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.
Highlights
Mass coral bleaching is one of the major threats to coral reef ecosystems [1,2] exacerbating coral reef decline in the Caribbean region [3]
Ocean temperature monitoring Unusually warm sea surface temperatures (SSTs) persisted around Tobago for approximately 64 continuous days
These temperatures were the warmest recorded for Tobago over the last decade; and a decadal analysis of SST over the period 2001 to 2011 suggests that SSTs were steadily increasing (Figure 2)
Summary
Mass coral bleaching is one of the major threats to coral reef ecosystems [1,2] exacerbating coral reef decline in the Caribbean region [3]. Often mass coral bleaching events are as a result of the prolonged exposure of corals to unusually warm ocean temperatures, resulting in the expulsion of symbiotic algae from host corals. Not all coral taxa are susceptible to bleaching [4]. Tobago’s coral reefs are located at the southern extreme of the Caribbean, exposed regularly to the rich outflow of the South American mainland [5,6] and represent some of the most understudied reefs in the region [6]. Post bleaching the result was an outbreak of coral disease and macroalgae, and reduced reef quality
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