[Coral-List] Question Thermal vs PH shift / Re: coral range expansion with global warming

[Jonathan Shrives]

Dear Listers,

So correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand one of
the contributing reasons to why you don't find many
Acroporans in Bermuda, is that the Planular larvae
can't last in the water column long enough to reach up
there. Also would the coastlines of the US, South
America, China and Australia be too polluted from
coastal run-off and riverine discharge to allow the
formation of reefs expanding north-wards or
South-wards? Plus, how long from 1st year recruit does
it take an Acroporan to reach the stage where it can
create planular larvae of it's own? Would year on year
change in thermal stress be too rapid for this to be
taken into account? Obviously the answers to my
questions differ for Pacific / Atlantic / Indian Ocean
communities, but I think it would be interesting to
see if anyone knows these values, so we can interject
them into the discussion. Also I imagine acidification
would be more of a major issue for deeper tropical
reefs and deep water cold reefs, which I know are not
as hermtypic as shallow tropical reefs, but still a
long-term conservation concern - right?

Kind Regards,

Jon


Jonathan Shrives
D.Phil Student
Tropical Ecology Research Group
Dept. Zoology
University of Oxford

T: +44 1865 271124
E: jonathan.shrives at zoo.ox.ac.uk