[Coral-List] Cold water and coral mortality
Eugene Shinn
eshinn at marine.usf.edu
Fri Jan 15 13:18:25 EST 2010
For those interested in what may lie ahead here are some "ancient"
pre pdf papers describing effects of cold fronts/cold water on common
species of corals in the Florida Keys.
1) In this study water temperature below 14 degrees C during a cold
event in Feb 1962 killed transplanted A cervicornis in the Fla Keys
Keys.
Shinn, E. A., 1966, Coral growth-rate, an environmental indicator:
Journal of Paleontology, v. 40, no. 2, p. 233-240.
2) In this study transplanted M. annularis was killed by 9.7
degrees C at Snake creek Jan 20, 1977
Hudson, J. H., 1981, Response of Montastrea annularis to
environmental change in the Florida Keys, Proceedings, Forth
International Coral Reef Symposium 2 Manila. pp. 233-240
More details of that low water temperature event are in:
3) Roberts, H. H., Rouse, L. J.,Jr., Walker, N. D., and Hudson, J.
H., 1982, Cold-water stress in Florida Bay, and northern Bahamas--a
product of winter cold-air outbreaks. Journal of Sedimentary
Petrology, v. 52 pp. 0145-0155.
4) The same cold event (Snow in Miami) killed many acres of A.
cervicornis at Dry Tortugas as described by:
Davis, G. E., 1982, A century of natural change in coral
distribution at the Dry Tortugas: a comparison of reef maps from 1881
and 1976. Bulletin of Marine Science, v. 32, pp. 608-623.
The Jan 20 1977 event (when snow flurries were seen in Homestead,
Florida) literally wiped out A. cervicornis on all shallow bank areas
of the Tortugas. This species recovered but was later exterminated by
disease between 1983 and 1984. Staghorn coral remains in decline at
Tortugas. These studies led coral biologists to believe that low
water temperature controls the distribution of of Staghorn and
Elkhorn in the Florida Keys thus limiting them to the outer margin of
the reef tract. Gene
--
No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
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E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
University of South Florida
Marine Science Center (room 204)
140 Seventh Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
<eshinn at marine.usf.edu>
Tel 727 553-1158----------------------------------
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