Talk:Coral bleaching/Archive 1

Potential resource 2.July.2011 Science News
Mellow corals beat the heat: Species that overreact to distress signals from algae more likely to succumb to warming by Tina Hesman Saey July 2nd, 2011 Science News Vol.180 #1 (p. 12)  97.87.29.188 (talk) 22:30, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

Bleached coral photo
The photograph titled "Moofushi Bleached Corals" is of dead coral on a reef flat and is unrelated to coral bleaching - it looks white/bleached as the sunlight is reflecting off the carbonate substrate. I'll try and upload a more accurate photograph (i.e. one with bleached corals). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Acropora (talk • contribs) 02:59, 8 August 2011

Minor edits
Just starting a series of minor edits intending to clean up a little. I'll document why here: 1. The new residents may be of a different species. - removed, as there is currently no evidence of exogenous acquisition (acquiring new types of zooxanthellae from an outside source that were not previously resident) in scleractinian corals.

2. Removed the bioerosion image. It's slightly misleading: coral bleaching doesn't lead to bioerosion as such, but mortality and tissue loss resulting from bleaching does open up the substrate to increased bioerosion. Either way, the photo as depicted is misleading.

Thanks Tryptofish, let me know if i'm doing anything wrong.

Acropora (talk) 02:31, 22 August 2011 (UTC)
 * On a quick read, it looks good to me. Thanks! --Tryptofish (talk) 14:40, 22 August 2011 (UTC)

What is the biological effect?
After the coral expels the zooxanthellae, what happens? Does it die, or might it survive until a later time? Is there some amount of time that they can survive being bleached before running out of energy? I think the biology of this deserves its own section. SSSheridan (talk) 14:14, 24 January 2014 (UTC)


 * I've started the section using a short bit from the Coral article. I think the biology of the effects on the coral, and on the ecosystem, should be expanded upon. SSSheridan (talk) 14:21, 24 January 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 2 one external links on Coral bleaching. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20070801020136/http://www.coralcoe.org.au/news_stories/climatechange.html to http://www.coralcoe.org.au/news_stories/climatechange.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20140125180404/http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/resources-and-publications/publications/climate-change-and-the-great-barrier-reef-a-vulnerability-assessment to http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/resources-and-publications/publications/climate-change-and-the-great-barrier-reef-a-vulnerability-assessment

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External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 2 one external links on Coral bleaching. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20100331074104/http://www.bios-mep.info:80/(2003)%20Jones,%20Muller,%20Haynes,%20Schreiber%20-%20Marine%20Ecology%20Progress%20Series.pdf to http://www.bios-mep.info/(2003)%20Jones,%20Muller,%20Haynes,%20Schreiber%20-%20Marine%20Ecology%20Progress%20Series.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20110927221700/http://www.hutten.org/fw/docs/319.pdf to http://www.hutten.org/fw/docs/319.pdf

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External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

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 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20160106075527/http://www.travellersimpressions.com/process/articlepage.php?storycode=fo9001 to http://www.travellersimpressions.com/process/articlepage.php?storycode=fo9001

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Symbiosis
The "Causes" section contains two seemingly contrasting statements that could do with reconciling. In the first paragraph we read ...
 * "... and hence the coral loses the ability to maintain its parasitic control on its zooxanthellae"

Meanwhile, in the second paragraph we read ...
 * "... and the symbionts will eventually abandon their host"

The first implies symbionts are expulsed (which is how the article lead describes it), while the second implies that the symbionts "jump ship" and head for freedom on the high seas.

My question is: which is it? If the former, one might expect depleted symbionts that struggle to survive outside the coral host. If the latter, one might expect the symbionts to just become a functional part of the plankton again. My understanding of the relationship between corals and their symbionts (which may well be incorrect) was that it was largely a form of captive parasitism rather than a mutual symbiosis. That is, viewed in reproductive terms, corals gain from the association, whereas symbiont reproduction is largely assimilated by the coral and does not, in the long-term, get to serve the reproductive interests of the symbiont.

Can someone set me - and perhaps the article - straight? --P LUMBAGO 09:44, 21 April 2016 (UTC)

new section
should there be something on effects of coral bleaching?Akid 10:22, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

yeah probably, add coral bleaching effect on reproduction, larave dispersal, coral abundance, coral mortality, fish habitat, tourism etc. . --Squahsoc (talk) 20:57, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Just a few comments I wanted to make: 1) I noticed the page mentions several times that coral bleaching is mainly due to climate change, but there is no section for it, and there is a section for how sunscreen affects bleaching. Should we add a separate climate change section?

