Recovery of Bleached Scleractinian Corals in Virgin Islands National Park [DRAFT]
McLain LN, Rogers CS, Baker SW. 1989. Recovery of Bleached Scleractinian Corals in Virgin Islands National Park [DRAFT]. St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
Bleaching is a phenomenon that often results in the death of coral. This draft includes background information, methods including coral tagging, and results of a study done to test the resiliency of coral against bleaching. The coral bleaching phenomenon appeared throughout the Caribbean and western Atlantic in the summer and fall of 1987. General observations around St. John, u.s.v.r., showed that at least 16 species of hard corals growing near the surface down to a depth of 25 m lost their zooxanthellae. The following species exhibited the most bleaching: D. labyrinthiforrnis, D. strigosa, M. annularis, and A. agaricites. A total of 45 colonies of 5 species were tagged at 2 sites within Virgin Islands National Park. These corals were photographed and categorized as bleached, pale or normal periodically throughout 1988 and in January 1989. Some recovery of the bleached corals was noticed early in 1988. However, by the end of 1988, approximately 83% of the corals that were originally categorized as bleached or pale had not regained their normal color. Sixty percent of bleached corals and 21% of pale corals exhibited partial mortality 9 months after the beginning of the study.
- Type
- Unpublished Report
- Authors
- McLain, Larry; Rogers, Caroline; Baker, Sean
- Date of Issue
- 1989-03-23
- Units
- VIIS
- Keywords
- Agaricia agaricites, Coral Bleaching, Diploria labyrinthiformis, Diploria strigosa, Methods, Montastrea annularis, Virgin Islands, Zooxanthellae