Climate change disables coral bleaching protection on the Great Barrier Reef

Coral bleaching events threaten the sustainability of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Here we show that bleaching events of the past three decades have been mitigated by induced thermal tolerance of reef-building corals, and this protective mechanism is likely to be lost under near-future climate chan...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 352; no. 6283; p. 338
Main Authors: Ainsworth, Tracy D, Heron, Scott F, Ortiz, Juan Carlos, Mumby, Peter J, Grech, Alana, Ogawa, Daisie, Eakin, C Mark, Leggat, William
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 15.04.2016
Subjects:
Animals
Anthozoa - cytology
Anthozoa - physiology
Cell Count
Cell Death
Climate Change
Coral Reefs
Dinoflagellida - cytology
Dinoflagellida - physiology
Heat-Shock Response
Hot Temperature
Photosynthesis
Pigments, Biological - physiology
Symbiosis
ISSN:1095-9203, 1095-9203
Online Access:Get more information
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Summary:Coral bleaching events threaten the sustainability of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Here we show that bleaching events of the past three decades have been mitigated by induced thermal tolerance of reef-building corals, and this protective mechanism is likely to be lost under near-future climate change scenarios. We show that 75% of past thermal stress events have been characterized by a temperature trajectory that subjects corals to a protective, sub-bleaching stress, before reaching temperatures that cause bleaching. Such conditions confer thermal tolerance, decreasing coral cell mortality and symbiont loss during bleaching by over 50%. We find that near-future increases in local temperature of as little as 0.5°C result in this protective mechanism being lost, which may increase the rate of degradation of the GBR.
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ISSN:1095-9203
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.aac7125