2) There is also no mention of CCA (crustose coralline algae) and how it facilitates coral recruitment. Ex: Should we add this information in?

3) The sections "Cause" and "Trigger" seem more or less the same to me, what do you all think of putting them together? Poli160AA (talk) 04:15, 5 November 2016 (UTC)

GBR
The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) has been described as “one of the most amazing wonders of the natural world.” With its increddible beauty, tourists world wide flock to see the natural wonder. The Great Barrier Reef is really one of the most magnificent creations on earth.

As we are regularly reminded in the news and by the government and other organizations that the reef is under many possibly fatal dangers. These include pollutants run off, over fishing in some areas, tourism vessels creating water pollution, tourists sun creams killing corals, tourists inadvertently braking corals, tourist and fishermens ankers braking large areas of coral, possible oil spills by tankers going through the great barrier reef with loads of oil and fuels and the threat of global warming. All of the risks could lead to this precious ecosystems death. But coral bleaching seems to be the worst problem that reef is currently facing. Thought to be caused by run off from the numerous cane fields the poisons affects the corals as well as the warming temp of the sea.

Mike Young 10:57, 15 May 2007 (UTC)
 * My money's on the Coral starving to death due to lack of zooplankton due to overfishing

that is a horrible reference. The chance of coral starving from lack of zooplankton due to overfishing is highly unlikely, esp. for scleractinian hermatypic corals. Most likely high SSTs and climate change will cause greater coral death over a huge range. Corals relies on symbiotic algae to provide 95% of its energy. Zooplankton is very important but the connect between coral--zooplankton and overfishing is extremely weak.

Statement added "Scientists also predict that the Great Barrier Reef can only last for 20 to 30 years. If nothing is done to stop these problems, it will be gone forever.". Was deleted from Coral Bleaching section because there is no evidence of this to my knowledge of a scientists declaring that the GBR can only last 20 to 30 years. In 20 to 30 years the GBR might be algae dominated or single coral species dominated or heavily degraded but no publication cites GBR not existing. --Squahsoc (talk) 10:40, 18 March 2008 (UTC)


 * Have a look: good 2016 source on GBR and coral bleaching: http://theconversation.com/how-much-coral-has-died-in-the-great-barrier-reefs-worst-bleaching-event-69494 Satu Katja (talk) 16:56, 8 January 2017 (UTC)

Quality of article
Added Clean-up banner. The issue matters since coral reefs are pretty big centres of marine life worldwide. Following the massive bleaching events in 2016, there is enough understandable online-knowledge that can be referenced. Please chip in! Satu Katja (talk) 12:03, 30 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Here's a good source: Clear and up-to-date info on Great Barrier Reef coral bleaching. http://theconversation.com/how-much-coral-has-died-in-the-great-barrier-reefs-worst-bleaching-event-69494 The worst bleaching of the worst bleaching event on the Barrier Reef ever, i.e. 2016, occurred in the northern parts of the Barrier Reef. Please, bear in mind: The northern part of the Great Barrier Reef lies off the northern part of Cape York peninsula. There is neither industry, nor sunblock of any run-off or pretty much anything at all that hasn't been around for the last few milleniums. Very few people live north of Port Douglas. It really is jungle. The GBR marine park authority hence blames mostly climate change. (BTW: Hard coral don't live in habitats where the water temp drops below 20 Celsius, so unless there is a change in major currents, there will be no bleaching because of water temp drops since there isn't much coral.) Instead, all coral bleaching events have been preceded by warmer than usual water temperatures.--Satu Katja (talk) 17:13, 8 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Added UNEP source. Shortened and simplified intro. http://www.unep.org/newscentre/Default.aspx?DocumentID=27092&ArticleID=36336&l=en Satu Katja (talk) 18:19, 11 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Should the "research paper"- banner be removed? Opinions? --Satu Katja (talk) 18:41, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

On making the article easier to read
I am considering making improvements to make this article easier to read. I have noticed that there are a lot of scientific jargon and that the Impact, Coral Adaptation, and Coral Damage by Sunscreens segments need to be cleaned up. Also, I see that there are many problems in the Coral damage by sunscreens segment. Should I clean it up, delete it, or move the segment to the triggers segment? I am open to suggestions.Sidneyt512 (talk) 02:37, 29 March 2017 (UTC)


 * Hi Sidneyt512!

