Status of Caribbean coral reefs after bleaching and hurricanes in 2005

10. Ma n ag i n g f o r Ma s s Co r a l Bl e a c h i n g:Strategies f o r Supporting So c i o-e c o l o g i c a lResilienceHe i d i Sc h u t t e n b e r g a n d Pau l Ma rs h a l lIn t r o d u c t i o nThis volume documents the severe consequences that climate change is predicted to havefor coral reefs worldwide. While there are expected to be many impacts on coral reefs fromclimate change, the most immediate and dramatic are associated with rising sea temperaturesand resultant mass coral bleaching events. These events have already been responsible forlong-term damage to more than 16% of the world’s reefs and with causing serious, althoughlargely unmeasured, hardship for the people who depend on the reefs. As evidence of thesesocio-ecological impacts grows, so does attention on the associated management question:are there any actions that coral reef managers can implement to help reefs in the face ofclimate change?Traditional management approaches that focus on minimizing or eliminating sources of stresscan not address the threat of mass coral bleaching. Coral reef managers are unable to directlymitigate the main cause of mass bleaching; above average water temperatures. This makesmass bleaching a uniquely challenging environmental management problem.In working with colleagues from around the globe to compile the publication, A ReefManager’s Guide to Coral Bleaching (see ref. 5), we determined that there is much thatmanagers can do to help reefs cope with climate change. While reef managers cannot directlylimit climate change, there is a rapidly growing body of scientific knowledge that provides thebasis for a meaningful response to climate-related threats, such as coral bleaching. Centralto this response are strategies for supporting the resilience of coral reef ecosystems and thepeople that depend on them. This chapter presents the key elements of a resilience-basedapproach to managing coral reefs in the face of climate change, focusing on:zx Defining socio-ecological resilience;zx Describing the process through which unusually high sea temperatures can lead toloss of the ecological services that reefs provide to people;zx Identifying management opportunities that exist at each stage of this process tominimize negative impacts; and,zx Recommending 5 strategies for supporting socio-ecological resilience to mass coralbleaching.115