[Coral-List] Remote PAM-Fluorometry, 2005 Bleaching in Bahamas
Jim Hendee
Jim.Hendee at noaa.gov
Fri Dec 19 22:45:17 UTC 2008
Greetings, Coral-Listers,
We are pleased to announce the publication of the following note in
Coral Reefs Online:
Remote monitoring of chlorophyll fluorescence in two reef corals during
the 2005 bleaching event at Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas.
by D. Manzello, M. Warner, E. Stabenau, J. Hendee, M. Lesser and M.
Jankulak
Here is a link to the full text, with the Abstract below.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/fh78268561420318/fulltext.pdf
Abstract Zooxanthellae fluorescence was measured in situ, remotely, and
in near real-time with a pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometer for
a colony of Siderastrea siderea and Agaricia tenuifolia at Lee Stocking
Island, Bahamas during the Caribbean-wide 2005 bleaching event. These
colonies displayed evidence of photosystem II (PS II) inactivation
coincident with thermal stress and seasonally high doses of solar
radiation. Hurricane-associated declines in temperature and light appear
to have
facilitated the recovery of maximum quantum yield of PS II within these
two colonies, although both corals responded differently to individual
storms. PAM fluorometry, coupled with long-term measurement of in situ
light and temperature, provides much more detail of coral photobiology
on a seasonal time scale and during possible bleaching conditions than
sporadic, subjective, and qualitative observations. S. siderea
displayed evidence of PS II inactivation over a month prior to the
issuing of a satellite-based, sea surface temperature (SST) bleaching
alert by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In
fact, recovery had already begun in S. siderea when the bleaching alert
was issued. Fluorescence data for A. tenuifolia were difficult
to interpret because the shaded parts of a colony were monitored and
thus did not perfectly coincide with thermal
stress and seasonally high doses of solar radiation as in S. siderea.
These results further emphasize the limitations of solely monitoring SST
(satellite or in situ) as a bleaching indicator without considering the
physiological status of coral-zooxanthellae symbioses.
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