Sounds great! The sunscreen thing: I think there is some controversy around that sunscreen argument since the research was conducted in laboratory settings only. My understanding is that while sunscreen apparently does harm coral, it mostly would be a factor is places with lots of tourists. Hanauma Bay in Hawaii would be such a place. But on the grand scale: No, not a factor deserving a whole segment. I would delete the whole segment and add a sentence somewhere else. http://mashable.com/2015/11/10/sunscreen-killing-coral-reefs/ https://today.ucf.edu/lathering-up-with-sunscreen-may-protect-against-cancer-killing-coral-reefs-worldwide/

Regarding the triggers: IMHO the triggers segment lacks "El Nino", that being the most important trigger. Out of the factors mentioned, some seem major factors, while others … well, not.


 * increased (most commonly due to global warming), or reduced water temperatures - YES. Reduced water temperatures: NO!
 * overfishing - IMHO probably isn't helping
 * increased solar irradiance (photosynthetically active radiation and ultraviolet light)- yes
 * increased sedimentation (due to silt runoff)- only localized.
 * bacterial infections - To my knowledge: No. But bleached coral is "sick" and will succumb to bacterial infections more easily.
 * changes in salinity - To my knowledge that can only be a localized factor. I haven't heard of the salinity of the Pacific and Indian oceans changing.
 * herbicides - To my knowledge that will only be a localized factor. Probably herbicides are not helping any living organism, they are engineered to kill stuff. But there is not a lot of herbicides in the Maldives. Instead, there is lots of warm water.
 * low tide and exposure - To my knowledge that can only be a localized factor. Haven't heard of the sealevels of the Pacific sinking.
 * cyanide fishing - To my knowledge that can only be a localized factor. Cyanide fishing is done some in 3rd world countries. Australia is not known to be one.
 * elevated sea levels due to global warming (Watson)[clarification needed] - No. Probably not. Maybe in some localized way. Some corals grow pretty fast at a rate of 1,5 cm a year. The sea levels would have to rise a lot very fast in order for that to be a major contributing factor.
 * mineral dust from African dust storms caused by drought[21] - localized?!
 * four common sunscreen ingredients that are nonbiodegradable and can wash off of skin- localized?!

Coral needs clean water, just like humans. It doesn't like cyanide, bacterial infections, etc but while those factors all will kill coral, they are only additional factors, not the main culprit. Coral is rather sensitive. (And yes reduced water temperatures would kill it, too. But we're not seeing reduced sea water temps. Coral as rule of thumb needs water temperatures no lower than 20 degrees Celsius and tolerates a maximum of 30 degrees Celsius only for a short time.)

Most people don't know about the symbiosis of the coral polyp and the algae, so they can't understand the whole underlying mechanism of coral bleaching when reading the article as it is now. (BTW So glad you want to do that…)

Here's a nice document with a good intro to coral bleaching: http://www.coralwatch.org/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=9e94823d-66b4-44d8-87b0-7b3de64cca7e&groupId=10136

So glad you picked that article! Satu Katja (talk) 08:37, 29 March 2017 (UTC)


 * The respectable "Sydney Morning Herald" writes, 16th March 2017: 'Are we there yet?': Fears that 'significant' coral mortality still to come. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/are-we-there-yet-fears-that-significant-coral-mortality-still-to-come-20170313-guwq6q.html Satu Katja (talk) 08:49, 1 April 2017 (UTC)
 * I have been working on a draft in my sandbox page for improvements to the Coral bleaching page and I came across an issue with part of the Triggers section that says that solar irradiance is a trigger for coral bleaching. I am not sure if the source that is cited for that particular section is credible and I need more information. I've been having some trouble finding a good source to use that links solar irradiance to coral bleaching and I feel that I should have a credible source to use so that I can be sure that solar irradiance is a cause of coral bleaching. Can I include solar irradiance as a a trigger? Sidneyt512 (talk) 02:10, 5 April 2017 (UTC)


