Climate change leaves ancient corals on Pilbara coast devastated by marine …

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Brisbane Times

Environment

Conservation
Climate Change
Environment

Date

February 13, 2014 – 11:17AM

Peter Hannam

Environment Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald

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A Porites coral head that has succumbed to coral bleaching, off Montobello Island.coral 2.jpg

A Porites coral head that has succumbed to coral bleaching, off
Montebello Island. Photo: CSIRO

Ancient corals that have survived centuries of storms in Australia’s most cyclone-prone coastal strip have been killed off by two severe marine heatwaves, researchers have found.

Large reefs of staghorn and table corals in a remote region off WA’s Pilbara coastline stretching from the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Marine Park to the Montebello Islands and the Dampier Archipelago died or were severely damaged by the unusual heat events in 2010-11 and 2012-13.

“Probably half the total area there has seen quite severe bleaching of some or all of the corals over the past couple of years,” said Russ Babcock, CSIRO lead scientist for joint survey with the University of WA. ”Earlier research had shown some of the coral species were more than 400 years old. “They are very robust and that’s how they can live to be so old.” Dr Babcock said. “Very few environmental events can affect them, let alone kill them.”

Coral bleaching on a coral head, off Montobello Island.

Coral bleaching off Montebello Island. Photo: CSIRO

Separate research suggests the reefs may have been hit hard by the first heatwave, leaving them more susceptible when the second one arrived.

Ming Feng, a CSIRO oceanographer, said water temperatures off the WA coast and the western Pacific are now “much higher than in previous decades”.

The 2010-11 marine heatwave, caused by warm tropical warms being drawn much further south than usual, had lifted sea temperatures 5 degrees above normal at their peak. While the first of the two heatwaves was linked to a powerful La Nina event in the Pacific – the second strongest on record – the background global warming means corals and other marine species are being made more vulnerable, Dr Feng said, adding that marine biota range is typically much more narrow than on land.

A Green Sea Turtle, off Wonnich Reef.?

A Green Sea Turtle, off Wonnich Reef. Photo: CSIRO

“As we continue to get warmer, any moderate La Nina event will cause a similar kind of heatwave effect, compared with a more severe event in the past,” he said.

The bleached coral discoveries came as the CSIRO and the UWA began research on the region as part of a $12 million, five-year survey project partly funding by environmental offsets from Chevron’s $60 billion nearby Gorgon Liquefied Natural Gas project.
Researchers plan to study the health and changes in the eco-system, including why some reefs to the north managed to survive the heatwaves largely intact.

The work “will tell us which parts of the region are going to be most resilient to these kinds of events,” Dr Babcock said.

The results will also help authorities when they consider future gas or other industrial projects in the region. “We urgently need to know this information to plan for the next development,” Dr Babcock said.

The ‘‘unprecedented survey will inform conservation planning into the future’’ and ‘‘allow government and industry to balance the environmental sustainability of the Pilbara with increasing use,” WA’s Environment Minister Albert Jacob said. “The survey and research work will provide a scientific basis for government decision-making in protecting the environment, while supporting the energy and tourism industries that are so important to this region.’’