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Increased sea level promotes coral cover on shallow reef flats in the Andaman Sea, eastern Indian Ocean

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Abstract

Sea level in the Indian Ocean is subject to considerable temporal and spatial variabilities. During the period 1960–2009 at Phuket, Thailand, in the NE Indian Ocean, mean sea level increased by 2.7 mm y−1. Regular monitoring of coral cover on fringing reef flats at Phuket since 1979 revealed a sensitive response of this habitat to both transient sea-level depressions and sea-level elevation. Since 1987 when more frequent sampling began, coral cover was positively correlated with the mean sea level experienced over the preceding months. Changing mean sea level explained a high proportion of the observed variation in cover, with overall increasing sea levels and a lack of negative sea-level anomalies promoting cover on the outer reef flats. Concomitantly, there have been no changes in reef community structure or any apparent shifts in zonation patterns across the reef. While future benefits of continued increases in mean sea level on reef flats in the region will be constrained by the frequency and intensity of sea-level depressions associated with the Indian Ocean Dipole, and bleaching events, the overall picture for these shallow reefs is a positive one as they respond to increasing sea level and show rapid recovery from environmental disturbances.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the Natural Environment Research Council, the Royal Society, the Percy Sladen Fund of the Linnean Society, the Department for International Development, and the Leverhulme Trust for support of our reef research at Phuket over the last 31 years. We would also like to thank the Director and staff of the Phuket Marine Biological Center for continued support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biology, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK

    B. E. Brown

  2. Environmental Research Unit, University of the Highlands and Islands, Castle Street, Thurso, Caithness, KW14 7JD, Scotland, UK

    B. E. Brown

  3. West Briscoe, Baldersdale, Barnard Castle, Co., Durham, DL12 9UP, UK

    R. P. Dunne

  4. Phuket Biological Center, PO Box 60, Phuket, 83000, Thailand

    N. Phongsuwan

  5. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, West Hoe, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK

    P. J. Somerfield

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  1. B. E. Brown
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  2. R. P. Dunne
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  3. N. Phongsuwan
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  4. P. J. Somerfield
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Correspondence to B. E. Brown.

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Communicated by Biology Editor Dr. Hugh Sweatman

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Brown, B.E., Dunne, R.P., Phongsuwan, N. et al. Increased sea level promotes coral cover on shallow reef flats in the Andaman Sea, eastern Indian Ocean. Coral Reefs 30, 867–878 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-011-0804-9

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