Nearshore bleaching photos - Fiji
Arnfried Antonius
arnfried.antonius at univie.ac.at
Sat May 19 11:21:07 EDT 2001
Dear James,
you already got useful suggestions to the Fiji bleaching problem.
Let me add one more:
over at least 2 decades I have observed blue-green algae to trigger
White Band Disease (e.g. Proc. 4th Int. Coral Reef Symp., 2: 7-14
(1981). P.S.Z.N.I: Marine Ecology, 6(3):197-218 (1985). Proc. 6th
Int. Cor.Reef Symp.2: 293-298 (1988)).
I think its quite possible that cyanophytes could also play a role in
bleaching. Perhaps they can trigger the process, or enhance it when
conditions are right. (there is considerable algal overgrowth
visible in some of your fotos: 1578, 1583, 85, 86, 87, 93, etc.)
Thus, patchiness of occurrence of cyanophytes might account for
patchiness of bleaching. In foto 1596, bleaching has apparently (and
typically!) crept up from the base of the colony where cyanophytes
lurk. This explains why the center is bleached but the margins not
(yet).
Very nice photographs you made. Good luck for future work !
Arnfried
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