UNSPECIFIED. (2002) Erosion vs. recovery of coral reefs after 1998 El nino: Chagos reefs, Indian Ocean. AMBIO, 31 (1). pp. 40-48. ISSN 0044-7447

Abstract

Three years after most corals died on the central Indian Ocean reefs of Chagos, erosion and recovery were studied to 30 m depth. Mortality was near-total to 15 m deep in northern atolls, and to > 35 m in central and southern atolls. Some reef surfaces have `dropped' 1.5 m due to the loss of dense coral thickets. Coral bioerosion is substantial, reducing 3-D reef `structure' and forming unconsolidated rubble. Juvenile corals are abundant, though mostly on eroding or unstable substrates, and are of less robust species. Reef fish abundance and diversity at 15 m depth remains high; species dependent on corals have diminished, while some herbivores and detritivores have increased. A new sea surface temperature (SST) data set shows that mean SST has risen 0.65degreesC since 1950. The critical SST causing the mortality in Chagos was 29.9degreesC.

Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge

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