 * Hi Sidneyt512! Hm. You're right, I can't find anything that would be current, i.e. written in the last couple of years, either. I'd strike that out, too. (Generally, I lean towards Australian publications. They have the biggest reef system in the world and it is among the best documented - a lot of countries with large coral reefs have none of the things that the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority set up for the GBR. And even in Australia, there is fear that negative press will have a detrimental effect on tourism. So places like the Maldives which heavily rely on tourism for national income have little interest in researching and publicising their reefs going to hell…) Again: Glad you're doing this! Satu Katja (talk) 07:52, 5 April 2017 (UTC)


 * Hi Sidneyt512! I read your draft in your sandbox. Great! I think the language is great: Easily understandable and to the point. Scientifically, there is a few points I am not sure about, not being a marine biologist: Is there scientific consent on why the coral polyp expels the algae at high water temperatures? If not, I'd suggest simply sticking to the fact that it does expel the algae. I remember reading that the nutrients provided by the algae account for up to 90% of the coral polyps' nutritional needs, and hence chucking out the algae leaves the coral malnourished and prone to dying off. (Also, malnourished coral does not spawn Coral diminishing chances of re-population etc etc.) Satu Katja (talk) 08:19, 11 April 2017 (UTC)


 * Hello. I got your message. Thanks for your suggestions. The draft that you read was intended to be a rough draft and I am still currently working on it at the moment. I have been looking for more recent sources to ensure that this article remains relevant. I'll see what I can do to improve on it and include appropriate scientific information. Again, thanks for the suggestions and I will be editing my draft soon!Sidneyt512 (talk) 14:53, 11 April 2017 (UTC)


 * Hi! I'm just making a note that started working on a sandbox entry at User:Sidneyt512/sandbox that has some content that would be good to use with this article. I'll try to get on this later tonight to see what can be done, but if anyone wants to do this before I do, please feel free! Shalor (Wiki Ed) (talk) 03:34, 11 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Sounds good! Due to the massive bleaching events of the last years, scientists concur on the reasons of coral bleaching - unlike a few years ago. His draft reflects that change. So, let's… Satu Katja (talk) 06:39, 11 May 2017 (UTC)

Changed article to C class
Hi, I changed the article to C class. (Not sure, if I am allowed to do that, please let me know if I don't.) The intro is now okay, but the article does not clarify that the massive coral bleaching taking place right now is not due to sunscreen of any other localized factor, but due to rising sea temperatures.

Regarding the triggers: IMHO the triggers segment lacks "El Nino". Out of the factors mentioned, some are major factors, while others … well, not. The localized factor will affect coral, but remember: eg the Great Barrier Reef spans about 2000 km from north to south. Most of the area is very remote. There is no runoff, herbicides etc etc in the northernmost parts, neither is there cyanide fishing. Same for the Maldives…

Triggers and reasons…
 * increased (most commonly due to global warming), or reduced water temperatures - YES. Reduced water temperatures: NO!
 * overfishing - IMHO probably isn't helping, but NO.
 * increased solar irradiance (photosynthetically active radiation and ultraviolet light)- not sure - yes ?
 * increased sedimentation (due to silt runoff)- only localized.
 * bacterial infections - To my knowledge: No. But bleached coral is "sick" and will succumb to bacterial infections more easily.
 * changes in salinity - To my knowledge that can only be a localized factor. I haven't heard of the salinity of the Pacific and Indian oceans changing.
 * herbicides - To my knowledge that will only be a localized factor. Probably herbicides are not helping any living organism, they are engineered to kill stuff. But there is not a lot of herbicides in the Maldives. Instead, there is lots of warm water.
 * low tide and exposure - To my knowledge that can only be a localized factor. Haven't heard of the sealevels of the Pacific sinking.
 * cyanide fishing - To my knowledge that can only be a localized factor. Cyanide fishing is done some in 3rd world countries. Australia is not known to be one.
 * elevated sea levels due to global warming (Watson)[clarification needed] - No. Probably not. Maybe in some localized way. Some corals grow pretty fast at a rate of 1,5 cm a year. The sea levels would have to rise a lot very fast in order for that to be a major contributing factor.
 * mineral dust from African dust storms caused by drought[21] - localized?!
 * four common sunscreen ingredients that are nonbiodegradable and can wash off of skin- localized?!

