CORAL REEFS OF Arabian Gulf, the Hottest Sea on Earth By: Ashraf Al Cibahy, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, aalcibahy@ead.ae A brief to the IUCN, 2 nd SSC Chairs Meeting 23-27 Feb. 2012, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Why Arabian Gulf Corals are Exceptional?
Temperature anomalies Gulf coral fauna and its differentiation is a direct response to this environment
Recent Bleaching Events
How do corals (and reefs ) react to these environmental extremes?
Framework Breakdown and Regeneration (Modified from Purkis and Riegl (2005)
What mechanisms allow Arabian Gulf corals to persist?
Spatial and Temporal Changes to the Coral Reef Community Spatial Comparion of Reef Slope (2006) 40 Spatial Comparison of Temperature Profiles Average Slope (degrees) 8.0 6.0 4.0 2.0 0.0 BUTN1 BUTN2 HALU1 HALU2 Station Location HIEL1 MKSB1 YSAT1 Temperature (deg C) 35 30 25 20 15 05-Sep-05 25-Oct-05 14-Dec-05 02-Feb-06 24-Mar-06 Date 13-May-06 02-Jul-06 21-Aug-06 10-Oct-06 29-Nov-06 SHRW1 DELM1 MKSB1 YSAT1 Spatial Comparion of Rugosity (2006) Spatial Comparion of Diadema Presence (2006) Average Rugosity 2.00 1.80 1.60 1.40 1.20 1.00 ARSN1 BUTN1 BUTN2 HALU1 HALU2 HIEL1 MKSB1 YSAT1 Diadema per m 2 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 ARSN1 BUTN1 BUTN2 HALU1 HALU2 HIEL1 MKSB1 YSAT1 Station Location Station Location
Mapping Reef Areas in Abu Dhabi
Coral Reef Diversity in the Gulf
The hermatypic scleractinian (hard) coral fauna of the Arabian Gulf / Arabian Sea 34 spp. (Arabian Gulf) 103 Spp. (Arabian Sea) of 16 families Acropora clathrata (Brook 1891) Acropora pharaonis (Milne Edwards and Haime 1860) Acropora horrida (Dana 1846) Acropora valenciennesi (Milne Edwards and Haime 1860) Acropora arabensis (Hodgson and Carpenter 1994) Acropora florida (Dana 1846) Acropora valida (Dana 1846) Acropora nasuta (Dana 1846) Acropora tenuis (Dana 1846) Acropora downingi Wallace 1999 Acropora divaricata (Dana 1846) Acropora muricata (Linnaeus 1758) Montipora verrucosa (Lamarck 1816) Montipora venosa (Ehrenberg 1834) Montipora mollis Bernard 1897 Montipora efflorescens Bernard 1897 Montipora tuberculosa (Lamarck 1816) Montipora monasteriata (Forskål 1775) Montipora aequituberculata Bernard 1897 Montipora foliosa (Pallas 1766) Montipora stellata Bernard 1897 Astraeopora expansa Brueggemann 1877 Astraeopora myriophthalma (Lamarck 1816) Stylocoeniella guentheri Basset-Smith 1890 Madracis kirbyi Veron and Pichon 1976 Pocillopora damicornis (Linnaeus 1758) Pocillopora verrucosa (Ellis and Solander 1786) Seriatopora caliendrum Ehrenberg 1834 Stylophora pistillata (Esper 1797) Euphyllia glabrescens (Chamisso and Eysenhardt 1821) Physogyra lichtensteini (Milne Edwards and Haime 1851) Galaxea fascicularis (Linnaeus 1767) Pseudosiderastrea tayamai Yabe and Sugyama 1935 Anomastraea irregularis Marenzeller 1901 Siderastrea savignyana Milne Edwards and Haime 1850 Psammocora contigua (Esper 1795) Psammocora stellata (Verrill 1866) Psammocora haimeana Milne Edwards and Haime 1851 Psammocora superficialis Gardiner 1898 Psammocora albopicta Benzoni 2007 Coscinaraea monile (Forskaal 1775) Coscinaraea columna (Dana 1846) Pavona cactus (Forskål 1775) Pavona frondifera (Lamarck 1816) Pavona varians (Verrill 1864) Pavona explanulata (Lamarck 1816) Pavona diffluens (Lamarck 1816) Pavona venosa (Ehrenberg 1834) Pavona decussata (Dana 1846) Leptoseris solida (Quelch 1886) Leptoseris mycetoseroides Wells 1954 Leptoseris foliosa Dinesen 1980 Gardineroseris planulata Dana 1846 Cycloseris curvata (Hoeksema 1989) Echinophyllia aspera (Ellis and Solander 1788) Oxypora lacera (Verrill 1864) Hydnophora exesa (Pallas 1766) Hydnophora microconos (Lamarck 1816) Turbinaria peltata (Esper 1794) Turbinaria reniformis Bernard 1896 Turbinaria mesenterina (Lamarck 1816) Blastomussa merleti (Wells 1961) Acanthastrea echinata (Dana 1846) Acanthastrea hillae Wells 1955 Acanthastrea maxima Sheppard and Salm 1988 Symphyllia radians Milne Edwards and Haime 1849 Symphyllia agaricia