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Differential response of coral communities to Caulerpa spp. bloom in the reefs of Indian Ocean

DRS at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography

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Title Differential response of coral communities to Caulerpa spp. bloom in the reefs of Indian Ocean
 
Creator Manikandan, B.
Ravindran, J.
 
Subject Aquatic communities::Habitat community studies
Aquatic pollution::Effects on organisms
Aquatic ecology, productivity::Biological productivity
 
Description Coral reef ecosystems are disturbed in tandem by climatic and anthropogenic stressors. A number of factors act synergistically to reduce the live coral cover and threaten the existence of reefs. Continuous monitoring of the coral communities during 2012-2014 captured an unprecedented growth of macroalgae as a bloom at Gulf of Mannar (GoM) and Palk Bay (PB) which are protected and unprotected reefs, respectively. The two reefs varying in their protection level enabled to conduct an assessment on the response of coral communities and their recovery potential during and after the macroalgal bloom. Surveys in 2012 revealed a live coral cover of 36.8 and 14.6% in GoM and PB, respectively. Live coral cover was lost at an annual rate of 4% in PB due to the Caulerpa racemosa blooms that occurred in 2013 and 2014. In GoM, the loss of live coral cover was estimated to be 16.5% due to C. taxifolia bloom in 2013. Tissue regeneration by the foliose and branching coral morphotypes aided the recovery of live coral cover in GoM, whereas the chances for the recovery of live coral cover in PB reef were low, primarily due to frequent algal blooms, and the existing live coral cover was mainly due to the abundance of slow-growing massive corals. In combination, results of this study suggested that the recovery of a coral reef after a macroalgal bloom largely depends on coral species composition and the frequency of stress events. A further study linking macroalgal bloom to its specific cause is essential for the successful intervention and management
 
Date 2017-09-27T13:08:31Z
2017-09-27T13:08:31Z
2017
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Environmental Science and Pollution Research, vol.24(4); 2017; 3912-3922
http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/5183
 
Language en
 
Rights An edited version of this paper was published by Springer. This paper is for R & D purpose and Copyright [2017] Springer.
 
Publisher Springer