[Coral-List] Maldives vs Seychelles

Thomas Goreau goreau at bestweb.net
Wed Feb 18 12:13:58 EST 2009


I filmed coral reef transects in both the Maldives and Seychelles  
repeatedly before, during, and after the 1998 bleaching event. I think  
the differences you describe are more likely due to the fact that  
breeding populations of Acropora were essentially eliminated in both  
places, but the Maldives is much closer to the source of larvae from  
Indonesia, and so new recruitment began much earlier in Maldives than  
in Seychelles, since the Seychelles essentially had to wait until  
breeding populations could be established up current in Maldives and  
Chagos (and East Africa). In addition Maldivian waters are clearer,  
lacking terrigenous sediment input, and so corals grow faster. Both  
areas are subject to episodic upwelling driven by wind changes.

Thomas J. Goreau, PhD
President, Global Coral Reef Alliance
Coordinator, United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development  
Partnership in New Technologies for Small Island Developing States
37 Pleasant Street, Cambridge MA 02139
617-864-4226
goreau at bestweb.net
http://www.globalcoral.org

Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:05:01 +1000
From: "Paul Muir" <paul.muir at qm.qld.gov.au>
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] bleaching and acidification
To: "coral-list coral-list" <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Message-ID:
	<BB9E9CCBC5617F4B9FB988E8553C377D238BC1 at mtqfp02.mtq.qm.qld.gov.au>
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Are there maps of aragonite saturation/ carbonate equilibrium for ocean
areas? On a trip to the Indian Ocean in 2005 we were quite struck by
differences in apparent growth rates of Acroporas after the '98
bleaching event at different locations. In the Maldives growth after
mass mortality was apparently rapid  (ie new colonies 2- 3m diameter)
while at a similar latitude in the Seychelles the  maximum colony size
of  Acroporas was approx 25 cm. We did wonder if these apparent
differences in growth rates were partly due to differences in aragonite
saturation since both locations appeared quite similar in terms of being
oceanic reefs with minimal human impact.


Dr. Paul Muir
Museum of Tropical Queensland,
78-104 Flinders St,
Townsville QLD 4810 Australia.
ph. 07 47 260 642  fax. 07 47 212 093  mob. 0407 117 998

* if no reply or problems sending try paularwen at gmail.com



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