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Description:
Title:
Coral Reef Resilience and Social Vulnerability to Climate Change: Guam
Author(s):
Oliver, Thomas A.
Kleiber, Danika
Hospital, Justin
Maynard, Jeffrey
Tracey, Dieter
United States. National Marine Fisheries Service,
Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (U.S.)
United States, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
Coral Reef Conservation Program (U.S.)
Corporate Name:
United States. National Marine Fisheries Service,
Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (U.S.)
United States, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
Coral Reef Conservation Program (U.S.)
Dates of Publication:
2020
Abstract:
We present an analysis of exposure, resilience, and social vulnerability to climate change threats for the coral reefs of Guam, relative to the rest of the U.S. Pacific. We focus primarily on the increases in ocean temperatures and the impact of coral bleaching on Guam’s coral reefs and the communities that depend on them. Ocean temperatures will rise across the region, with little potential for refuge areas from warming. There are, however, important differences in reefs’ resilience; the ability of a reef to resist or recover from the impacts of warming and continue to provide ecosystem goods and services. Despite a diverse and thermally resistant coral community, high levels of fish depletion, macroalgae cover, and low coral recruitment pushed each of the three sectors analyzed in Guam into a rating of “Low” resilience. Guam’s human populations have a greater capacity for social change relative to the rest of the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands.
Keywords:
Climatic factors
Coral bleaching
Coral reefs and islands
Economic conditions
Monitoring
Ocean temperature
Resilience (Ecology)
Place Keywords:
Guam
Pacific Ocean
Local Corporate Name:
NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service)
PIFSC (Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center)
CoRIS (Coral Reef Information System)
Type of Resource:
Miscellaneous
Genre:
PIFSC Special Publication ; SP-20-002b
Note:
We present an analysis of exposure, resilience, and social vulnerability to climate change threats for the coral reefs of Guam, relative to the rest of the U.S. Pacific. We focus primarily on the increases in ocean temperatures and the impact of coral bleaching on Guam’s coral reefs and the communities that depend on them. Ocean temperatures will rise across the region, with little potential for refuge areas from warming. There are, however, important differences in reefs’ resilience; the ability of a reef to resist or recover from the impacts of warming and continue to provide ecosystem goods and services. Despite a diverse and thermally resistant coral community, high levels of fish depletion, macroalgae cover, and low coral recruitment pushed each of the three sectors analyzed in Guam into a rating of “Low” resilience. Guam’s human populations have a greater capacity for social change relative to the rest of the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands.
URL:
DOI:
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