Year: 2007
Type: article
Abstract: Present anthropogenically-induced climate change is now well substantiated. The effects of climate \nchange on the marine biosphere are the subject of great concern but we simply do not have \nenough long-term ecological data to predict potential changes in the geographic distribution and \ncomposition of marine communities. Hence, long-term time-series data on the past response of \nmarine ecosystems to climate change have become increasingly relevant. Coral reefs provide a legacy \nof their existence because they accumulate vast thicknesses of biogenic sediments, so it is possible \nto acquire time-series ecological data in the form of variations in reef coral community structure \nduring past episodes of environmental change. It is perhaps fortuitous that many of the proxies that \nwe use to understand past climate on earth can be found in the major architectural components of \nreefs, the scleractinian corals. However, most emphasis has been placed on using corals as ancient \nthermometers and much less on their ecological response to global climate change.
Authors: John M. Pandolfi, Benjamin J. Greenstein
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W311607833