Abstract
The chapters in this volume paint a grim picture for the future of coral reefs, which are declining at an alarming rate due to a multitude of human activities. Of these anthropogenic disturbances, increasing thermal stress due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is the primary threat to the maintenance of tropical coral reefs, causing mass coral bleaching and coral mortality. Here, we consider some of the new interventions that are being explored to ensure persistence of corals and coral reefs over this century while actions are taken to curb the magnitude of global warming.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aitken SN, Whitlock MC (2013) Assisted gene flow to facilitate local adaptation to climate change. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 44:367–388. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110512-135747
Anthony K, Bay LK, Costanza R, Firn F, Gunn J, Harrison P et al (2017) New interventions are needed to save coral reefs. Nat Ecol Evol 1:1420–1422. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0313-5
Barshis DJ, Ladner JT, Oliver TA, Seneca FO, Traylor-Knowles N, Palumbi SR (2013) Genomic basis for coral resilience to climate change. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 110:1387–1392. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1210224110
Camp EF, Suggett DJ, Gendron G, Jompa J, Manfrino C, Smith DJ (2016) Mangrove and seagrass beds provide different biogeochemical services for corals threatened by climate change. Front Mar Sci 3:52. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2016.00052
Camp EF, Nitschke MR, Rodolfo-Metalpa R, Houlbreque F, Gardner SG, Smith DJ et al (2017) Reef-building corals thrive within hot-acidified and deoxygenated waters. Sci Rep 7:2434. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-02383-y
Carilli J, Donner SD, Hartmann AC (2012) Historical temperature variability affects coral response to heat stress. PLoS One 7:e34418. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0034418
Chakravarti LJ, Beltran VH, van Oppen MJH (2017) Rapid thermal adaptation in photosymbionts of reef-building corals. Glob Chang Biol 23:4675–4688. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13702
Damjanovic K, Blackall LL, Webster NS, van Oppen MJH (2017) The contribution of microbial biotechnology to mitigating coral reef degradation. Microb Biotechnol 10:1236–1243. https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.12769
Dixon GB, Davies SW, Aglyamova GA, Meyer E, Bay LK, Matz MV (2015) Genomic determinants of coral heat tolerance across latitudes. Science 348:1460–1462. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1261224
Donelson JM, Munday PL, Mccormick MI, Pitcher CR (2012) Rapid transgenerational acclimation of a tropical reef fish to climate change. Nat Clim Chang 2:30–32. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1323
dos Santos HF, Duarte GAS, da Costa Rachid CT, Chaloub RM, Calderon EN, de Barros Marangoni LF et al (2015) Impact of oil spills on coral reefs can be reduced by bioremediation using probiotic microbiota. Sci Rep 5:18268. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep18268
Fogarty ND (2012) Caribbean acroporid coral hybrids are viable across life history stages. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 446:145–159. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09469
Guest JR, Baird AH, Maynard JA, Muttaqin E, Edwards AJ, Campbell SJ et al (2012) Contrasting patterns of coral bleaching susceptibility in 2010 suggest an adaptive response to thermal stress. PLoS One 7:e33353. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033353
Hellberg ME (2007) Footprints on water: the genetic wake of dispersal among reefs. Coral Reefs 26:463–473. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-007-0205-2
Howells EJ, Willis BL, Berkelmans R, van Oppen MJH, Bay LK (2013) Limits to thermal acclimatisation in corals. Ecology 94:1078–1088. https://doi.org/10.1890/12-1257.1
Hughes TP, Barnes ML, Bellwood DR, Cinner JE, Cumming GS, Jackson JBC et al (2017) Coral reefs in the Anthropocene. Nature 546:82–90. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22901
Jin YK, Lundgren P, Lutz A, Raina J-P, Howells EJ, Paley AS et al (2016) Genetic markers for antioxidant capacity in a reef-building coral. Sci Adv 2:e1500842. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500842
Kenkel CD, Matz MV (2016) Gene expression plasticity as a mechanism of coral adaptation to a variable environment. Nat Ecol Evol 1:0014. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-016-0014
Kenkel CD, Almanza AT, Matz MV (2015) Fine-scale environmental specialization of reef-building corals might be limiting reef recovery in the Florida Keys. Ecology 96:3197–3212. https://doi.org/10.1890/14-2297.1
Levin RA, Voolstra C, Agrawal S, Steinberg PD, Suggett D, van Oppen MJH (2017) Engineering strategies to decode and enhance the genomes of coral symbionts. Front Microbiol 8:1220. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.01220
Maynard JA, Anthony KRN, Marshall PA, Masiri I (2008) Major bleaching events can lead to increased thermal tolerance in corals. Mar Biol 155:173–182. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-008-1015-y
McClanahan TR, Ateweberhan M, Muhando C, Maina J, Mohammed SM (2007) Effects of climate and temperature variation on coral bleaching and mortality. Ecol Monogr 77:503–525. https://doi.org/10.1890/06-1182.1
Penin L, Vidal-Dupiol J, Adjeroud M (2013) Response of coral assemblages to thermal stress: are bleaching intensity and spatial patterns consistent between events? Environ Monit Assess 185:5031–5042. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2923-3
Putnam HM, Gates RD (2015) Preconditioning in the reef-building coral Pocillopora damicornis and the potential for trans-generational acclimatization in coral larvae under future climate change conditions. J Exp Biol 218:2365–2372. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.123018
Torda G, Donelson JM, Aranda M, Barshis DJ, Bay L, Berumen ML et al (2017) Rapid adaptive responses to climate change in corals. Nat Clim Chang 7:627–636. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3374
van Oppen MJH, Gates RD (2006) Conservation genetics and the resilience of reef-building corals. Mol Ecol 15:3863–3883. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2006.03026.x
van Oppen MJH, Puill-Stephan E, Lundgren P, De’ath G, Bay LK (2014) First generation fitness consequences of interpopulational hybridisation in a Great Barrier Reef coral and its implications for assisted migration management. Coral Reefs 33:607–611. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-014-1145-2
van Oppen MJH, Oliver JK, Putnam HM, Gates RD (2015) Building coral reef resilience through assisted evolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 112:2307–2313. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1422301112
van Oppen MJ, Gates RD, Blackall LL, Cantin N, Chakravarti LJ, Chan WY et al (2017) Shifting paradigms in restoration of the world’s coral reefs. Glob Chang Biol 23:3437–3448. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13647
Willis BL, van Oppen MJH, Miller DJ, Vollmer SV, Ayre DJ (2006) The role of hybridization in the evolution of reef corals. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 37:489–517. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.37.091305.110136
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
van Oppen, M.J.H., Lough, J.M. (2018). Synthesis: Coral Bleaching: Patterns, Processes, Causes and Consequences. In: van Oppen, M., Lough, J. (eds) Coral Bleaching. Ecological Studies, vol 233. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75393-5_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75393-5_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75392-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-75393-5
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)