[Coral-List] Do ENSO events regulate in Porites corals its range limit?

[David Arturo Paz Garcia]

Dear coral-listers,  I would like to draw your attention to a new publication about shift of geographical range in endemic Porites sverdrupi coral associate to ENSO events. Abstract: Rising seawater surface temperatures worldwide may cause reef coral species to shift their geographical range towards cooler environments. Information on such shifts, however, remains scarce. The scleractinian coral Porites sverdrupi is endemic to the Gulf of California, and is considered a threatened species due to its vulnerability to local impacts, low abundance, and limited and fragmented distribution range. Here we report a new record of P. sverdrupi from south of Gulf of California. Events of local extinction and contraction of the distribution range were related to warm ENSO events (1982 and 2010), while expansion occurred after cold ENSO events in 2008 and 2011. Our results suggest that P. sverdrupi may tolerate the narrowest range of temperatures in its genus, and that the newly recorded range limit may be linked to the physiological limit of temperature tolerance for this species.  Reference Paz-Garcia et al. 2015. New record of the endemic coral Porites sverdrupi (Gulf
of California): do fluctuations in seawater temperature regulate its southernmost range limit? Marine Biodiversity.You can access to PDF copy in the following linkshttps://www.academia.edu/14848732/New_record_of_the_endemic_coral_Porites_sverdrupi_Gulf_of_California_do_fluctuations_in_seawater_temperature_regulate_its_southernmost_range_limit     https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281112891_New_record_of_the_endemic_coral_Porites_sverdrupi_%28Gulf_of_California%29_do_fluctuations_in_seawater_temperature_regulate_its_southernmost_range_limit      Best Regards,
David A. Paz-Garcia
Laboratorio de Necton y Ecología de Arrecifes,Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas del NoroesteInstituto Politecnico Nacional 195, Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita Sur, La Paz, Baja California Sur 23096, Mexico.E-mail: dpaz at cibnor.mx, david6biom at hotmail.com
Publicationshttp://cibnor.academia.edu/DavidPazGarcía/Papers

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