nerc.ac.uk

Forereef and backreef corals exhibit different responses to anthropogenic stressors in Belize

Fowell, Sara ORCID: https://orcid.org/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.

Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)

Abstract/Summary

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.

Item Type: Publication - Conference Item (Paper)
Date made live: 07 Apr 2020 14:11 +0 (UTC)
URI: https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527426

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Document Downloads

Downloads for past 30 days

Downloads per month over past year

More statistics for this item...