Coral needs clean water, just like humans. It doesn't like cyanide, bacterial infections, etc but while those factors all will kill coral, they are only additional factors, not the main culprit. Coral is rather sensitive. (And yes reduced water temperatures would kill it, too. But we're not seeing reduced sea water temps. Coral as rule of thumb needs water temperatures no lower than 20 degrees Celsius and tolerates a maximum of 30 degrees Celsius only for a short time.)

Most people don't know about the symbiosis of the coral polyp and the algae, so they can't understand the whole underlying mechanism of coral bleaching when reading the article as it is now.

Here's a nice document with a good intro to coral bleaching: http://www.coralwatch.org/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=9e94823d-66b4-44d8-87b0-7b3de64cca7e&groupId=10136

Also: started working on a sandbox entry at User:Sidneyt512/sandbox that has some content that would be good to use with this article. --Satu Katja (talk) 09:41, 29 May 2017 (UTC)

More references: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/we-cant-be-passive-bystanders-advisers-call-for-dramatic-rethink-on-great-barrier-reef-20170519-gw8yb7.html http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/huge-blow-backtoback-bleaching-covers-twothirds-of-the-great-barrier-reef-20170406-gvewah.html Satu Katja (talk) 10:27, 29 May 2017 (UTC)

POOR QUALITY, not B, and either junk science or missing refs
This article is not up to any reasonable standards of writing. It conflates coral death (a "90% mortality") with bleaching as if they are one and the same. Where is the description of the proper "health" of a coral, and why the white ones are singled out as being under "stress" (mentioned a dozen times in the article) versus the tendency for this to lead to "death"? The main point of the article is to convince me that bleached corals are indicative of some catastrophic problem in the ocean that leads to the poor health and death of corals.

So I looked at the source for saying that "bleaching" is a "health" issue and leads to "death." I am not impressed. It is a website produced by NOAA with no scientific footnotes and no sources for this. Here is what NOAA says about "mortality" of "bleached corals": (At Reference cited in article, http://coralreef.noaa.gov/aboutcorals/coral101/symbioticalgae/ )


 * Corals begin to starve once they bleach. While some corals are able to feed themselves sufficiently, most corals struggle to survive without their zooxanthellae. If conditions return to normal relatively quickly, corals can regain their zooxanthellae and survive. This stress; however, is likely to cause decreased coral growth and reproduction, and increased susceptibility to disease. Bleached corals often die if the stress persists. Coral reefs suffering severe mortality following bleaching can take many years or decades to recover.

Okay, so "often die if the stress persists"? What does that mean? This all may be true, but there is no research presented that shows how stress and bleaching are leading to significant deaths of corals. Corals die from diseases when they are some other color, so where are the numbers?

I think the actual research papers need to be quoted or shown to correlate bleaching with mortality, or this article needs to be rewritten to say, "Bleached corals are curious and beautiful, but contrary to popular myth, most of them are still alive. Tropical cyclones and the crown-of-thorns starfish combined contribute about 9 times more to coral death than bleaching." '''Because the NOAA article skips over the details, I think the corals are just using a natural defense mechanism TO STAY ALIVE. And that they can recover their color, get a disease, or die... a lot like other corals.''' But that is just my impression reading a poorly written article with poor references for its main point. I like to saw logs! (talk) 05:18, 3 July 2015 (UTC)
 * I think the article is reasonably well balanced, and NOAA is generally accepted as a reliable source. In scientific studies it is much easier to assess the quantity of bleaching rather than whether the coral colonies subsequently die, which requires repeat follow-up visits. As you are so critical of the article, why don't you roll up your sleeves and improve it yourself? Cwmhiraeth (talk) 09:48, 3 July 2015 (UTC)

NOAA isn't claiming that bleaching leads inevitably to death. However when the condition persist, is widespread or the underlying stress persist it is safe the say that the coral is in serious danger. The coral could recover if sea temperatures returned to normal and the pollution was reduced. So it is a safe bet it is only going to get worse. Circuitboardsushi (talk) 19:34, 19 July 2017 (UTC)

Ocean acidification ref
The given reference for the effects of ocean acidification doesn't seem to me to support the claims made for it. A better one might be this:

http://www.pnas.org/content/105/45/17442.full

What think? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.22.217.151 (talk) 06:08, 4 November 2010 (UTC)


