A comparison of modern and dead coral assemblages found that the mortality of branching Acropora corals on the central Great Barrier Reef is frequently linked to discrete disturbances during the early to mid-20th century, and that Acropora corals represented less than 5% of living corals on the reef surface from the late 1990s to 2014, suggesting that the resilience of this formerly dominant reef-building coral has decreased at a regional scale.
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Article #17-05351: "U-Th dating reveals regional-scale decline of branching Acropora corals on the Great Barrier Reef over the past century," by Tara R. Clark et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Tara R. Clark, University of Queensland, Brisbane, AUSTRALIA; tel: +61-7-3346-9755, +61-4-2205-7559; e-mail: <t.clark1@uq.edu.au>; George Roff, University of Queensland, Brisbane, AUSTRALIA; tel: +61-4-3293-1051; email: <g.roff@uq.edu.au>
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences