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7880493 
Journal Article 
The effects of sea surface temperature anomalies on oceanic coral reef systems in the southwestern tropical Atlantic 
Ferreira, BP; Costa, HBSF; Coxey, TomohiroS; Gaspar, AtsushiALB; Veleda, D; Araujo, M 
2013 
Yes 
Coral Reefs
ISSN: 0722-4028 
32 
2 
441-454 
WOS:000318567900014 
In 2010, high sea surface temperatures that were recorded in several parts of the world and caused coral bleaching and coral mortality were also recorded in the southwest Atlantic Ocean, between latitudes 0A degrees S and 8A degrees S. This paper reports on coral bleaching and diseases in Rocas Atoll and Fernando de Noronha archipelago and examines their relationship with sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies recorded by PIRATA buoys located at 8A degrees S30A degrees W, 0A degrees S35A degrees W, and 0A degrees S23A degrees W. Adjusted satellite data were used to derive SST climatological means at buoy sites and to derive anomalies at reef sites. The whole region was affected by the elevated temperature anomaly that persisted through 2010, reaching 1.67 A degrees C above average at reef sites and 1.83 A degrees C above average at buoys sites. A significant positive relationship was found between the percentage of coral bleaching that was observed on reef formations and the corresponding HotSpot SST anomaly recorded by both satellite and buoys. These results indicate that the warming observed in the ocean waters was followed by a warming at the reefs. The percentage of bleached corals persisting after the subsidence of the thermal stress, and disease prevalence increased through 2010, after two periods of thermal stress. The in situ temperature anomaly observed during the 2009-2010 El Nio event was equivalent to the anomaly observed during the 1997-1998 El Nio event, explaining similar bleaching intensity. Continued monitoring efforts are necessary to further assess the relationship between bleaching severity and PIRATA SST anomalies and improve the use of this new dataset in future regional bleaching predictions. 
Coral bleaching; Coral disease; Satellite remote sensing; PIRATA Project