Simulation and observations of annual density banding in skeletons of Montastraea (Cnidaria: Scleractinia) growing under thermal stress associated with ocean warming

Authors

Ferenc P. Worum, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur Unidad Chetumal
Juan P. Carricart-Ganivet, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur Unidad ChetumalFollow
Larry Benson, U.S. Geological SurveyFollow
Duncan Golicher, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur

Date of this Version

2007

Citation

Limnol. Oceanogr., 52(5), 2007, 2317–2323

Abstract

We present a model of annual density banding in skeletons of Montastraea coral species growing under thermal stress associated with an ocean-warming scenario. The model predicts that at sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) Montastraea species is a clear indication of thermal stress. When all monthly SSTs exceed the optimal calcification temperature, HDBs form during the coldest, not the warmest, months of the year. In addition, a decline in mean-annual calcification rate also occurs during this period of elevated SST. A comparison of our model results with annual density patterns observed in skeletons of M. faveolata and M. franksi, collected from several localities in the Mexican Caribbean, indicates that elevated SSTs are already resulting in the presence of dHDBs as a first sign of thermal stress, which occurs even without coral bleaching.