The impact of climate change and the environment on coral growth.

Abstract

Knowledge of factors that are important in reef growth and resilience helps us understand how reefs react following major environmental disturbances including overfishing, destructive fishing practices, coral bleaching, ocean acidification, sea-level rise, algal blooms, agricultural run-off, coastal and resort development, marine pollution, increasing coral diseases, invasive species, hurricane/cyclone damage and bleaching. Research in both the Indo-Pacific and in the Caribbean show how temperature and environmental extremes have influenced coral growth, recruitment and mortality. Three dimensional topography and complexity is important for reef vitality and viability in the face of environmental stressors. Within the narrow temperature range for coral growth, corals can respond to rate of temperature change as well as to temperature per se. A rational polynomial function model for coral colony growth appears as the best-fitting model for coral growth, closely followed by exponential logistic, Gompertz, and von Bertalanffy models. Models have also been developed for many varieties of coral morphologies, as well as for polyp spacing in those morphologies. The chapter concludes with the suggestion that developing large Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as part of an overall climate change policy for a country may be the best way of integrating climate change into MPA planning, management and evaluation.