 * But you have given a dead link! --Epipelagic (talk) 09:23, 4 November 2010 (UTC)
 * ummm... it works for me. There paper is "Ocean acidification causes bleaching and productivity loss in coral reef builders" Anthony et al 2008, PNAS.

http://www.pnas.org/content/105/45/17442 here's a doi. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0804478105 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.22.217.151 (talk) 17:51, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

Both references are obsolete and old papers where scientists speculate on what could happen -- they are not scientific studies or valid references, which may be why at least one of them was deleted by the publisher. There appears to be no scientific evidence that "acidification caused by CO2 pollution" is impacting the reefs. Coral produces CO2, would it really be self-destructive in that way?Thoralor (talk) 09:04, 9 August 2016 (UTC)

I think this is a pretty good reference for the effects of ocean acidification since it gives a detailed explanation on how acidification affects corals. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2008GL036282/full Also, shouldn't ocean acidification be added to the list of triggers? Maggiejwang (talk) 03:11, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

Resource?
Coral reefs sending a warning signal by Drew Harvell CNN.com September 27, 2010. Editor's note: Drew Harvell is a professor and associate director of the Cornell University Center for a Sustainable Future. Also see related Planetary boundaries. 99.109.124.5 (talk) 06:52, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

I don't think this would make a good resource since it seems like it's an opinion piece and he doesn't have any references for the points he makes. Maggiejwang (talk) 03:33, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

Suggestions: elaborating on certain topics
The triggers and the causes section should be conjoined. The list of triggers should be elaborated more and properly referenced, suggesting how they are causing/leading to coral bleaching. The mass bleaching events section is very brief, so it can be improved by explaining what happened, how much of the coral reefs were affected, also how this has affected other species (its briefly mentioned in another section) but it can be elaborated in this section. Two different coral colonies are mentioned as well, but doesn't have a quick explanation as to why one can withstand extreme temperatures than the other, and how important is the correlation with stress and coral bleaching. Monitoring reef sea surface temperature section can be improved if it had a brief description on updates of coral bleaching "hot spots" and the new locations they have detected with the system. How has it changed over time since the 1998 worldwide bleaching? The section of changes in ocean chemistry and infectious disease, can be put in the section with triggers/causes because it includes details to a couple of the given triggers. It will help make this page transition a lot better instead of it having bits of information scattered in random sections. In addition, perhaps the term calcareous skeleton should have a brief definition. Lastly, the coral adaptation section could be deleted because it doesn't have relevant information that doesn't connect to how coral bleaching can be reduced with it. However, it can be improved by elaborating on this study and stating how significant the adaptation is in benefiting the coral reefs. How it correlates with coral bleaching and explaining how this adaptation can be beneficial to the reefs and why it will be reducing coral bleaching. Dlozadaa (talk) 09:20, 8 November 2017 (UTC)

Deleted section - detailed description of sunscreen as trigger for coral bleaching
Apparently, that part included original research. Plus: Sunscreen is mentioned in triggers section already. While sunscreen is likely to cause localized effects, compared to elevated sea water temperatures which have led to coral bleaching on millions of square kilometers of tropical reefs worldwide, the effects of sunblock on selected beaches and reefs frequented by tourists compares to the effects of cyanide fishing: yes, it will cause localized damage, but not wipe out whole reefs systems in the way that elevated water temperatures have done e.g. in Tropical Northern Australia, a large area with no tourism and no sunblock. --Satu Katja (talk) 11:02, 16 July 2017 (UTC)

"Coral bleaching occurs when coral polyps expel algae that live inside their tissues."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_carbonate

Perhaps, the limiting factor is Calcium and the Carbon we have been dumping into the oceans. My point of view is Zebra Mussels in Saginaw Bay. Dumping calcium into rivers will clean the water and feed the shellfish..

https://michpics.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/gypsum-alabaster/ https://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/econotes/2001/zebra_mussels20010920_02uwg.jpg — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.82.57.151 (talk) 14:42, 17 August 2018 (UTC)

Suggestion
Should the opening line point out that it is a facultative endosymbiosis? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.209.118.145 (talk) 20:45, 20 November 2018 (UTC)

Suggestion: removal of line
This line in the "Mass bleaching events" section is unsourced and poorly written, should it be removed?

