Pubblicazione scientifica

Bleaching-driven reef community shifts drive pulses of increased reef sediment generation

FILONE TECNOLOGICO	TEMA
economia circolare e sostenibilità

RIASSUNTO

The ecological impacts of coral bleaching on reef communities are well documented, but resultant impacts upon reef-derived sediment supply are poorly quantified. This is an important knowledge gap because these biogenic sediments underpin shoreline and reef island maintenance. Here, we explore the impacts of the 2016 bleaching event on sediment generation by two dominant sediment producers (parrotfish and Halimeda spp.) on southern Maldivian reefs. Our data identifies two pulses of increased sediment generation in the 3 years since bleaching. The first occurred within approximately six months after bleaching as parrotfish biomass and resultant erosion rates increased, probably in response to enhanced food availability. The second pulse occurred 1 to 3 years post-bleaching, after further increases in parrotfish biomass and a major (approx. fourfold) increase in Halimeda spp. abundance. Total estimated sediment generation from these two producers increased from approximately 0.5 kg CaCO3 m−2 yr−1 (pre-bleaching; 2016) to approximately 3.7 kg CaCO3 m−2 yr−1 (post-bleaching; 2019), highlighting the strong links between reef ecology and sediment generation. However, the relevance of this sediment for shoreline maintenance probably diverges with each producer group, with parrotfish-derived sediment a more appropriate size fraction to potentially contribute to local island shorelines.

DATA

Data di pubblicazione: 22/04/2020

AUTORI

PERRY CHRIS T
MORGAN KYLE M
LANGE INES D
YARLETT ROBERT T

ENTE DI AFFERENZA

GEOGRAPHY COLLEGE OF LIFE & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES UNIV EXETER EXETER EX4 4RJ UK
ASIAN SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT NANYANG TECH UNIV SINGAPORE 639798 SINGAPORE

RIVISTA

Royal Society Open Science, 7(4), 192153

IMPACT FACTOR

2,680

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