title: The 2014 summer coral bleaching event in subtropical Hong Kong.
abstract: We reported a coral bleaching event that occurred in August-September 2014 in Hong Kong waters based on video transect surveys conducted at eight sites. The bleaching affected eight species of corals with different growth forms. Bleaching at seven of the eight study sites was minor, affecting only 0.4-5.2% colonies and 0.8-10.0% coral-covered area. Sharp Island East, however, suffered from a moderate level of bleaching, with 13.1% colonies and 30.1% coral-covered area affected. Examination of the government's environmental monitoring data indicated abnormal water quality conditions preceding and during the bleaching event. Follow-up field surveys of tagged colonies showed that 76% of them had fully recovered, 12% partially recovered, and 12% suffered from mortality. These results indicate that the subtropical corals of Hong Kong are not immune to bleaching, and there is a need to study their responses under climate change scenarios.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, P.R. China.
authors.forename: James Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, Hong Kong SAR Government, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Dickey C C
authors.initials: DCC
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.affiliation: College of International Education, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kei
authors.affiliation: College of International Education, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Vriko P F
authors.initials: VPF
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, Hong Kong SAR Government, P.R. China. Electronic address: wk_chow@afcd.gov.hk.
authors.forename: Wing-Kuen
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, P.R. China. Electronic address: qiujw@hkbu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Jian-Wen
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Qiu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000502:physiology; D057231:Climate Change; D057894:Coral Reefs; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D006723:Hong Kong; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry*; D060753:Water Quality
keywords: Coral bleaching; Global climate change; High temperature; Hypoxia; Platygyra; Porites