Milne Edwards and Haime 1849 Favia pallida (Dana 1846) Favia speciosa Dana 1846 Favia favus (Forskål 1775) Favia rotumana (Gardiner 1898) Barabattoia amicorum (Milne Edwards and Haime 1850) Favites pentagona (Esper 1794) Favites chinensis (Verrill 1866) Favites acuticollis (Ortmann 1889) Favites abdita (Ellis and Solander 1786) Favites complanata (Ehrenberg 1834) Platygyra daedalea (Ellis and Solander 1786) Platygyra lamellina (Ehrenberg 1834) Platygyra sinensis (Milne Edwards and Haime 1849) Platygyra cf. crosslandi (Matthai 1928) Leptoria phrygia (Ellis and Solander 1786) Plesiastrea versipora (Lamarck 1816) Cyphastrea microphthalma (Lamarck 1816) Cyphastrea serailia (Forskaal 1775) Leptastrea purpurea (Dana 1846) Leptastrea transversa Klunzinger 18479 Leptastrea inaequalis Klunzinger 1879 Parasimplastrea sheppardi Veron 2000 Echinopora gemmacea Lamarck 1816 Echinopora lamellosa (Esper 1795) Porites lutea Milne Edwards and Haime 1851 Porites solida (Forskål 1775) Porites lobata (Dana 1846) Porites compressa Dana 1846 Porites nodifera Klunzinger 1879 Porites cf. mayeri Vaughan 1918 Porites lichen Dana 1846 Goniopora lobata Milne Edwards and Haime 1860 Goniopora djiboutensis Vaughan 1907 Goniopora columna Dana 1846 Goniopora somaliensis Vaughan 1907 Gonipora tenuidens (Quelch 1886)
e.g., Taxonomic account: Acropora species (from Abu Dhabi and Dubai) A. arabensis A. pharaonis A. clathrata A. downingi
The octocoral (soft) coral fauna of the Arabian Gulf / Arabian Sea 32 spp. of 10 families Carijoa sp. Sarcophyton minusculum Samimi-Namin and Ofwegen, 2009 Sinularia erecta Tixier-Durivault, 1945 Sinularia compressa Tixier-Durivault, 1945 Dendronephthya sp. a Dendronephthya sp. b Subergorgia suberosa (Pallas, 1766) Briareum cf. hamrum Acanthogorgia spinosa Hiles, 1899 Muricella sp. Astrogorgia fruticosa Samimi-Namin and Ofwegen, 2009 Echinogorgia sp. a Echinogorgia sp. b?echinogorgia macrospiculata Thomson and Simpson, 1909 Echinomuricea sp. a Echinomuricea sp. b Euplexaura plana Samimi-Namin & Ofwegen, 2009 Euplexaura sp. a Euplexaura sp. b Menella sp. a Menella sp. b Menella sp. c Menella cf. kanisa Grasshofff, 2000 Menella bahrelfarsi (Stiasny, 1940) Paraplexaura sp. Trimuricea aff. reticulata (Thomson and Simpson, 1909) Junceella juncea (Pallas, 1766) Verrucella cf. reticulata (Thomson and Simpson, 1909) Cavernularia sp. Veretillum sp. Virgularia sp. Pteroeides sp.
e.g., Octocorallia species (from Abu Dhabi, Oman and Iran) (upper) Paraplexaura sp., (down) Euplexaura sp. covered with brittle stars Al Bazm Island Abu Dhabi (CR) Kaveh Samimi-Namin, Leen van Ofwegen, 2012 Dendronephthya sp. from Oman, Farur Island, and Kish Island Colonies of Sarcophyton minusculum at Larak Island, a) expanded polyps b) retracted polyps
Direct Value of Arabian Gulf Coral Reef Ecosystems
Reef Fish and Fisheries in the Gulf CR: Edwin Grandcourt, EAD
Reef Fish and Fisheries in the Gulf 5,978 1,218 (from Hartmann et al., 2010)
(from Grandcourt et.al., 2011)
Coral Reef Conservation in Arabian Gulf
Bahrain MPAs (0.24 %) Iran MPAs (1.17 %) Kuwait MPAs (0.11 %) Qatar MPAs (0.54 %) Saudi Arabia MPAs (0.94 %) UAE MPAs (2.67 %) Multiple Use Areas
Conclusion Coral reef ecosystems of the Arabian Gulf have significant ecological, cultural, economic, and scientific value Gulf corals are adapted to the most extreme coral-bearing environment on earth The Gulf is an open laboratory to understand biological system resilience and impact of climate change Coral reefs of the Gulf are moving towards a critically endangered state Effective conservation actions, long term monitoring, and regional partnerships are needed
Acknowledgment to our Coral Reef Partners, Leaders and staff: H.E. Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak Fred Launay Thabit Al Abdessalaam Suaad Al Harthi Edwin Grandcourt Ibrahim Bugla Bernhard Riegle, NCRI, Florida Sam Purkis, NCRI, Florida Kristi Foster, NCRI, Florida John Burt, NYU-AD ISBN 978-94-007-3007-6 Due: April 30, 2012 EWS-WWF, UAE Dolphin Energy, UAE