Home Institution
The University of Mississippi
Publication Date
Spring 2024
Abstract
Coral reefs harbor a wealth of the biodiversity present in the ocean. They provide an array of ecological and economic services that make them crucial to the function of a healthy ocean and prosperous coastal communities. Due to an array of anthropogenic stressors, including an increase in ocean temperatures as a result of climate change, reefs have been devastated worldwide. This is, in large part, due to the process of coral bleaching, the expelling of symbiont algae which the coral needs to produce energy, for an extended period until death. This study surveyed bleaching and death at a deeper and shallower site along the Chumbe Coral Park reef. Quadrats were thrown along transects within the three principal zones of the reef (back reef, reef crest, and fore reef) to discern the percentage of alive, bleached, dead coral, and coral cover. A multitude of other coral stressors were also examined ad hoc. It was found that bleaching and death was widespread across the reef, with the worst death occurring at the reef crest. Bleaching was worst overall in the deeper section of the reef, indicating that the coral morphologies and genera there are more susceptible to thermal stress. The shallower site likely gives an impression of the future of the deeper site under increasingly severe bleaching events, with heartier, more thermally resistant species dominating the north. While local protections can reduce some coral stressors, if steps are not taken to properly address the warming ocean temperatures as a result of climate change, the collapse of the coral reef ecosystem as a result will mean catastrophic ramifications for the health of the marine environment, a breakdown in global foodways, and the loss of livelihood and nutrition for local communities.
Disciplines
Climate | Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment | Marine Biology | Natural Resources and Conservation | Oceanography | Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Recommended Citation
Boudreaux, Christian, "Early report of a microcosm of the fourth major global bleaching event: A comprehensive survey of coral bleaching at Chumbe Island Coral Park, Zanzibar" (2024). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 3783.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/3783
Included in
Climate Commons, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Oceanography Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons
Program Name
Tanzania-Zanzibar: Coastal Ecology and Natural Resource Management