First observed severe mass bleaching in Malaysia, Greater Coral Triangle

Abstract

[Extract] Malaysia contains approximately 4,000 km2 of reef (Wilkinson 2008) and an estimated 500 hermatypic coral species, which constitutes more than 60% of the worlds described hermatypic coral species (Veron et al. 2009). However, these reefs are exposed to numerous anthropogenic pressures and more than 40% are classified as having a high or very high Integrated Threat Index (Burke et al. 2002). Prior to 2010, severe and widespread coral bleaching had not been observed on Malaysian reefs, including during the 1997/98 global event when bleaching of Malaysian reefs was mild and occurred only in localized patches (Wilkinson 1998; Kushairi 1999).