=
"According to Clive Wilkinson of Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network of Townsville Australia, in 1998 the mass bleaching event occurred the indian ocean region worst affected by it due to rising of temperature of sea by 2℃ to normal temperature level coupled by strong El nino event in 1997-1998." =====

XSM1724 (talk) 03:02, 9 September 2019 (UTC)

Suggestion: Combine two related triggers?
In the triggers section there are points for both increased sedimentation and elevated sea levels, however from my research attempting to clarify the latter (per the 'clarification needed' tag) it appears that the elevated sea levels are responsible for the increased sedimentation and so the points can be combined.

Link to article in support of this (see Table 1): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2791481/ Additional link: https://reefresilience.org/climate-and-ocean-change/sea-level-rise/ MLCovey (talk) 02:39, 16 October 2019 (UTC)

Added sentence on coral restoration efforts
Hello, I just added a sentence regarding current restoration efforts by stating "Current coral restoration efforts include microfragmentation, coral farming, and relocation." These are some of the most common restoration techniques being used today and thought I should list some, since no information on specific methods were previously discussed. I also included links to the "coral reef: restoration" section and "coral farming" wiki articles so that readers can learn more. Please let me know what you think! --Vivianlee6 (talk) 06:46, 24 October 2019 (UTC)

"Coral Reefs and Coral Bleaching" listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Coral Reefs and Coral Bleaching. Please participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so. Utopes (talk / cont) 00:01, 12 April 2020 (UTC)

Removed a Listed Trigger - Possibly Restructure List?
In the triggers section there was a point discussing zooplankton increases from overfishing causing decreased oxygen levels, which lead to bleaching. This was marked with a unreliable source tag, and in an effort to find a more reliable citation, the research I turned up exclusively contradicted various parts of the claim.

Extremely high-profile research suggests that higher coral mortality happens in spite of not much coral bleaching (https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms11833). The main impact appears to be decreased succession and coral recruitment (https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2020.2575)

More importantly, this high-level research suggests that the widely-accepted source of coral bleaching is thermal stress, so it seems odd that there are so many ones listed here (and it appears that there have been previous edits to remove duplicates)

However, I have no expertise in this area and don't feel comfortable doing the depth of research required to determine that conclusively. Louisvaught (talk) 09:37, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

Environmental threats to the Great Barrier Reef
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critiques
Most of the information comes from scientific journals and thus reliable sources, few come from news outlets such as the Guardian or other outlets such as national geographic. There are some sources that may have bias such as, Source 37 is a company and may have biased towards the contents of the article.

Under the following subheadings there is information lacking citations and thus can not be accredited; process, mass bleaching events, impact, infectious disease, Recovery and macroalgal regime shifts.

Everything in the article is relevant to the topic, though some sections could use more information and other sections repeat information provided in previous sections. S8tan.ucsd (talk) 05:26, 26 April 2022 (UTC)S8tan.ucsd (talk) 10:24 april 25th 2022 (PST).

New data on bleaching
Anyone want to amend the data? https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/29/coral-bleaching-on-great-barrier-reef-worse-than-expected-surveys-show --Satu Katja (talk) 09:24, 29 May 2017 (UTC)

There is also more new data on how to reverse the effects of coral bleaching: "coral cooling" - https://www.climatefoundation.org/reversing-coral-bleaching.html - this could be a useful addition to the article Acahill0809 (talk) 06:51, 26 April 2022 (UTC)Bergmanucsd (talk)

Suggestions
I think that this article is overall well organized and focused,but it could still use some work. It is easy to read, but some areas need more background information to make some things more clear. Some areas you have to make assumptions to what the author is talking about or find and read the source. Some sections go into more depth about the topic, while others are vague and need more details. Lots of sources are listed, but some of them may be out of date. Some of the sources are also questionable on whether they are credible or not. Some look unprofessional, with little information and other sources or research to back them up. The introduction is a well written summary of the key points of this wiki and easy to understand. It could be added in the introduction that global warming is not the only cause of coral bleaching. There are multiple headings and sub headings throughout this wiki. Each diagram and image is placed appropriately and has footnotes with them. The coverage of this article seems to focus more on global warming, rather than the other factors listed on the page.

