Vulnerability and Trade-Offs:
- While coral cover has increased, the new coral dominating the reef is primarily fast-growing branching coral called Acropora.
- Acropora corals recover quickly after disturbances but are vulnerable to storms, heatwaves, and crown-of-thorns starfish.
Great Barrier Reef Coral Recovery: The Great Barrier Reef, located off the coast of Queensland, Australia, has experienced significant coral bleaching due to rising sea temperatures caused by climate change. However, there’s some good news: recent reports show that coral cover in certain sections of the reef has reached record levels after mass-bleaching events1.
Here are the key points:
Record-High Coral Cover:
- The northern and central sections of the Great Barrier Reef have seen record-high coral cover.
- Scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) have observed continued dramatic improvement in coral cover in these areas.
- This recovery follows a period without intense disturbances, such as mass bleaching events.
- The percentage of coral cover in the northern section increased from 27% to 36%, and in the central section, it increased from 26% to 33%.
- These results demonstrate that the reef can still recover during periods free of intense disturbances.
