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. 2014 Jan 6;9(1):e83829.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0083829. eCollection 2014.

Mass coral bleaching in 2010 in the southern Caribbean

Jahson Berhane Alemu I  1 , Ysharda Clement  2
Affiliations

Mass coral bleaching in 2010 in the southern Caribbean

Jahson Berhane Alemu I et al. PLoS One. .

Erratum in

  • PLoS One.2014;9(3):e92542

Abstract

Ocean temperatures are increasing globally and the Caribbean is no exception. An extreme ocean warming event in 2010 placed Tobago's coral reefs under severe stress resulting in widespread coral bleaching and threatening the livelihoods that rely on them. The bleaching response of four reef building taxa was monitored over a six month period across three major reefs systems in Tobago. By identifying taxa resilient to bleaching we propose to assist local coral reef managers in the decision making process to cope with mass bleaching events. The bleaching signal (length of exposure to high ocean temperatures) varied widely between the Atlantic and Caribbean reefs, but regardless of this variation most taxa bleached. Colpophyllia natans, Montastraea faveolata and Siderastrea siderea were considered the most bleaching vulnerable taxa. Interestingly, reefs with the highest coral cover showed the greatest decline reef building taxa, and conversely, reefs with the lowest coral cover showed the most bleaching but lowest change in coral cover with little algal overgrowth post-bleaching.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Map of Tobago showing the locations of sampling sites (black stars) with inset of Trinidad and Tobago.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Averaged monthly sea surface temperatures (SST) for Tobago derived from the 50 km night time NOAA Coral Reef Watch Product.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Average daily in situ (10 m) temperatures at Buccoo, Culloden and Speyside reefs during the 2010 mass bleaching event (September 2010 to March 2011).
Figure 4
Figure 4. Mean percent coral bleaching and new mortality per month at Buccoo, Culloden and Speyside during the 2010 mass bleaching event (October 2010 to March 2011).
Bars represent standard error. O = October 2010, N = November 2010, D = December 2010, J = January 2011, F = February 2011 and M = March 2011.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Percent bleaching of four framework building taxa at Buccoo, Culloden and Speyside following the onset of the bleaching event (October 2010).
Bars represent standard error.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Percent bleaching mortality of four framework building taxa at Buccoo, Culloden and Speyside following the onset of the bleaching event (October 2010).
Bars represent standard error.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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