Through bleaching and tsunami: Coral reef recovery in the Maldives
Carla Morri
Monica Montefalcone
Roberta Lasagna
Giulia Gatti
Alessio Rovere
Valeriano Parravicini
Giuseppe Baldelli
Paolo Colantoni
Carlo Nike Bianchi
Abstract
Coral reefs are degrading worldwide, but little information exists on their previous conditions for most regions of the world. Since 1989, we have been studying the Maldives, collecting data before, during and after the bleaching and mass mortality event of 1998. As early as 1999, many newly settled colonies were recorded. Recruits shifted from a dominance of massive and encrusting corals in the early stages of recolonisation towards a dominance of Acropora and Pocillopora by 2009. Coral cover, which dropped to less than 10% after the bleaching, returned to pre-bleaching values of around 50% by 2013. The 2004 tsunami had comparatively little effect. In 2014, the coral community was similar to that existing before the bleaching. According to descriptors and metrics adopted, recovery of Maldivian coral reefs took between 6 and 15 years, or may even be considered unachieved, as there are species that had not come back yet.
Morri C., Montefalcone M., Lasagna R., Gatti G., Rovere A., Parravicini V., Baldelli G., Colantoni P. and Bianchi C.N. (2015) Through bleaching and tsunami: Coral reef recovery in the Maldives. Marine Pollution Bulletin 98(1-2): 188-200. 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.06.050
@article{Morri2015,
Title = {Through bleaching and tsunami: Coral reef recovery in the Maldives},
Author = {Morri, Carla and Montefalcone, Monica and Lasagna, Roberta and Gatti, Giulia and Rovere, Alessio and Parravicini, Valeriano and Baldelli, Giuseppe and Colantoni, Paolo and Bianchi, Carlo Nike},
Editor = {},
Journal = {Marine Pollution Bulletin},
Year = {2015},
Pages = {188-200},
Volume = {98},
Doi = {10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.06.050},
Abstract = {Coral reefs are degrading worldwide, but little information exists on their previous conditions for most regions of the world. Since 1989, we have been studying the Maldives, collecting data before, during and after the bleaching and mass mortality event of 1998. As early as 1999, many newly settled colonies were recorded. Recruits shifted from a dominance of massive and encrusting corals in the early stages of recolonisation towards a dominance of Acropora and Pocillopora by 2009. Coral cover, which dropped to less than 10% after the bleaching, returned to pre-bleaching values of around 50% by 2013. The 2004 tsunami had comparatively little effect. In 2014, the coral community was similar to that existing before the bleaching. According to descriptors and metrics adopted, recovery of Maldivian coral reefs took between 6 and 15 years, or may even be considered unachieved, as there are species that had not come back yet.},
}
TY - JOUR
AU - Morri, Carla
AU - Montefalcone, Monica
AU - Lasagna, Roberta
AU - Gatti, Giulia
AU - Rovere, Alessio
AU - Parravicini, Valeriano
AU - Baldelli, Giuseppe
AU - Colantoni, Paolo
AU - Bianchi, Carlo Nike
TI - Through bleaching and tsunami: Coral reef recovery in the Maldives
T2 - Marine Pollution Bulletin
PY - 2015
SP - 188-200
VL - 98
DO - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.06.050
AB - Coral reefs are degrading worldwide, but little information exists on their previous conditions for most regions of the world. Since 1989, we have been studying the Maldives, collecting data before, during and after the bleaching and mass mortality event of 1998. As early as 1999, many newly settled colonies were recorded. Recruits shifted from a dominance of massive and encrusting corals in the early stages of recolonisation towards a dominance of Acropora and Pocillopora by 2009. Coral cover, which dropped to less than 10% after the bleaching, returned to pre-bleaching values of around 50% by 2013. The 2004 tsunami had comparatively little effect. In 2014, the coral community was similar to that existing before the bleaching. According to descriptors and metrics adopted, recovery of Maldivian coral reefs took between 6 and 15 years, or may even be considered unachieved, as there are species that had not come back yet.
ER -
