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Erosion vs. recovery of coral reefs after 1998 El nino: Chagos reefs, Indian Ocean
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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.
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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.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
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Subjects: | T Technology > TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences |
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Journal or Publication Title: | AMBIO | ||||
Publisher: | ROYAL SWEDISH ACAD SCIENCES | ||||
ISSN: | 0044-7447 | ||||
Official Date: | February 2002 | ||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 31 | ||||
Number: | 1 | ||||
Number of Pages: | 9 | ||||
Page Range: | pp. 40-48 | ||||
Publication Status: | Published |
Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge
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