge the foresight of staff from the Australian Institute of Marine Science, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the then Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, the Cooperative Research Centre for the Ecologically Sustainable Development of the Great Barrier Reef, and specifically, Dr. Anthony Ayling and Dr. Avril Ayling of SeaReseach all of whom promoted repeat surveys of reef tracts from which precise estimates of change could be derived. We also thank Dr. Britta Schaffelke and two anonymous reviewers for valuable editorial assistance and comments to improve the manuscript.

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  1. Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville, QLD, 4810, Australia

    A. A. Thompson & A. M. Dolman

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  1. A. A. Thompson
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Correspondence to A. A. Thompson.

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Communicated by Biology Editor Dr. Andrew Baird

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Thompson, A.A., Dolman, A.M. Coral bleaching: one disturbance too many for near-shore reefs of the Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 29, 637–648 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-009-0562-0

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