Forereef and backreef corals exhibit different responses to anthropogenic stressors in Belize
The health of coral reefs is threatened by simultaneous anthropogenic impacts, namely ocean acidification, ocean warming, elevated nutrients (nutrification) and sedimentation. These processes have been shown to reduce the ability of corals to grow, but culturing experiments have previously demonstra...
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:527426 2023-05-15T17:50:16+02:00 Forereef and backreef corals exhibit different responses to anthropogenic stressors in Belize Fowell, Sara Foster, Gavin L. Castillo, Karl Ries, Justin B Tyrrell, Toby 2016 http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527426/ unknown Fowell, Sara orcid:0000-0002-9835-4725 Foster, Gavin L.; Castillo, Karl; Ries, Justin B; Tyrrell, Toby. 2016 Forereef and backreef corals exhibit different responses to anthropogenic stressors in Belize. In: American Geophysical Union, Ocean Sciences Meeting 2016, New Orleans, Louisiana, 21-26 February 2016. Publication - Conference Item PeerReviewed 2016 ftnerc 2023-02-04T19:50:31Z The health of coral reefs is threatened by simultaneous anthropogenic impacts, namely ocean acidification, ocean warming, elevated nutrients (nutrification) and sedimentation. These processes have been shown to reduce the ability of corals to grow, but culturing experiments have previously demonstrated this response to vary across different reef environments and between different taxa. The absence of in-situ pH data, records of nutrient evolution and limited sea surface temperature (SST) measurements prior to the 1980s, has prevented the extent of either ocean acidification, nutrification or ocean warming to be quantified in Belize. Here, we have applied a multi-proxy approach (Li/Mg, Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca, δ11B, δ13C) to reconstruct these variables in corals from across the southern Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System over the last 100 years. We find that although the warming signal is spatially coherent, significant spatial variability exists in the extent of acidification and sediment input. Further investigations into the impact of such variability, and possible changes in net primary production must be conducted before we can conclude which anthropogenic stressor is responsible for the decline in forereef coral extension rates. Text Ocean acidification Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
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The health of coral reefs is threatened by simultaneous anthropogenic impacts, namely ocean acidification, ocean warming, elevated nutrients (nutrification) and sedimentation. These processes have been shown to reduce the ability of corals to grow, but culturing experiments have previously demonstrated this response to vary across different reef environments and between different taxa. The absence of in-situ pH data, records of nutrient evolution and limited sea surface temperature (SST) measurements prior to the 1980s, has prevented the extent of either ocean acidification, nutrification or ocean warming to be quantified in Belize. Here, we have applied a multi-proxy approach (Li/Mg, Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca, δ11B, δ13C) to reconstruct these variables in corals from across the southern Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System over the last 100 years. We find that although the warming signal is spatially coherent, significant spatial variability exists in the extent of acidification and sediment input. Further investigations into the impact of such variability, and possible changes in net primary production must be conducted before we can conclude which anthropogenic stressor is responsible for the decline in forereef coral extension rates. |
format |
Text |
author |
Fowell, Sara Foster, Gavin L. Castillo, Karl Ries, Justin B Tyrrell, Toby |
spellingShingle |
Fowell, Sara Foster, Gavin L. Castillo, Karl Ries, Justin B Tyrrell, Toby Forereef and backreef corals exhibit different responses to anthropogenic stressors in Belize |
author_facet |
Fowell, Sara Foster, Gavin L. Castillo, Karl Ries, Justin B Tyrrell, Toby |
author_sort |
Fowell, Sara |
title |
Forereef and backreef corals exhibit different responses to anthropogenic stressors in Belize |
title_short |
Forereef and backreef corals exhibit different responses to anthropogenic stressors in Belize |
title_full |
Forereef and backreef corals exhibit different responses to anthropogenic stressors in Belize |
title_fullStr |
Forereef and backreef corals exhibit different responses to anthropogenic stressors in Belize |
title_full_unstemmed |
Forereef and backreef corals exhibit different responses to anthropogenic stressors in Belize |
title_sort |
forereef and backreef corals exhibit different responses to anthropogenic stressors in belize |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527426/ |
genre |
Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification |
op_relation |
Fowell, Sara orcid:0000-0002-9835-4725 Foster, Gavin L.; Castillo, Karl; Ries, Justin B; Tyrrell, Toby. 2016 Forereef and backreef corals exhibit different responses to anthropogenic stressors in Belize. In: American Geophysical Union, Ocean Sciences Meeting 2016, New Orleans, Louisiana, 21-26 February 2016. |
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1766156953495535616 |