Morri, Carla, Montefalcone, Monica, Lasagna, Roberta, Gatti, Giulia, Rovere, Alessio, Parravicini, Valeriano, Baldelli, Giuseppe, Colantoni, Paolo and Bianchi, Carlo Nike (2015) Through bleaching and tsunami: Coral reef recovery in the Maldives. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 98 (1-2). pp. 188-200. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.06.050.

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Abstract

Coral reefs are degrading worldwide, but little information exists on their previous conditions for most regions of the world. Since 1989, we have been studying the Maldives, collecting data before, during and after the bleaching and mass mortality event of 1998. As early as 1999, many newly settled colonies were recorded. Recruits shifted from a dominance of massive and encrusting corals in the early stages of recolonisation towards a dominance of Acropora and Pocillopora by 2009. Coral cover, which dropped to less than 10% after the bleaching, returned to pre-bleaching values of around 50% by 2013. The 2004 tsunami had comparatively little effect. In 2014, the coral community was similar to that existing before the bleaching. According to descriptors and metrics adopted, recovery of Maldivian coral reefs took between 6 and 15 years, or may even be considered unachieved, as there are species that had not come back yet.

Document Type:	Article
Programme Area:	UNSPECIFIED
Research affiliation:	Biogeochemistry and Geology
Refereed:	Yes
Open Access Journal?:	No
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.06.050
ISSN:	0025326X
Date Deposited:	05 Aug 2019 17:29
Last Modified:	01 Oct 2020 12:59
URI:	http://cris.leibniz-zmt.de/id/eprint/2447

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