Cold water bleaching of Pocillopora in the Gulf of California
2012
DAVID ARTURO PAZ GARCIA | Eduardo Francisco Balart Páez | FRANCISCO JAVIER GARCIA DE LEON
"Changes in sea-water temperature on coral reefs can cause mass coral bleaching events resulting in widespread coral mortality. In the last five years, coral communities of the Gulf of California have had bleaching events caused by temperatures below 19 °C. A cold water bleaching event occurred in February 2011, providing an opportunity to assess the bleaching response and verify bleaching susceptibility among Pocillopora morphospecies. Across three surveyed locations, 84% of corals showed visual signs of bleaching to a minor or major degree. The southern-most location was the least affected by cold water bleaching; possibly due to the exposition of high levels of wave and current that could diminish the effects of high sea surface temperatures, acclimation of colonies to seasonal upwelling of cold water from the California current, and the frequency of cold-resistant Symbiodinium glynni in coral colonies, which all suggest adaptation to harsh temperature conditions. High significant bleaching to cold water was found between P. damicornis and the rest of Pocillopora morphospecies (P. verrucosa, P. meandrina, and P. capitata). High bleaching susceptibility of P. damicornis could be due to intra-specific differences in symbiont or genotypic variation among colonies, and other factors such as local water circulation and/or flow velocity that can also influence bleaching and morphological plasticity in Pocillopora corals. A better understanding of bleaching events and the ability of corals to respond to periods of thermal stress (cold or warm) will allow managers to target particular reef ecosystems for protection."
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