CORAL REEFS OF Arabian Gulf, the Hottest Sea on Earth By: Ashraf Al Cibahy, Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, [email protected] A brief to the IUCN, 2nd 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 Comparison of Temperature Profiles Spatial Comparion of Reef Slope (2006) 40 8.0 35 6.0 30 4.0 25 Temperature (deg C) (deg Temperature (degrees) 2.0 20 Average Slope Average Slope 0.0 15 HIEL1 YSAT1 BUTN1 BUTN2 HALU1 HALU2 MKSB1 02-Jul-06 25-Oct-05 10-Oct-06 24-Mar-06 29-Nov-06 02-Feb-06 21-Aug-06 05-Sep-05 14-Dec-05 13-May-06 Station Location Date SHRW1 DELM1 MKSB1 YSAT1 Spatial Comparion of Rugosity (2006) Spatial Comparion of Diadema Presence (2006) 2.00 2 12 1.80 10 1.60 8 6 1.40 4 1.20 2 Diadema per m per Diadema Average Rugosity Average 1.00 0 HIEL1 HIEL1 YSAT1 YSAT1 ARSN1 BUTN1 BUTN2 ARSN1 BUTN1 BUTN2 HALU1 HALU2 HALU1 HALU2 MKSB1 MKSB1 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) Siderastrea savignyana Milne Edwards and Haime 1850 Favia speciosa Dana 1846 Acropora pharaonis (Milne Edwards and Haime 1860) Psammocora contigua (Esper 1795) Favia favus (Forskål 1775) Acropora horrida (Dana 1846) Psammocora stellata (Verrill 1866) Favia rotumana (Gardiner 1898) Acropora valenciennesi (Milne Edwards and Haime 1860) Psammocora haimeana Milne Edwards and Haime 1851 Barabattoia amicorum (Milne Edwards and Haime 1850) Acropora arabensis (Hodgson and Carpenter 1994) Psammocora superficialis Gardiner 1898 Favites pentagona (Esper 1794) Acropora florida (Dana 1846) Psammocora albopicta Benzoni 2007 Favites chinensis (Verrill 1866) Acropora valida (Dana 1846) Coscinaraea monile (Forskaal 1775) Favites acuticollis (Ortmann 1889) Acropora nasuta (Dana 1846) Coscinaraea columna (Dana 1846) Favites abdita (Ellis and Solander 1786) Acropora tenuis (Dana 1846) Pavona cactus (Forskål 1775) Favites complanata (Ehrenberg 1834) Acropora downingi Wallace 1999 Pavona frondifera (Lamarck 1816) Platygyra daedalea (Ellis and Solander 1786) Acropora divaricata (Dana 1846) Pavona varians (Verrill 1864) Platygyra lamellina (Ehrenberg 1834) Acropora muricata (Linnaeus 1758) Pavona explanulata (Lamarck 1816) Platygyra sinensis (Milne Edwards and Haime 1849) Montipora verrucosa (Lamarck 1816) Pavona diffluens (Lamarck 1816) Platygyra cf. crosslandi (Matthai 1928) Montipora venosa (Ehrenberg 1834) Pavona venosa (Ehrenberg 1834) Leptoria phrygia (Ellis and Solander 1786) Plesiastrea versipora (Lamarck 1816) Montipora mollis Bernard 1897 Pavona decussata (Dana 1846) Cyphastrea microphthalma (Lamarck 1816) Montipora efflorescens Bernard 1897 Leptoseris solida (Quelch 1886) Cyphastrea serailia (Forskaal 1775) Montipora tuberculosa (Lamarck 1816) Leptoseris mycetoseroides Wells 1954 Leptastrea purpurea (Dana 1846) Montipora monasteriata (Forskål 1775) Leptoseris foliosa Dinesen 1980 Leptastrea transversa Klunzinger 18479 Montipora aequituberculata Bernard 1897 Gardineroseris planulata Dana 1846 Leptastrea inaequalis Klunzinger 1879 Montipora foliosa (Pallas 1766) Cycloseris curvata (Hoeksema 1989) Parasimplastrea sheppardi Veron 2000 Montipora stellata Bernard 1897 Echinophyllia aspera (Ellis and Solander 1788) Echinopora gemmacea Lamarck 1816 Astraeopora expansa Brueggemann 1877 Oxypora lacera (Verrill 1864) Echinopora lamellosa (Esper 1795) Astraeopora myriophthalma (Lamarck 1816) Hydnophora exesa (Pallas 1766) Porites lutea Milne Edwards and Haime 1851 Stylocoeniella guentheri Basset-Smith 1890 Hydnophora microconos (Lamarck 1816) Porites solida (Forskål 1775) Madracis kirbyi Veron and Pichon 1976 Turbinaria peltata (Esper 1794) Porites lobata (Dana 1846) Pocillopora damicornis (Linnaeus 1758) Turbinaria reniformis Bernard 1896 Porites compressa Dana 1846 Pocillopora verrucosa (Ellis and Solander 1786) Turbinaria mesenterina (Lamarck 1816) Porites nodifera Klunzinger 1879 Seriatopora caliendrum Ehrenberg 1834 Blastomussa merleti (Wells 1961) Porites cf. mayeri Vaughan 1918 Stylophora pistillata (Esper 1797) Acanthastrea echinata (Dana 1846) Porites lichen Dana 1846 Euphyllia glabrescens (Chamisso and Eysenhardt 1821) Acanthastrea hillae Wells 1955 Goniopora lobata Milne Edwards and Haime 1860 Physogyra lichtensteini (Milne Edwards and Haime 1851) Acanthastrea maxima Sheppard and Salm 1988 Goniopora djiboutensis Vaughan 1907 Galaxea fascicularis (Linnaeus 1767) Symphyllia radians Milne Edwards and Haime 1849 Goniopora columna Dana 1846 Pseudosiderastrea tayamai Yabe and Sugyama 1935 Symphyllia agaricia Milne Edwards and Haime 1849 Goniopora somaliensis Vaughan 1907 Anomastraea irregularis Marenzeller 1901 Favia pallida (Dana 1846) 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) (CR) Kaveh Samimi-Namin, Leen van Ofwegen, 2012 (upper) Paraplexaura sp., (down) Colonies of Sarcophyton minusculum Dendronephthya sp. from Oman, Euplexaura sp. covered with brittle at Larak Island, a) expanded polyps Farur Island, and Kish Island stars – Al Bazm Island – Abu Dhabi 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 EWS-WWF, UAE ISBN 978-94-007-3007-6 Dolphin Energy, UAE Due: April 30, 2012 .