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  • U-Th dating reveals regional-scale decline of branching Acropora corals on the Great Barrier Reef over the past century

    Author(s)
    Clark, TR
    Roff, G
    Zhao, JX
    Feng, YX
    Done, TJ
    McCook, LJ
    Pandolfi, JM
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Clark, Tara R.
    Year published
    2017
    Metadata
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    Abstract
    Hard coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is on a trajectory of decline. However, little is known about past coral mortality before the advent of long-term monitoring (circa 1980s). Using paleoecological analysis and high-precision uranium-thorium (U-Th) dating, we reveal an extensive loss of branching Acropora corals and changes in coral community structure in the Palm Islands region of the central GBR over the past century. In 2008, dead coral assemblages were dominated by large, branching Acropora and living coral assemblages by genera typically found in turbid inshore environments. The timing of Acropora mortality ...
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    Hard coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is on a trajectory of decline. However, little is known about past coral mortality before the advent of long-term monitoring (circa 1980s). Using paleoecological analysis and high-precision uranium-thorium (U-Th) dating, we reveal an extensive loss of branching Acropora corals and changes in coral community structure in the Palm Islands region of the central GBR over the past century. In 2008, dead coral assemblages were dominated by large, branching Acropora and living coral assemblages by genera typically found in turbid inshore environments. The timing of Acropora mortality was found to be occasionally synchronous among reefs and frequently linked to discrete disturbance events, occurring in the 1920s to 1960s and again in the 1980s to 1990s. Surveys conducted in 2014 revealed low Acropora cover (<5%) across all sites, with very little evidence of change for up to 60 y at some sites. Collectively, our results suggest a loss of resilience of this formerly dominant key framework builder at a regional scale, with recovery severely lagging behind predictions. Our study implies that the management of these reefs may be predicated on a shifted baseline.
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    Journal Title
    National Academy of Sciences. Proceedings (PNAS)
    Volume
    114
    Issue
    39
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1705351114
    Subject
    Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology)
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/368783
    Collection
    • Journal articles

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