title: ENSO drove 2500-year collapse of eastern Pacific coral reefs.
abstract: Cores of coral reef frameworks along an upwelling gradient in Panamá show that reef ecosystems in the tropical eastern Pacific collapsed for 2500 years, representing as much as 40% of their history, beginning about 4000 years ago. The principal cause of this millennial-scale hiatus in reef growth was increased variability of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and its coupling with the Intertropical Convergence Zone. The hiatus was a Pacific-wide phenomenon with an underlying climatology similar to probable scenarios for the next century. Global climate change is probably driving eastern Pacific reefs toward another regional collapse.
authors: Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL 32901, USA.
authors: Lauren T
authors: LT
authors: Toth
authors: Richard B
authors: RB
authors: Aronson
authors: Steven V
authors: SV
authors: Vollmer
authors: Jennifer W
authors: JW
authors: Hobbs
authors: Dunia H
authors: DH
authors: Urrego
authors: Hai
authors: H
authors: Cheng
authors: Ian C
authors: IC
authors: Enochs
authors: David J
authors: DJ
authors: Combosch
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: van Woesik
authors: Ian G
authors: IG
authors: Macintyre
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000254:growth & development; D057231:Climate Change; D057894:Coral Reefs; D059000:El Nino-Southern Oscillation; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D010140:Pacific Ocean; D010176:Panama; D013995:Time