Nature Communications (Apr 2018)

High frequency temperature variability reduces the risk of coral bleaching

  • Aryan Safaie,
  • Nyssa J. Silbiger,
  • Timothy R. McClanahan,
  • Geno Pawlak,
  • Daniel J. Barshis,
  • James L. Hench,
  • Justin S. Rogers,
  • Gareth J. Williams,
  • Kristen A. Davis

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04074-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 1
pp. 1 – 12

Abstract

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Coral bleaching is often predicted via remote sensing of ocean temperatures at large scales, obscuring important reef-scale drivers and biological responses. Here, the authors use in- situ data to show that bleaching is lower globally at reef habitats with greater diurnal temperature variability.