Cumulative bleaching undermines systemic resilience of the Great Barrier Reef

Multiple bleaching events on Great Barrier Reef slashes coral larvae by 70%

31 May 2022

Recent coral bleaching events on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef are sapping its ability to rebound.

The Great Barrier Reef has been hit by three massive bleaching events between 2016 and 2021. In these events, vast tracts of coral die, losing their vivid colours. While these individual bleaching events have been examined, it has not been clear what their cumulative toll has been.

Now, a team led by researchers at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, has put numbers to the cumulative damage sustained by the reef.

Specifically, they found that the three event have slashed the supply of coral larvae by about 70%.

On a slightly more positive note, they identified cool spots that have been spared from bleaching and which could supply to deliver coral larvae to nearly 60% of the reef.

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References

1. Current Biology 31, 5385–5392 (2021).: doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.09.078