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Low coral mortality during the most intense bleaching event ever recorded in subtropical Southwestern Atlantic reefs

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Abstract

Coral reefs globally are threatened by climate change, but reef assemblages at high latitudes may serve as refugia. Marginal coral communities located in the subtropical Southwestern Atlantic are poorly studied, but were subject to an unprecedented heatwave and associated coral bleaching in 2019. Record values of 18.5 and 20.5 °C-weeks were registered for coastal and insular sites, which are the highest ever documented for a reef in the South Atlantic. As a consequence, approximately 80% and 20% of the population of the reef-building coral Mussismilia hispida (1116 colonies surveyed) underwent bleaching in coastal and insular sites, respectively. However, mortality (2%) was far lower than for episodes of similar magnitude in other regions, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. Therefore, the subtropical Southwestern Atlantic MCC displayed low mortality and remarkable tolerance when exposed to the most intense bleaching episode ever recorded for the region, reinforcing its potential as a refugium.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Arthur Güth for the illustrations, Gang Liu for assistance in acquisition of DHW data, and Carla Zilberberg for helping during the Alcatrazes fieldwork. MVK acknowledges the support of FAPESP (#2014/01332-0) and CNPq (#301436/2018-5). MVK, KCCC and CLBF are grateful for the support from Kelen Leite and Silvia Godoy (ICMBio).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Oceanográfico, Universidade de São Paulo, Praça Do Oceanográfico, 191, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP, 05508-120, Brazil

    T. N. S. Banha, P. Y. G. Sumida & M. Mies

  2. Centro de Biologia Marinha, Universidade de São Paulo, Rodovia Manuel Hypólito Do Rego, km 131, 5, São Sebastião, SP, 11612-109, Brazil

    K. C. C. Capel & M. V. Kitahara

  3. Departamento de Ciências Do Mar, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Dr. Carvalho de Mendonça, Santos, SP, 11070-100, Brazil

    M. V. Kitahara

  4. Departamento de Engenharia E Meio Ambiente, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Rua da Mangueira, s/n, Rio Tinto, PB, 58297-000, Brazil

    R. B. Francini-Filho

  5. Instituto Laje Viva, Rua Joaquim Floriano, 466, Conj. 2207, São Paulo, SP, 04534-002, Brazil

    C. L. B. Francini

  6. Instituto Coral Vivo, Rua Dos Coqueiros, 87, Santa Cruz Cabrália, BA, 45807-000, Brazil

    P. Y. G. Sumida & M. Mies

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  1. T. N. S. Banha
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Contributions

All authors designed the study; TNSB, KCCC, CLBF and MM performed fieldwork; MVK, RBFF and PYGS contributed to infrastructure/material/technical support; TNSB, KCCC, RBFF and MM analyzed the data; and all authors contributed to the manuscript.

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Correspondence to M. Mies.

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Banha, T.N.S., Capel, K.C.C., Kitahara, M.V. et al. Low coral mortality during the most intense bleaching event ever recorded in subtropical Southwestern Atlantic reefs. Coral Reefs 39, 515–521 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-019-01856-y

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