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Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
; 86(23): 9342-6, 1989 Dec.
Artigo
em Inglês
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-16594090
RESUMO
During the late summer to fall of 1987, Caribbean reef corals experienced an intense and widespread discoloration event described as bleaching. Contrary to initial predictions, most bleached corals did not die. However, energy input from zooxanthellae decreased, as estimated from: (i) delta(13)C values, a measure of the discrimination against (13)C in (12)C/(13)C assimilation, of skeletal aragonite; (ii) in situ photosynthesis-irradiance measurements; (iii) and tissue biomass parameters of Montastraea annularis and Agaricia lamarcki. The delta(18)O signal, a measure of the discrimination against (18)O in (16)O/(18)O assimilation, from M. annularis skeletons demonstrated that this event coincided with abnormally elevated water temperatures.