Ocean currents magnify upwelling and deliver nutritional subsidies to reef-building corals during El Niño heatwaves.
Sci Adv
; 9(24): eadd5032, 2023 06 16.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37315146
ABSTRACT
Marine heatwaves are triggering coral bleaching events and devastating coral populations globally, highlighting the need to identify processes promoting coral survival. Here, we show that acceleration of a major ocean current and shallowing of the surface mixed layer enhanced localized upwelling on a central Pacific coral reef during the three strongest El Niño-associated marine heatwaves of the past half century. These conditions mitigated regional declines in primary production and bolstered local supply of nutritional resources to corals during a bleaching event. The reefs subsequently suffered limited post-bleaching coral mortality. Our results reveal how large-scale ocean-climate interactions affect reef ecosystems thousands of kilometers away and provide a valuable framework for identifying reefs that may benefit from such biophysical linkages during future bleaching events.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Anthozoa
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
Sci Adv
Year:
2023
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Saudi Arabia