The Effects of Climate Change on Hawaii’s Coral Reef Ecosystem Over the Past 20 Years
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v12i4.5896Keywords:
Climate Change, Coral Reef, Reef Ecosystem, Marine Biodiversity, Hawaii, Coral Bleaching, Reef Drowning, Ocean Acidification, Invasive SpeciesAbstract
The Hawaiian islands are known for their rich marine biodiversity in coral reef ecosystems. However, in the last 20 years, changes in sea surface temperatures, sea levels, carbon dioxide levels, and ocean pH have severely impacted these reef ecosystems. Hawaiian corals can experience heat stress with temperatures as little as 1-2 °C above the average and thermal stress events were prevalent from 2014-2017, causing bleaching and increasing mortality. The increase in sea level in Hawaiian marine ecosystems has caused reefs to “drown” from the lack of sufficient sunlight and thus suffer from bleaching. Coral disease is linked with high temperatures, seen through the common reef-building coral disease white syndrome. Invasive species outbreaks, with Acanthaster planci as an example, are also correlated with changes in the climate and reef communities. With the loss of coral, there have been consequences on marine biodiversity in Hawaiian reef ecosystems. Specifically, the three most native coral genera, porites, montipora, and pocillopora, which are the most important species to the reefs, have been declining in population. As a result, higher threat statuses have been observed among turtles, reef fish, and marine mammals that are reliant on their coral reef ecosystems for protection and food sources.
Downloads
References or Bibliography
Aeby, G. S., Howells, E., Work, T., Abrego, D., Williams, G. J., Wedding, L. M., Caldwell, J. M., Moritsch, M., & Burt, J. A. (2020).
Localized outbreaks of coral disease on Arabian reefs are linked to extreme temperatures and environmental stressors. Coral Reefs, 39(3),
–846. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-01928-4
Al-Hammady, M. A. M. M., Silva, T. F., Hussein, H. N. M., Saxena, G., Modolo, L. V., Belasy, M. B. I., & Farag, M. A. (2022). How do
algae endosymbionts mediate for their coral host fitness under heat stress? A comprehensive mechanistic overview. Algal Research, 67,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2022.102850
Bahr, K. D., Jokiel, P. L., & Rodgers, K. S. (2016). Relative sensitivity of five Hawaiian coral species to high temperature under high-
pCO2 conditions. Coral Reefs, 35(2), 729–738. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-016-1405-4
Bhattacharya, D., Stephens, T. G., Tinoco, A. I., Richmond, R. H., & Cleves, P. A. (2022). Life on the edge: Hawaiian model for coral
evolution. Limnology and Oceanography, 67(9), 1976–1985. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.12181
Bruno, J. F., Selig, E. R., Casey, K. S., Page, C. A., Willis, B. L., Harvell, C. D., Sweatman, H., & Melendy, A. M. (2007). Thermal Stress
and Coral Cover as Drivers of Coral Disease Outbreaks. PLOS Biology, 5(6), e124. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0050124
IPCC Chapter 3: Oceans and Coastal Ecosystems and their Services. (n.d.). Retrieved August 27, 2023, from
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/chapter/chapter-3/
Coral Species. (2013, July 31). Eyes of the Reef. https://eorhawaii.org/education/coral-species/
Decline in ocean pH, as shown by measured pH and pH calculated from dissolved inorganic carbon concentrations and total alkalinity,
at in situ temperature at the Aloha station (Hawaii), and global annual average pH — European Environment Agency. (n.d.). [Data
Visualization]. Retrieved August 22, 2023, from https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/daviz/decline-in-ph-measured-at-3#tab-
chart_3_filters=%7B%22rowFilters%22%3A%7B%7D%3B%22columnFilters%22%3A%7B%22columnfilter_Filter%22%3A%5B%22C
alculated%20data%22%3B%22Data%20based%20on%20in-situ%20measurements%22%5D%7D%7D
Findlay, H. S., & Turley, C. (2021). Chapter 13—Ocean acidification and climate change. In T. M. Letcher (Ed.), Climate Change (Third
Edition) (pp. 251–279). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-821575-3.00013-X
Gilmartin, W. G., & Forcada, J. (2009). Monk Seals: Monachus monachus, M. tropicalis, and M. schauinslandi. In W. F. Perrin, B.
Würsig, & J. G. M. Thewissen (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals (Second Edition) (pp. 741–744). Academic Press.
