Too hot to handle: Unprecedented seagrass death driven by marine heatwave in a World Heritage Area
Abstract The increased occurrence of extreme climate events, such as marine heatwaves (MHWs), has resulted in substantial ecological impacts worldwide. To date, metrics of thermal stress within marine systems have focussed on coral communities, and less is known about measuring stress relevant to ot...
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crwiley:10.1111/gcb.15065 2024-10-20T14:04:17+00:00 Too hot to handle: Unprecedented seagrass death driven by marine heatwave in a World Heritage Area Strydom, Simone Murray, Kathy Wilson, Shaun Huntley, Bart Rule, Michael Heithaus, Michael Bessey, Cindy Kendrick, Gary A. Burkholder, Derek Fraser, Matthew W. Zdunic, Katherine Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15065 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fgcb.15065 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.15065 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/gcb.15065 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Global Change Biology volume 26, issue 6, page 3525-3538 ISSN 1354-1013 1365-2486 journal-article 2020 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15065 2024-09-23T04:37:33Z Abstract The increased occurrence of extreme climate events, such as marine heatwaves (MHWs), has resulted in substantial ecological impacts worldwide. To date, metrics of thermal stress within marine systems have focussed on coral communities, and less is known about measuring stress relevant to other primary producers, such as seagrasses. An extreme MHW occurred across the Western Australian coastline in the austral summer of 2010–2011, exposing marine communities to summer seawater temperatures 2–5°C warmer than average. Using a combination of satellite imagery and in situ assessments, we provide detailed maps of seagrass coverage across the entire Shark Bay World Heritage Area (ca. 13,000 km 2 ) before (2002 and 2010) and after the MHW (2014 and 2016). Our temporal analysis of these maps documents the single largest loss in dense seagrass extent globally (1,310 km 2 ) following an acute disturbance. Total change in seagrass extent was spatially heterogeneous, with the most extensive declines occurring in the Western Gulf, Wooramel Bank and Faure Sill. Spatial variation in seagrass loss was best explained by a model that included an interaction between two heat stress metrics, the most substantial loss occurring when degree heating weeks (DHWm) was ≥10 and the number of days exposed to extreme sea surface temperature during the MHW (DaysOver) was ≥94. Ground truthing at 622 points indicated that change in seagrass cover was predominantly due to loss of Amphibolis antarctica rather than Posidonia australis , the other prominent seagrass at Shark Bay. As seawater temperatures continue to rise and the incidence of MHWs increase globally, this work will provide a basis for identifying areas of meadow degradation, or stability and recovery, and potential areas of resilience. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Wiley Online Library Austral Faure ENVELOPE(-68.871,-68.871,-68.093,-68.093) Global Change Biology 26 6 3525 3538 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
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Abstract The increased occurrence of extreme climate events, such as marine heatwaves (MHWs), has resulted in substantial ecological impacts worldwide. To date, metrics of thermal stress within marine systems have focussed on coral communities, and less is known about measuring stress relevant to other primary producers, such as seagrasses. An extreme MHW occurred across the Western Australian coastline in the austral summer of 2010–2011, exposing marine communities to summer seawater temperatures 2–5°C warmer than average. Using a combination of satellite imagery and in situ assessments, we provide detailed maps of seagrass coverage across the entire Shark Bay World Heritage Area (ca. 13,000 km 2 ) before (2002 and 2010) and after the MHW (2014 and 2016). Our temporal analysis of these maps documents the single largest loss in dense seagrass extent globally (1,310 km 2 ) following an acute disturbance. Total change in seagrass extent was spatially heterogeneous, with the most extensive declines occurring in the Western Gulf, Wooramel Bank and Faure Sill. Spatial variation in seagrass loss was best explained by a model that included an interaction between two heat stress metrics, the most substantial loss occurring when degree heating weeks (DHWm) was ≥10 and the number of days exposed to extreme sea surface temperature during the MHW (DaysOver) was ≥94. Ground truthing at 622 points indicated that change in seagrass cover was predominantly due to loss of Amphibolis antarctica rather than Posidonia australis , the other prominent seagrass at Shark Bay. As seawater temperatures continue to rise and the incidence of MHWs increase globally, this work will provide a basis for identifying areas of meadow degradation, or stability and recovery, and potential areas of resilience. |
author2 |
Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Strydom, Simone Murray, Kathy Wilson, Shaun Huntley, Bart Rule, Michael Heithaus, Michael Bessey, Cindy Kendrick, Gary A. Burkholder, Derek Fraser, Matthew W. Zdunic, Katherine |
spellingShingle |
Strydom, Simone Murray, Kathy Wilson, Shaun Huntley, Bart Rule, Michael Heithaus, Michael Bessey, Cindy Kendrick, Gary A. Burkholder, Derek Fraser, Matthew W. Zdunic, Katherine Too hot to handle: Unprecedented seagrass death driven by marine heatwave in a World Heritage Area |
author_facet |
Strydom, Simone Murray, Kathy Wilson, Shaun Huntley, Bart Rule, Michael Heithaus, Michael Bessey, Cindy Kendrick, Gary A. Burkholder, Derek Fraser, Matthew W. Zdunic, Katherine |
author_sort |
Strydom, Simone |
title |
Too hot to handle: Unprecedented seagrass death driven by marine heatwave in a World Heritage Area |
title_short |
Too hot to handle: Unprecedented seagrass death driven by marine heatwave in a World Heritage Area |
title_full |
Too hot to handle: Unprecedented seagrass death driven by marine heatwave in a World Heritage Area |
title_fullStr |
Too hot to handle: Unprecedented seagrass death driven by marine heatwave in a World Heritage Area |
title_full_unstemmed |
Too hot to handle: Unprecedented seagrass death driven by marine heatwave in a World Heritage Area |
title_sort |
too hot to handle: unprecedented seagrass death driven by marine heatwave in a world heritage area |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15065 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fgcb.15065 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.15065 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/gcb.15065 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-68.871,-68.871,-68.093,-68.093) |
geographic |
Austral Faure |
geographic_facet |
Austral Faure |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica |
op_source |
Global Change Biology volume 26, issue 6, page 3525-3538 ISSN 1354-1013 1365-2486 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15065 |
container_title |
Global Change Biology |
container_volume |
26 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
3525 |
op_container_end_page |
3538 |
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1813453161171517440 |