Sea Level Anomaly Impacts on Tomini-s Reef Coral Bleaching Stress
Camellia Kusuma Tito, Eghbert Elvan Ampou, Bayu Priyono, and Agung Yunanto
Institute for Marine Research and Observation
Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries
Jl. Baru Perancak, Jembrana, Bali, 82251, Indonesia
Abstract
Coral reefs facing climatic challenges due to increased carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the atmosphere, elevated sea surface temperatures (SST) and sea level anomaly (SLA). Recent works highlighted that El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) increases SST and induces bleaching events in several region. Meanwhile, SLA impacts on coral reefs have rarely been addressed but could be more important for reefflat ecosystem than previously thought. The objective of this work is to assess SLA impacts on Tomini-s reef coral bleaching stress. In 1998, 2010 and 2016 Tomini-s reef coral experienced severe bleaching period during hot spot (HS) occupied in a certain water body on certain time, called degree of heating weeks (DHW, 0C-week). Long term (1993-2019) SLA data acquired from multimission altimetry satellite by Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) were used in the analysis. The results show that the slope of SLA in Tomini Bay tend to increased for the last three decades. Therefore, we suggest that effects of combined rising SST and SLA could be increased Tomini-s reef coral bleaching stress.
Keywords: Bleaching, Coral reef, Sea level anomaly, Sea surface temperature
Topic: Coastal and Ocean Dynamics