title: A study on the recovery of Tobago's coral reefs following the 2010 mass bleaching event.
abstract: In 2010, severe coral bleaching was observed across the southeastern Caribbean, including the island of Tobago, where coral reefs are subject to sedimentation and high nutrient levels from terrestrial runoff. Here we examine changes in corals' colony size distributions over time (2010-2013), juvenile abundances and sedimentation rates for sites across Tobago following the 2010 bleaching event. The results indicated that since pre-bleaching coral cover was already low due to local factors and past disturbance, the 2010 event affected only particular susceptible species' population size structure and increased the proportion of small sized colonies. The low density of juveniles (mean of 5.4±6.3 juveniles/m(-2)) suggests that Tobago's reefs already experienced limited recruitment, especially of large broadcasting species. The juvenile distribution and the response of individual species to the bleaching event support the notion that Caribbean reefs are becoming dominated by weedy non-framework building taxa which are more resilient to disturbances.
authors: Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, 1984 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Electronic address: salomebu@gmail.com.
authors: Salome
authors: S
authors: Buglass
authors: Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, 1984 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors: Simon D
authors: SD
authors: Donner
authors: Biodiversity and Ecology Research Programme, Institute of Marine Affairs, Hilltop Lane, Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago.
authors: Jahson B
authors: JB
authors: Alemu I
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000502:physiology*; D057894:Coral Reefs; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis; D011156:Population Density; D011157:Population Dynamics; D014300:Trinidad and Tobago
keywords: Coral bleaching; Coral recruitment; Coral size frequency analysis; Eastern Caribbean; Sediment stress; Tobago