Caribbean corals in crisis: record thermal stress, bleaching, and mortality in 2005.
BACKGROUND
The rising temperature of the world's oceans has become a major threat to coral reefs globally as the severity and frequency of mass coral bleaching and mortality events increase. In 2005, high ocean temperatures in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean resulted in the most severe bleaching event ever recorded in the basin.


RESULTS
Satellite-based tools provided warnings for coral reef managers and scientists, guiding both the timing and location of researchers' field observations as anomalously warm conditions developed and spread across the greater Caribbean region from June to October 2005. Field surveys of bleaching and mortality exceeded prior efforts in detail and extent, and provided a new standard for documenting the effects of bleaching and for testing nowcast and forecast products. Collaborators from 22 countries undertook the most comprehensive documentation of basin-scale bleaching to date and found that over 80% of corals bleached and over 40% died at many sites. The most severe bleaching coincided with waters nearest a western Atlantic warm pool that was centered off the northern end of the Lesser Antilles.


CONCLUSIONS
Thermal stress during the 2005 event exceeded any observed from the Caribbean in the prior 20 years, and regionally-averaged temperatures were the warmest in over 150 years. Comparison of satellite data against field surveys demonstrated a significant predictive relationship between accumulated heat stress (measured using NOAA Coral Reef Watch's Degree Heating Weeks) and bleaching intensity. This severe, widespread bleaching and mortality will undoubtedly have long-term consequences for reef ecosystems and suggests a troubled future for tropical marine ecosystems under a warming climate.
Coral Reef Watch, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.
C Mark
CM
Eakin
Jessica A
JA
Morgan
Scott F
SF
Heron
Tyler B
TB
Smith
Gang
G
Liu
Lorenzo
L
Alvarez-Filip
Bart
B
Baca
Erich
E
Bartels
Carolina
C
Bastidas
Claude
C
Bouchon
Marilyn
M
Brandt
Andrew W
AW
Bruckner
Lucy
L
Bunkley-Williams
Andrew
A
Cameron
Billy D
BD
Causey
Mark
M
Chiappone
Tyler R L
TR
Christensen
M James C
MJ
Crabbe
Owen
O
Day
Elena
E
de la Guardia
Guillermo
G
Díaz-Pulido
Daniel
D
DiResta
Diego L
DL
Gil-Agudelo
David S
DS
Gilliam
Robert N
RN
Ginsburg
Shannon
S
Gore
Héctor M
HM
Guzmán
James C
JC
Hendee
Edwin A
EA
Hernández-Delgado
Ellen
E
Husain
Christopher F G
CF
Jeffrey
Ross J
RJ
Jones
Eric
E
Jordán-Dahlgren
Les S
LS
Kaufman
David I
DI
Kline
Philip A
PA
Kramer
Judith C
JC
Lang
Diego
D
Lirman
Jennie
J
Mallela
Carrie
C
Manfrino
Jean-Philippe
JP
Maréchal
Ken
K
Marks
Jennifer
J
Mihaly
W Jeff
WJ
Miller
Erich M
EM
Mueller
Erinn M
EM
Muller
Carlos A
CA
Orozco Toro
Hazel A
HA
Oxenford
Daniel
D
Ponce-Taylor
Norman
N
Quinn
Kim B
KB
Ritchie
Sebastián
S
Rodríguez
Alberto Rodríguez
AR
Ramírez
Sandra
S
Romano
Jameal F
JF
Samhouri
Juan A
JA
Sánchez
George P
GP
Schmahl
Burton V
BV
Shank
William J
WJ
Skirving
Sascha C C
SC
Steiner
Estrella
E
Villamizar
Sheila M
SM
Walsh
Cory
C
Walter
Ernesto
E
Weil
Ernest H
EH
Williams
Kimberly Woody
KW
Roberson
Yusri
Y
Yusuf
D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000254:growth & development*; D017691:Caribbean Region; D002980:Climate; D057894:Coral Reefs; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005843:Geography; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013696:Temperature; D014872:Water Movements