Article
Environmental Sciences
Ali Ranjbar Jafarabadi, Mehdi Dashtbozorg, Eva Raudonyte-Svirbutaviciene, Alireza Riyahi Bakhtiari
Summary: This study focused on the occurrence, distribution, bioaccumulation, and bioconcentration of PBDEs and PAEs in corals, their zooxanthellae, and mucus in the Larak coral reef for the first time. The pollutants were found to be most concentrated in mucus, with soft corals containing higher lipid content showing higher levels of PBDEs and PAEs. Bioconcentration played a more prominent role than bioaccumulation in the enrichment of pollutants from the water and ambient sediment.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Alain de Verneil, John A. Burt, Matthew Mitchell, Francesco Paparella
Summary: The Arabian Gulf is the warmest sea during summer with high salinity and extreme temperature fluctuations. Research showed recurrent summer hypoxia events in southern Gulf reefs, although currently they are short enough to prevent mass mortality. Future predictions require further study of the causes of oxygen fluctuations in the Gulf.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Grace O. Vaughan, Holly A. Shiels, John A. Burt
Summary: The study found that the abundance and composition of reef fish in the southern Persian/Arabian Gulf are significantly influenced by seasonal temperature changes, with more fish in summer than in winter. Nine key fish species drove the seasonal differences, accounting for 70% of the divergence in community structure between summer and winter.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Fahad Al Senafi
Summary: The Arabian Gulf is one of the world's most unique and fragile marine ecosystems, vulnerable to climate change due to its shallow depth and arid location. This study analyzes sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the Gulf using empirical orthogonal function (EOF) decomposition analysis from 1982 to 2020. The results indicate that SST variability in the Gulf is influenced by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO), and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) climate modes. Additionally, the study reveals a warming trend in the average SST in the Gulf over the past four decades, despite indications of overall heat loss at the air-sea interface.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Oceanography
Yamin Pouryousef, Jafar Seyfabadi, Hamid Rezai, Alireza Mahvari, Mohammad Ali Jafari
Summary: The abundance and health of scleractinian coral communities of Hormuz Island were investigated, and it was found that the conditions were generally unsuitable, possibly due to both natural and anthropogenic factors.
ACTA OCEANOLOGICA SINICA
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
William Leggat, Scott F. Heron, Alexander Fordyce, David J. Suggett, Tracy D. Ainsworth
Summary: Despite decades of research into coral bleaching, a standardized metric for comparing ecological observations and experimental simulations is still lacking. The introduction of the experimental Degree Heating Week (eDHW) metric aims to standardize the variable thermal conditions employed in experimental studies of coral bleaching.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gregory P. Asner, Nicholas R. Vaughn, Roberta E. Martin, Shawna A. Foo, Joseph Heckler, Brian J. Neilson, Jamison M. Gove
Summary: Corals are important habitat-building organisms in tropical reefs, supporting a quarter of all ocean species and providing ecosystem services to millions of people. However, marine heat waves threaten coral reefs by killing individual colonies and reducing diversity. This study used aerial imaging spectroscopy to monitor coral mortality during a major heat wave in Hawaii, and found that certain reefs had lower coral loss and therefore may serve as refugia. Human and environmental factors, such as coastal development and sedimentation levels, played a role in differentiating resilient reefs from more vulnerable ones.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ivonne Bejarano, Victor Orenes-Salazar, Rita Bento, Jose Antonio Garcia-Charton, Daniel Mateos-Molina
Summary: This study documents the decline of coral reefs in the southern Arabian Gulf, specifically the loss of Acropora corals. It found that the last remaining large stands of Acropora are located on an offshore island with less extreme environmental conditions. The study provides essential information for the management and conservation of these valuable and vulnerable corals.
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Aaron Israel Muniz-Castillo, Jesus Ernesto Arias-Gonzalez
Summary: The research findings indicate that depth is the most relevant variable related to coral bleaching and severity, with deeper reefs being most affected; in addition, coral reefs with higher structural complexity are also among the most affected. Accumulated heat stress and thermal variation were identified as important drivers of coral bleaching.
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Andreas Dietzel, Sean R. Connolly, Terry P. Hughes, Michael Bode
Summary: This study found that recent mass coral bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef have larger and more continuous spatial footprints than previous bleaching events, posing an unprecedented threat to coral species resilience. In contrast to the impacts of a severe tropical cyclone, the bleaching events isolated severely affected reefs from the nearest mildly affected reefs by greater distances, highlighting the significant threat to coral species posed by the spatial footprint of these recent bleaching events.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2021)
Correction
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Grace O. Vaughan, Holly A. Shiels, John A. Burt
Summary: This erratum is published to be read as a citation for an article in the reference list.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Coline Monchanin, Rahul Mehrotra, Elouise Haskin, Chad M. Scott, Pau Urgell Plaza, Alyssa Allchurch, Spencer Arnold, Kirsty Magson, Bert W. Hoeksema
Summary: Research in Thailand's Koh Tao revealed significant differences in coral community structure between artificial and natural reefs, with diversity not solely explained by coral spawning dynamics. This suggests that these reefs play distinct ecological and functional roles in the marine environment.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2021)
Review
Fisheries
Abdulrahman Ben-Hasan, Moslem Daliri
Summary: This study provides a comprehensive account of artisanal fisheries in the Arabian/Persian Gulf. It reveals that artisanal fisheries contribute to around 71% of the total catch in the Gulf and gillnets, traps, and lines are the most commonly used fishing gears. The artisanal catch mainly consists of medium to large demersal, pelagic, and reef-associated fish. Fisheries management relies on gear restrictions, minimum size of capture, seasonal closures, and spatial restrictions, but weak enforcement is a core issue. Mismanaged fisheries, coastal development, and climate change are the primary threats to fish abundance and essential habitats.
REVIEWS IN FISH BIOLOGY AND FISHERIES
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Wenhui Zhao, Yi Huang, Steven Siems, Michael Manton
Summary: The study revealed a significant negative correlation between total cloud cover anomaly (TCCA) and lagged sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) in the Great Barrier Reef region, which is greater in magnitude and spatial extent compared to the SSTA-ENSO correlation. This suggests that local-scale reduced cloud cover plays a crucial role in the formation of warm shallow water and occurrence of thermal coral bleaching events in the region.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ali Ranjbar Jafarabadi, Mehdi Dashtbozorg, Eva Raudonyte-Svirbutaviciene, Alireza Riyahi Bakhtiari
Summary: The study identified the presence of chlorinated paraffins in coral species at the Larak coral reef. Soft corals were found to accumulate more chlorinated paraffins than Scleractinian corals, with zooxanthellae and mucus accumulating more chlorinated paraffins than tissue and skeleton. Congener group patterns were dominated by C-13 for SCCPs and C-17 for MCCPs, with some alterations between mucus and other coral compartments. High loadings of chlorinated paraffins were detected in the skeletons of bleached corals, and a negative correlation between chlorinated paraffin levels and symbiodinium density was observed.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2021)