Coral reefs as a source of climate-active aerosols

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Author(s)
Jackson, Rebecca L
Gabric, Albert J
Cropp, Roger
Year published
2020
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
We review the evidence for bio-regulation by coral reefs of local climate through stress-induced emissions of aerosol precursors, such as dimethylsulfide. This is an issue that goes to the core of the coral ecosystem’s ability to maintain homeostasis in the face of increasing climate change impacts and other anthropogenic pressures. We examine this through an analysis of data on aerosol emissions by corals of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. We focus on the relationship with local stressors, such as surface irradiance levels and sea surface temperature, both before and after notable coral bleaching events. We conclude that ...
View more >We review the evidence for bio-regulation by coral reefs of local climate through stress-induced emissions of aerosol precursors, such as dimethylsulfide. This is an issue that goes to the core of the coral ecosystem’s ability to maintain homeostasis in the face of increasing climate change impacts and other anthropogenic pressures. We examine this through an analysis of data on aerosol emissions by corals of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. We focus on the relationship with local stressors, such as surface irradiance levels and sea surface temperature, both before and after notable coral bleaching events. We conclude that coral reefs may be able to regulate their exposure to environmental stressors through modification of the optical properties of the atmosphere, however this ability may be impaired as climate change intensifies.
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View more >We review the evidence for bio-regulation by coral reefs of local climate through stress-induced emissions of aerosol precursors, such as dimethylsulfide. This is an issue that goes to the core of the coral ecosystem’s ability to maintain homeostasis in the face of increasing climate change impacts and other anthropogenic pressures. We examine this through an analysis of data on aerosol emissions by corals of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. We focus on the relationship with local stressors, such as surface irradiance levels and sea surface temperature, both before and after notable coral bleaching events. We conclude that coral reefs may be able to regulate their exposure to environmental stressors through modification of the optical properties of the atmosphere, however this ability may be impaired as climate change intensifies.
View less >
Journal Title
PeerJ
Volume
8
Copyright Statement
© 2020 Jackson et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Subject
Biological Sciences
Medical and Health Sciences
Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
Coral reefs
Biogenic aerosol