ORCID
- Clara Diaz: 0000-0003-3288-6398
- Nicola L. Foster: 0000-0001-9796-1753
- Martin J. Attrill: 0000-0002-4039-031X
- Peter Ganderton: 0000-0003-4550-319X
- Kerry L. Howell: 0000-0003-3359-1778
- Edward Robinson: 0000-0001-8262-2281
- Phil Hosegood: 0000-0002-4415-7152
Abstract
As global temperatures continue to rise, shallow coral reef bleaching has become more intense and widespread. Mesophotic coral ecosystems (30–150 m) reside in deeper, cooler, water and were thought to offer a refuge to shallow-water reefs. Data now show that mesophotic coral ecosystems instead have limited connectivity with shallow corals but host diverse endemic communities. Given their extensive distribution and high biodiversity, understanding their susceptibility to warming oceans is imperative. In this multidisciplinary study we show evidence of coral bleaching at 90 m in the Indian Ocean, despite the absence of shallow-water bleaching. The bleaching was associated with sustained thermocline deepening driven by the Indian Ocean Dipole but further enhanced by internal waves whose influence varied at a subatoll scale. Our results demonstrate the potential vulnerability of mesophotic coral ecosystems to thermal stress and highlight the need for oceanographic knowledge to predict bleaching susceptibility and heterogeneity
DOI Link
Publication Date
2023-10-16
Publication Title
Nature Communications
Volume
14
ISSN
2041-1723
Acceptance Date
2023-10-05
Deposit Date
2023-05-10
Embargo Period
2023-12-05
Funding
We thank the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the British Indian Ocean Territory Administration for allowing us to undertake this research and the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Bertarelli Foundation for funding this work and supporting data collection in the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. We also thank Nataliya Stashchuk and Vasyl Vlasenko for providing the model output and preparing the modelling figures. We finally thank the captain, Craig Henn, and the crew of the Tethys Supporter for their assistance throughout the cruises.
Keywords
Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems, Climate change, Indian Ocean Dipole, Internal waves
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Diaz, C., Foster, N., Attrill, M., Bolton, A., Ganderton, P., Howell, K., Robinson, E., & Hosegood, P. (2023) 'Mesophotic coral bleaching associated with changes in thermocline depth', Nature Communications, 14. Available at: 10.1038/s41467-023-42279-2
