Local anthropogenic stress does not exacerbate coral bleaching under global climate change

Aim. Rising ocean temperatures are widely recognised as the dominant driver behind the rapid degradation of coral reefs via the process of coral bleaching (the expulsion of photosynthetic endosymbionts which reveals the coral skeleton). However, bleaching of hard corals is often assumed to be further aggravated by the effect of local-scale stressors from anthropogenic activity, accelerating coral reef decline where these stressors are stronger. Despite the importance of this hypothesis, the interaction between climate change and local stressors for driving coral bleaching has only been investigated in a handful of studies, with no large-scale (regional or global) test conducted thus far. We investigate the impact of human population density (HPD) – a proxy for local stressors - in both protected and non-protected marine regions, and their interaction under heat stress as drivers of coral bleaching.
Location. Global.
Time period. 2002-2018.
Major Taxa Studied. Scleractinia corals.
Method...