Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Impact of Climate Change on Coral Reefs

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Geospatial Technologies and Climate Change

Part of the book series: Geotechnologies and the Environment ((GEOTECH,volume 10))

  • 1559 Accesses

Abstract

Coral reefs represent one of the keystone ecosystems of planet earth characterized by high biological productivity and environmental complexities. As coral reefs are extremely sensitive to the environmental conditions, they are often used as important indicators of climate change. This chapter discusses the functions of coral reefs, climate change/environmental stresses and models for reef health monitoring. Mapping and monitoring of coral reef habitats in Indian Ocean using satellite data have also been discussed. Coral bleaching events coinciding with high summer sea surface temperatures and their impacts on coral reef health in four major Indian reef regions during 1997–2010 are discussed here. This chapter also presents a case study on monitoring the impact of climate change on an Indian reef using satellite data.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Scleractinia refers to the most common group or taxonomic order of stony hard corals under class Anthozoa.

  2. 2.

    Hydrocorallian refers to another taxonomic order of corals under class Hydrozoa.

  3. 3.

    Hermatypic means reef-building.

  4. 4.

    Oligotrophic: this term is applied to waters poor in nutrients and with low primary productivity.

References

  • Ajai, Nayak S, Tamilarasan V, Chauhan HB, Bahuguna A, Gupta C, Rajawat AS, Ray Chaudhury N, Kumar T, Rao RS, Bhattacharya S, Ramakrishnan R, Bhanderi RJ, Mahapatra M et al (2012) Coastal Zones of India. Space Applications Centre, (ISRO). Ahmedabad, 597 p. ISBN No. 978-81-90-9978-9-8

    Google Scholar 

  • Arthur R (2000) Coral bleaching and mortality in three Indian reef regions during an El Niño southern oscillation event. Curr Sci 79(12):1723–1729

    Google Scholar 

  • Bahuguna A, Nayak S, Ray Chaudhury N, Sharma S and Bhanderi RJ (2008) Assessment of coral reef health using satellite data. Space Applications Centre, (ISRO), Ahmedabad, 14 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker AC, Glynn PW, Riegl B (2008) Climate change and coral reef bleaching: an ecological assessment of long-term impacts, recovery trends and future outlook. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 18:1–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown BE (1997) Coral bleaching: causes and consequences. Coral Reefs 16:S129–S138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buddemeier RW, Kleypas JA, Aronson RB (2004) Coral reefs and global climate change. Pew Center Global Climate Change Report, 56 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Goreau TJ, Hayes RL (1994) Coral bleaching and ocean hot spots. Ambio 23:176–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Goreau TJ (2010) Global coral bleaching alert. Global Coral Reef AllianceTM. http://www.globalcoral.org/; May 15, 2010 report; downloaded on July 30, 2010

  • Hochberg EJ, Atkinson MJ (2003) Capabilities of remote sensors to classify coral, algae and sand as pure and mixed spectra. Remote Sens Environ 85:174–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoegh-Guldberg O (1999) Climate change, coral bleaching and the future of the world’s coral reefs. Marine Freshwater Res 50:839–866

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoegh-Guldberg O, Mumby PJ, Hooten AJ et al (2007) Coral reefs under rapid climate change and ocean acidification. Science 318:1737–1742

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopley D (1982) The geomorphology of the Great Barrier Reef: quaternary development of Coral Reefs. Wiley, New York, 453 p

    Google Scholar 

  • http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov

  • Kleypas JA, McManus JW, Meñez LAB (1999a) Environmental limits to coral reef development: where do we draw the line? Am Zool 39:146–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleypas JA, Buddemeier RW, Archer D, Gattuso J, Langdon C, Opdyke BN (1999b) Geochemical consequences of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide on coral reefs. Science 284:118–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krishnan P, Dam Roy S, George G, Srivastava RC, Anand A, Murugesan A, Kaliyamoorthy M, Vikas N, Soundararajan R (2011) Elevated sea surface temperature during May 2010 induces mass bleaching of corals in the Andaman. Curr Sci 100(1):111–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumaraguru AK, Jayakumar K, Ramakritinan CM (2003) Coral bleaching 2002 in the Palk Bay, southeast coast of India. Curr Sci 85(12):1787–1793

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesser MP (2004) Experimental biology of coral reef ecosystems. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 300:217–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Navalgund RR, Ajai, Bahuguna A, Ray Chaudhury N, Bhattji NS, Madhupriya N, Sharma S, Parihar JS, Panigrahi S, Chakraborty M, Dwivedi RM, Ramdass S, Swaroop P (2010) Coral Reef Atlas of the World Vol.1 Central Indian Ocean, Space Applications Centre, (ISRO), Ahmedabad, p 282. ISBN No.: 978-81-909978-0-5

    Google Scholar 

  • Nayak SR, Bahuguna A (1997) Coral Reef atlas of India. Space Applications Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabad, p 96

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls RJ, Wong PP, Burkett VR, Codignotto JE, Hay RF, McLean S, Ragoonaden S, Woodroffe CD (2007) Coastal systems and low-lying areas. In: Parry ML, Canziani OF, Palutikof JP, van der Linden PJ, and Hanson (eds) Climate change 2007: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of working group II to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp 315–356

    Google Scholar 

  • Parry ML, Canziani OF, Palutikof JP, van der Linden PJ, Hanson CE (2007) Cross-chapter case study. In: Climate change 2007: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of working group II to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp 843–868

    Google Scholar 

  • Pomerance R (1999) Coral bleaching, coral mortality, and global climate change. Report presented by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Environment and Development to the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, 5 March 1999, Maui, Hawaii

    Google Scholar 

  • Raven J (2005) Ocean acidification due to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide. The Royal Society Report produced by Working Group chaired by Raven J, Clyvedon Press Ltd. Cardiff, 57p

    Google Scholar 

  • Ray Chaudhury N, Ajai (2010) Monitoring the impact of climate change on coral reefs using IRS data. NNRMS Bull 35:87–95

    Google Scholar 

  • Spalding MD, Ravilious C, Green EP (2001) World Atlas of Coral Reefs. University of California Press, p 424

    Google Scholar 

  • Vivekanandan E, Hussain AM, Jasper B, Rajagopalan M (2008) Thermal thresholds for coral bleaching in the Indian Seas. J Marine Biol Assoc India 50(2):1–6

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Authors are thankful to Director, Space Applications Centre (SAC), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for his constant encouragement and to Deputy Director, Earth, Ocean, Atmosphere, Planetary Sciences and Applications Area (EPSA), SAC for his overall support and fruitful discussions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Space Applications Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Ahmedabad, 380015, India

    Nandini Ray Chaudhury &  Ajai

Authors
  1. Nandini Ray Chaudhury
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ajai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ajai .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR-NISCAIR, New Delhi, Delhi, India

    Janardhanan Sundaresan

  2. School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Kochi, Kerala, India

    K M Santosh

  3. Department of Geography, Environment and Development Studies, University of London Birkbeck, London, United Kingdom

    Andrea Déri

  4. Department of Landscape Architecture, Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences, Velp, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands

    Rob Roggema

  5. Dep.t of Physics, Computational Science & Engineering, University of Chapman, Orange, California, USA

    Ramesh Singh

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Chaudhury, N.R., Ajai (2014). Impact of Climate Change on Coral Reefs. In: Sundaresan, J., Santosh, K., Déri, A., Roggema, R., Singh, R. (eds) Geospatial Technologies and Climate Change. Geotechnologies and the Environment, vol 10. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01689-4_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation