[Coral-List] New Paper: Global study finds high-frequency temperature variability is a good predictor of bleaching severity

[Kristen Davis]

Dear Colleagues,

In a new paper published online this week (https://rdcu.be/MDGs <http://em.rdcu.be/wf/click?upn=lMZy1lernSJ7apc5DgYM8T82QtWKP0Bmtc6zSxc3E6o-3D_19z9m2u6FzBU0mgPZqv7bfYWEvz-2BRYd2ysIeoJQkfktYd-2FWld4Lw24gphkAXGFLL2o3eKbv8EvbTIWGrtoXayDJ91T7teApLLy31K0XdNJaIAQtRrxHgomU0WJhsWlm8PdtRfKhX2vXltroPC5fuXdyNESof0qdtr-2FlCtimGkTnyX1kmAP7SmjYN1QGqrB4bMjioMG1oJLl6PtikZJgMhVKc1xdmEcESG0CmPaFGSroQy69vpBDNn9jZObm6DADJIMd7GQfgNtOt00SD6Dex2A-3D-3D>) we use a global suite of in situ data collected at 118 locations spanning five reef regions to test the ability of 20 commonly-used temperature metrics and environmental parameters to explain observed bleaching prevalence. Perhaps surprisingly, we find that, among all the parameters tested, high-frequency temperature variability (e.g., daily or shorter-period temperature range) is consistently the best metric for predicting bleaching prevalence, with greater temperature variability substantially reducing the odds of bleaching in reefs all over the world.

Although several local reef-scale and laboratory studies have previously suggested that “high-frequency” temperature variability may be important to corals’ physiological responses to stress events, our results bear this out on a global scale. 

Hope you find this work useful.
Best regards,
Kristen




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Kristen Davis, Assistant Professor
Civil & Environmental Engineering &
Earth System Science
4130E Engineering Gateway
University of California, Irvine
office: (949) 824-4498
http://davis.eng.uci.edu
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