Bleaching in reef corals: Physiological and stable isotopic responses

作者：James W. Porter, William K. Fitt, Howard J. Spero, Caroline S. Rogers, Michael W. White · 发表于：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 年份：1989 · DOI：10.1073/pnas.86.23.9342 · 被引用次数：259 · 研究领域：Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies、Marine and fisheries research、Fish biology, ecology, and behavior

During the late summer to fall of 1987, Caribbean reef corals experienced an intense and widespread discoloration event described as bleaching. Contrary to initial predictions, most bleached corals did not die. However, energy input from zooxanthellae decreased, as estimated from: (i) delta(13)C values, a measure of the discrimination against (13)C in (12)C/(13)C assimilation, of skeletal aragonite; (ii) in situ photosynthesis-irradiance measurements; (iii) and tissue biomass parameters of Montastraea annularis and Agaricia lamarcki. The delta(18)O signal, a measure of the discrimination against (18)O in (16)O/(18)O assimilation, from M. annularis skeletons demonstrated that this event coincided with abnormally elevated water temperatures.