Resilience to thermal stress of coral communities in Talim Bay, Lian, Batangas

• Main Authors: Espana, Norievill B., Licuanan, Wilfredo Roehl Y., Alino, Porfirio M.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2015
• Subjects: Coral communities—Effect of temperature on—Philippines—Talim Bay; Coastal zone management—Philippines—Talim Bay; Biology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/6749
• Institution: De La Salle University

Climate change driven disturbances such as increases in sea surface temperature (SST) pose a critical threat to coral reefs. Increased understanding of the mechanisms that maintain coral community structure (i.e., coral cover and species diversity) now allows for the assessment of resilience of coral communities to thermal stress. Such an assessment was conducted in Talim Bay, Lian, Batangas and sought to quantify factors that relate to resistance (i.e., coral community structure) and recovery potential (i.e., coral recruitment, topography of the reef and historical data on mortality and recovery). The Bay was found to be dominated by bleaching-resistant coral species, suggesting high resistance to thermal stress. Recovery potential was also assessed to be high and was associated with the physical characteristics of the reef, the coral size structure, and the presence of adjacent reefs for reseeding. Sedimentation and nutrient loading were found to have a significant role in determining the status of the coral communities of Talim Bay. Insights from this resilience assessment may inform coastal communities of management measures which are necessary to alleviate stress on coral reefs to minimize coral reef degradation and phase shifts.