Status of Caribbean coral reefs after bleaching and hurricanes in 2005

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Executive Summaryzx The corals vulnerable to bleaching were similar across the Caribbean, particularly:Acropora palmata and A. cervicornis, Agaricia, Montastraea, Colpophyllia, Diploria,Siderastrea, Porites, the hydrozoan Palythoa and the hydrocoral Millepora, whichhas nearly disappeared from the French West Indies.zx Bleaching persisted to mid-2006 in Guadeloupe, Martinique, Barbados and Trinidadand Tobago, and, in 2007 in St. Barthelemy. Reefs in these countries showed fewsigns of recovery, with between 14% and 33% of colonies still bleached.2005 – extensive coral mortality and diseasezx The greatest damage occurred in the islands of the Lesser and Greater Antilles wherecorals were bathed in abnormally warm waters for 4 to 6 months.zx The greatest coral mortality occurred in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which suffered anaverage decline of 51.5% due to bleaching and subsequent disease; the worst seen inmore than 40 years of observations.zx Barbados experienced the most severe bleaching event ever with 17% to 20% coralmortality.zx Losses in the French West Indies ranged between 11% and 30%.zx In the northern Dutch Antilles, there was 18% mortality in St. Eustatius, butminimal mortality in Bonaire and Curacao in the south.zx Trinidad and Tobago suffered considerable mortality, with 73% of all Colpophylliaand Diploria colonies dying.zx Although there was severe bleaching in the Greater Antilles, minimal mortalityoccurred in Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Jamaica and Turks and Caicos;some sites in the Dominican Republic, however, suffered up to 38% mortality.zx Bleaching mortality was minimal on the Mesoamerican Reef system, largely becausemany storms cooled sea temperatures; however, Hurricanes Emily and Wilmadamaged some reefs, decreasing coral cover from 24% to 10%, especially aroundCozumel.zx Coral mortality in Colombia and Venezuela was negligible.zx Increased prevalence of disease following bleaching was reported from many islandsof the Lesser Antilles, particularly French West Indies; infection rates increased from33% to 39% on Guadeloupe and 18% to 23% on St. Barthelemy; 49% of corals wereinfected on Martinique.zx In Trinidad and Tobago, there was clear evidence of an increase in the prevalence ofdisease.zx In the U.S. Virgin Islands, secondary disease infections killed bleached colonies ofMontastraea, Colpophyllia, Diploria and Porites.2005 – lessons for management and future optionszx Unfortunately direct management action is unlikely to prevent coral bleaching andmortality from climate change on most of the world’s reefs.zx However, effective management can reduce the damage from direct human pressuresand encourage the natural adaptation mechanisms to build up reef resilience;5
Status of Caribbean Coral Reefs after Bleaching and Hurricanes in 2005zx Such actions will promote more rapid recovery in the future, especially if bleachingwill become a regular event.zx Unfortunately, current predictions are for more frequent and intense warming in theCaribbean with the high probability of increased bleaching and coral mortality.zx Severe coral bleaching is predicted to become a more regular event by 2030, and anannual event by 2100, if the current rate of greenhouse emissions is not reversed.In t r o d u c t i o nThe most extreme coral bleaching and mortality event to hit the Wider Caribbean (includingAtlantic) coral reefs occurred in 2005. This was during the warmest year ever recorded, eclipsingthe 9 warmest years that had occurred since 1995. The previous warmest year was 1998,which resulted in massive coral bleaching throughout many parts of the world and effectivelydestroyed 16% of the world’s coral reefs, especially in the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific.Unlike the events of 1998, this climate-related bleaching event did not occur in an informationvacuum; this time there were many scientific tools available and alerts issued to thoseworking and managing coral reefs in the Caribbean to assess the damage and possibly preparemanagement responses to reduce the damage. This book explains coral bleaching and followsthe sequence of the events leading up to it, and documents much of the damage that occurredto the coral reefs and consequently to the people dependent on coral reefs for their livelihoodsin the Wider Caribbean.This graph from the Hadley Climate Center in the UK shows that surface temperatures in the NorthernHemisphere have been much higher in the last two decades and appear to be increasing from thebaseline of temperatures in 1960. The red line is a 10 year running average.6
Page 1 and 2: Stat u s o fCa r i b b e a nCo r a
Page 3 and 4: Dedication: This book is dedicated
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Page 25 and 26: Status of Coral Reefs in the Caribb
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6. Co r a l Reefs o f t h e U.S. Ca
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Coral Reefs of the U.S. Caribbean19
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7. Th e Effects o f Co r a l Bl e a
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The Effects of Coral Bleaching in t
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10. Ma n ag i n g f o r Ma s s Co r
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Managing for Mass Coral Bleaching:
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Status of Caribbean coral reefs after bleaching and hurricanes in 2005

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