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High frequency temperature variability reduces the risk of coral bleaching.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Safaie, A; Silbiger, NJ; McClanahan, TR; Pawlak, G; Barshis, DJ; Hench, JL; Rogers, JS; Williams, GJ; Davis, KA
Published in: Nature communications
April 2018

Coral bleaching is the detrimental expulsion of algal symbionts from their cnidarian hosts, and predominantly occurs when corals are exposed to thermal stress. The incidence and severity of bleaching is often spatially heterogeneous within reef-scales (<1 km), and is therefore not predictable using conventional remote sensing products. Here, we systematically assess the relationship between in situ measurements of 20 environmental variables, along with seven remotely sensed SST thermal stress metrics, and 81 observed bleaching events at coral reef locations spanning five major reef regions globally. We find that high-frequency temperature variability (i.e., daily temperature range) was the most influential factor in predicting bleaching prevalence and had a mitigating effect, such that a 1 °C increase in daily temperature range would reduce the odds of more severe bleaching by a factor of 33. Our findings suggest that reefs with greater high-frequency temperature variability may represent particularly important opportunities to conserve coral ecosystems against the major threat posed by warming ocean temperatures.

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Published In

Nature communications

DOI

EISSN

2041-1723

ISSN

2041-1723

Publication Date

April 2018

Volume

9

Issue

1

Start / End Page

1671

Related Subject Headings

  • Symbiosis
  • Seawater
  • Seasons
  • Hot Temperature
  • Ecosystem
  • Coral Reefs
  • Chlorophyta
  • Anthozoa
  • Animals
 

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Safaie, A., Silbiger, N. J., McClanahan, T. R., Pawlak, G., Barshis, D. J., Hench, J. L., … Davis, K. A. (2018). High frequency temperature variability reduces the risk of coral bleaching. Nature Communications, 9(1), 1671. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04074-2
Safaie, Aryan, Nyssa J. Silbiger, Timothy R. McClanahan, Geno Pawlak, Daniel J. Barshis, James L. Hench, Justin S. Rogers, Gareth J. Williams, and Kristen A. Davis. “High frequency temperature variability reduces the risk of coral bleaching.Nature Communications 9, no. 1 (April 2018): 1671. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04074-2.
Safaie A, Silbiger NJ, McClanahan TR, Pawlak G, Barshis DJ, Hench JL, et al. High frequency temperature variability reduces the risk of coral bleaching. Nature communications. 2018 Apr;9(1):1671.
Safaie, Aryan, et al. “High frequency temperature variability reduces the risk of coral bleaching.Nature Communications, vol. 9, no. 1, Apr. 2018, p. 1671. Epmc, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04074-2.
Safaie A, Silbiger NJ, McClanahan TR, Pawlak G, Barshis DJ, Hench JL, Rogers JS, Williams GJ, Davis KA. High frequency temperature variability reduces the risk of coral bleaching. Nature communications. 2018 Apr;9(1):1671.

Published In

Nature communications

DOI

EISSN

2041-1723

ISSN

2041-1723

Publication Date

April 2018

Volume

9

Issue

1

Start / End Page

1671

Related Subject Headings

  • Symbiosis
  • Seawater
  • Seasons
  • Hot Temperature
  • Ecosystem
  • Coral Reefs
  • Chlorophyta
  • Anthozoa
  • Animals