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-373553-9.00172-3
Goatley, C. H. R., Hoey, A. S., & Bellwood, D. R. (2012). The Role of Turtles as Coral Reef Macroherbivores. PLOS ONE, 7(6), e39979.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0039979
Hagen, R. (2018). Underwater and Underrated: Coral Reefs and Climate Change. American Security Project.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep19816
Hare, W. L., Cramer, W., Schaeffer, M., Battaglini, A., & Jaeger, C. C. (2011). Climate hotspots: Key vulnerable regions, climate change
and limits to warming. Regional Environmental Change, 11(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-010-0195-4
Hazards | U.S. Geological Survey. (n.d.). Retrieved August 30, 2023, from https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/hazards
Holbrook, S. J., Schmitt, R. J., Messmer, V., Brooks, A. J., Srinivasan, M., Munday, P. L., & Jones, G. P. (2015). Reef Fishes in
Biodiversity Hotspots Are at Greatest Risk from Loss of Coral Species. PLOS ONE, 10(5), e0124054.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0124054
Hughes, T. P., Kerry, J. T., Álvarez-Noriega, M., Álvarez-Romero, J. G., Anderson, K. D., Baird, A. H., Babcock, R. C., Beger, M.,
Bellwood, D. R., Berkelmans, R., Bridge, T. C., Butler, I. R., Byrne, M., Cantin, N. E., Comeau, S., Connolly, S. R., Cumming, G. S.,
Dalton, S. J., Diaz-Pulido, G., … Wilson, S. K. (2017). Global warming and recurrent mass bleaching of corals. Nature, 543(7645),
Article 7645. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature21707
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - IPCC (2021) Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working
Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L.
Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K.
Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New
York, NY, USA, In press, doi:10.1017/9781009157896.
Kamya, P. Z., Byrne, M., Mos, B., Hall, L., & Dworjanyn, S. A. (2017). Indirect effects of ocean acidification drive feeding and growth of
juvenile crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 284(1856), 20170778.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.0778
Law, M. T., & Huang, D. (2023). Light limitation and coral mortality in urbanised reef communities due to sea-level rise. Climate Change
Ecology, 5, 100073. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecochg.2023.100073
Liu, G., Eakin, C. M., Chen, M., Kumar, A., De La Cour, J. L., Heron, S. F., Geiger, E. F., Skirving, W. J., Tirak, K. V., & Strong, A. E.
(2018). Predicting Heat Stress to Inform Reef Management: NOAA Coral Reef Watch’s 4-Month Coral Bleaching Outlook. Frontiers in
Marine Science, 5. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2018.00057
Long, X., Widlansky, M. J., Schloesser, F., Thompson, P. R., Annamalai, H., Merrifield, M. A., & Yoon, H. (2020). Higher Sea Levels at
Hawaii Caused by Strong El Niño and Weak Trade Winds. Journal of Climate, 33(8), 3037–3059. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-19-
1
Marris, E. (2023). Hawaii wildfires: Did scientists expect Maui to burn? Nature, ePub(ePub), ePub. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-
-z
Mellin, C., Lurgi, M., Matthews, S., MacNeil, M. A., Caley, M. J., Bax, N., Przeslawski, R., & Fordham, D. A. (2016). Forecasting
marine invasions under climate change: Biotic interactions and demographic processes matter. Biological Conservation, 204, 459–467.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.11.008
Sanborn, K. L., Webster, J. M., Yokoyama, Y., Dutton, A., Braga, J. C., Clague, D. A., Paduan, J. B., Wagner, D., Rooney, J. J., &
Hansen, J. R. (2017). New evidence of Hawaiian coral reef drowning in response to meltwater pulse-1A. Quaternary Science Reviews,
, 60–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.08.022
Spillman, C. M., Heron, S. F., Jury, M. R., & Anthony, K. R. N. (2011). Climate Change and Carbon Threats to Coral Reefs: National
Meteorological and Ocean Services as Sentinels. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 92(12), 1581–1586.
Takahashi, N., Richards, K. J., Schneider, N., Annamalai, H., Hsu, W.-C., & Nonaka, M. (2021). Formation Mechanism of Warm SST
Anomalies in 2010s Around Hawaii. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 126(11), e2021JC017763.
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017763
Threats to corals. (n.d.). CORDAP. Retrieved August 22, 2023, from https://cordap.org/threats-to-corals/
US EPA, O. (2016, September 8). Understanding the Science of Ocean and Coastal Acidification [Overviews and Factsheets].
https://www.epa.gov/ocean-acidification/understanding-science-ocean-and-coastal-acidification
Uthicke, S., Logan, M., Liddy, M., Francis, D., Hardy, N., & Lamare, M. (2015). Climate change as an unexpected co-factor promoting
coral eating seastar (Acanthaster planci) outbreaks. Scientific Reports, 5(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep08402
What is the environmental impact of the Hawaii fires? (n.d.). Retrieved August 30, 2023, from
Wiener, C. S., Needham, M. D., & Wilkinson, P. F. (2009). Hawaii’s real life marine park: Interpretation and impacts of commercial
marine tourism in the Hawaiian Islands. Current Issues in Tourism, 12(5–6), 489–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500902736855
Yadav, S., Roach, T. N. F., McWilliam, M. J., Caruso, C., de Souza, M. R., Foley, C., Allen, C., Dilworth, J., Huckeba, J., Santoro, E. P.,
Wold, R., Simpson, J., Miller, S., Hancock, J. R., Drury, C., & Madin, J. S. (2023). Fine-scale variability in coral bleaching and mortality
during a marine heatwave. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1108365
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2023 Aaron Joshi, Diana Ribeiro Tosato; Dr. Koch
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright holder(s) granted JSR a perpetual, non-exclusive license to distriute & display this article.