In the "Mass bleaching events" section, I think El Nino should be added since this is a tropical storm that causes mass bleaching when it hits. There was a reference to the 2016 El Nino in the "Mass Bleaching Events" section but it was not actually stated that it was caused by the El Nino. It just states that in 2016 the longest coral bleaching event that is known happened during that time. You have to click on the source to find out that this was due to the El Nino. The 1997-98 El Nino was briefly mentioned in the section "Monitoring reef sea surface temperature", but since it has a huge impact on the reefs whenever it hits, I feel that more details about it should be added. Since the 2016 El Nino was the longest and most damaging to corals, this one could also be mentioned in this section.

Another event that could be added to the "Triggers" section, could be oil and other pollutants that are spilled into the ocean. It mentions pollutants from sunscreen that are non-biodegradable, but I feel that more pollutants that cause harm to corals should be added.

I also think that it might be appropriate to add a section talking about the rebuilding of the reefs with corals that are grown in research tanks with conditions that are similar to the oceans. This seems that coral transplantation is becoming a common technique to help rebuild reefs. Coral research tanks also help scientist perform experiments on corals without harming the reef anymore. Other techniques for reef preservation can also be added and listed.

Cc482014 (talk) 02:24, 6 March 2018 (UTC)

Suggestion- I think there should be more obvious connections made between the increasing frequency of coral bleaching events and climate change/increase in carbon levels worldwide as opposed to the main focus being solely on temperature rise. Information such as the Keeling curve and NOAA predictions for ocean carbon level rise could be useful to draw attention to the correlation between events. Acahill0809 (talk) 06:57, 26 April 2022 (UTC)bergmanucsd (talk)

Needs updated content about the effects of climate change
I came to this article while working on effects of climate change on oceans. I was going to just take an excerpt from the lead to explain the relationship with climate change but found this article weak on this topic. If anyone has time, it would be good to update this article with information from the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report from 2021. I am not sure if I'll get around to it in the next months but I'll try. EMsmile (talk) 12:54, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

Suggestion Ariel3 (talk) 20:59, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
I think the pathogenesis of the disease should be updated. There are many interesting papers dealing with the pathogenic role of V. Shiloi and other Vibrio spp. in coral bleaching pathogenesis, I.E.: Rosenberg, E. and Y. Ben Haim [2002], Microbial Diseases of Corals and Global Warming. Environmental Microbiology 4: 318-326. Sutherland, K.P., J. Porter and C. Torres [2004], Disease and Immunity in Caribbean and Indo-pacific Zooxanthellate Corals. Marine Ecology Progress Series 266: 273-302. I have added some notices only on the known pathogenic role of V. Shiloi. However at least the pathogenic action of 'Vibrio corallilyticus' should be added. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ariel3 (talk • contribs) 20:59, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Suggestion Talvinlee (talk) 11:31, 6 September 2011 (UTC)
Shouldn't there be a section on coral bleaching solutions or something that at least says "for solutions see climate change solutions." Something like that. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Talvinlee (talk • contribs) 11:31, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

Bleaching : algues lost or coral pigments lost ?
Hi, Reading article, it is not clear why bleaching occured : is it because corals reject colored algues ? Or is it because they reject their own color pigments ? Or is it both ? In other way, are polyps transparent and are seen as colored with the help of algues they get on their own.. or are polyps are colored whatever they host algues are not ? Laszlo (talk) 21:16, 25 November 2022 (UTC)


 * Thanks for bringing that issue up, because it's an important question, and it's important that the page provide a clear answer to it. According to what the page currently says at Coral bleaching, To ensure short-term survival, the coral-polyp then consumes or expels the zooxanthellae. This leads to a lighter or completely white appearance, hence the term "bleached". Under mild stress conditions, some corals may appear bright blue, pink, purple or yellow instead of white, a phenomenon known as "colourful bleaching". I understand that to mean that the loss of the algae/zooxanthellae is the primary cause of the bleaching appearance, but secondary loss of the pigments can lead to the coral being completely white. In response to your question, I made these two edits:, to make that passage clearer about the role of the pigments, and , to make the lead section clearer on that point. If that still makes it unclear to you, please say so here, and we can work on clarifying it further. --Tryptofish (talk) 21:48, 25 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Hi Tryptofish,
 * That's really clear now ! Many thanks for your modifications that make this section clearer! Laszlo (talk) 10:27, 26 November 2022 (UTC)