Effects of ENSO-related cold-water anomalies on finger corals
After the 2007-2008 La Niña bleaching, a minority of bleached corals
recovered their pigmentation and survived, while most corals died and
eroded (Figure 2A). When surveyed 6-13 months post-bleaching in July
2008 (Figure S1), only 24% (n=26) of surveyed Pocilloporaspp. colonies had fully recovered their color, 6% had partially
recovered live tissue, but experienced at least 25-75% tissue loss, and
69% (n=75) of all bleached coral colonies (as in Figure 2C) had died
and were colonized by mobile and sessile invertebrates, fish and algae
(as in Figure 2D). Subsequent monitoring between July 2008-February 2010
revealed that 3% (n=3) of corals had visibly eroded, 14% (n=15) had
detached from the substrate and broken into coral rubble, and 12%
(n=13) had completely disappeared, with their fragments likely washed
away by currents. Over this survey period, live corals (560-616
cm2) had not lost overhead surface area, whereas dead
corals (419-474 cm2) had lost an average of 13%
overhead surface area and were on average 24% smaller than live corals
(Figure 2B). All finger corals that had initially bleached and died at
the beginning of the study in January 2008 had disintegrated by July
2011 (Figure 2B). Over the survey period, the live corals did not bleach
or deteriorate subsequent to the 2007-2008 La Niña (J. Witman and O.
Rhoades, pers. obs.).