Cool water brought by upwelling in the Sanya Bay benefits corals in the background of global warming

It has been reported that global warming has negative effects on coral ecosystems in the past 50 years and the effects vary in different ocean environment. In order to make clear the coral reef status in the background of global warming along the south coast of Hainan Island of China, satellite and in situ data are used to retrieve the information of the coral reef status and surrounding environmental factors. The results show that cool water induced by upwelling along the south coast of Hainan Island is found in the area every summer month, especially in the relatively strong El Ni？o years（2002–2003 and 2005）. From the NOAA satellite data, degree heating week（DHW） index does not exceed 3 in Sanya Bay even in the relatively strong El Ni？o years. By comparison of a coral reef growth rate in the Sanya Bay with respect to El Ni？o events from 1957 to 2000, coral＇s growth rate is relatively greater during 1972, 1991–1994 and 1998 El Ni？o event. By analyzing the environmental factors, it is found that the cool water induced by upwelling may be the main reason for protecting corals from global warming effects.

A New Foraminiferal Bioindicator for Long-Term Heat Stress on Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are in terminal decline.For conservation to be effective,naturally depauperate reefs must be distinguished from those recently degraded by humans.Traditional reef monitoring is time consuming and lacks the longevity to make this distinction.Success in using foraminifera as bioindicators for reef health has hitherto levered their response to nutrients.Because ocean heat waves are the dominant driver of coral bleaching and death,there is compelling motivation to develop new foraminiferal bioindicators that inform on temperature stress over meaningful timescales.This study focuses on identifying which foraminifera respond systematically to the temperature stress that kills corals.Statistical models were used to compare endosymbiont-bearing foraminiferal families,collected along a heat-stress gradient spanning the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia,to live coral cover at the same sites.Results indicate that Amphisteginidae foraminifera and coral cover show a significant decline in abundance as heat stress increases along the transect sites.Furthermore,ocean productivity and salinity,both recognized environmental influences on foraminifera,are shown to be subordinate to temperature in their sway of this ecological patterning.These findings indicate the potential for using foraminifera to develop new indices capable of quantifying long-term thermal impacts on reefs.