Author: AOML Communications

A screen shot of the "Increasing Hurricane Intensification Rate Near the US Atlantic Coast" publication.

Increasing Hurricane Intensification Rate Near the US Atlantic Coast

Balaguru, K., Foltz, G. R., Leung, L. R., Xu, W., Kim, D., Lopez, H., & West, R. (2022). Increasing hurricane intensification rate near the US Atlantic coast. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(20), e2022GL099793.

Plain Language Summary: While hurricanes pose a significant socioeconomic threat in general, those that intensify close to the coast are particularly challenging for operational forecasters and decision makers. Past studies examined basin-scale changes in hurricane intensification and the large-scale environment in the Atlantic. However, near-coastal changes in hurricane intensification have not been extensively studied. Herein, we address this using a combination of observations and numerical model simulations. Analysis of hurricane track data for the period 1979–2018 indicates that the mean hurricane intensification rate has increased significantly near the Atlantic coast…

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The influences of diurnal variability and ocean acidification on the bioerosion rates of two reef-dwelling Caribbean sponges

Morris, J., Enochs, I., Webb, A., de Bakker, D., Soderberg, N., Kolodziej, G., & Manzello, D. (2022). The influences of diurnal variability and ocean acidification on the bioerosion rates of two reef‐dwelling Caribbean sponges. Global Change Biology.

Abstract: Ocean acidification (OA) is expected to modify the structure and function of coral reef ecosystems by reducing calcification, increasing bioerosion, and altering the physiology of many marine organisms. Much of our understanding of these relationships is based on experiments with static OA treatments, although evidence suggests that the magnitude of diurnal fluctuations in carbonate chemistry may modulate the calcification response to OA. These light-mediated swings in seawater pH are projected to become more extreme with OA, yet their impact on bioerosion remains unknown. We evaluated the influence of diurnal carbonate chemistry variability on the bioerosion rates of two Caribbean sponges: the zooxanthellate Cliona varians and azooxanthellate Cliothosa delitrix. Replicate fragments from multiple colonies of each species were exposed to four precisely controlled pH treatments: contemporary static (8.05 ± 0.00; mean pH ± diurnal pH oscillation), contemporary variable (8.05 ± 0.10), future OA static (7.80 ± 0.00), and future OA variable (7.80 ± 0.10)…

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Reef Sediments Can Act As a Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease Vector

Studivan, M. S., Rossin, A. M., Rubin, E., Soderberg, N., Holstein, D. M., & Enochs, I. C. (2022). Reef sediments can act as a stony coral tissue loss disease vector. Frontiers in Marine Science, 2046.

Abstract: Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) was first observed in 2014 near Virginia Key in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Field sampling, lab experiments, and modeling approaches have suggested that reef sediments may play a role in SCTLD transmission, though a positive link has not been tested experimentally. We conducted an ex situ transmission assay using a statistically-independent disease apparatus to test whether reef sediments can transmit SCTLD in the absence of direct contact between diseased and healthy coral tissue. We evaluated two methods of sediment inoculation: batch inoculation of sediments collected from southeast Florida using whole colonies of diseased Montastraea cavernosa, and individual inoculations of sediments following independent, secondary infections of ∼5 cm2 coral fragments. Healthy fragments of the coral species Orbicella faveolata and M. cavernosa were exposed to these diseased sediment treatments, as well as direct disease contact and healthy sediment controls…

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Pre-exposure to a variable temperature treatment improves the response of Acropora cervicornis to acute thermal stress

DeMerlis, A., Kirkland, A., Kaufman, M. L., Mayfield, A. B., Formel, N., Kolodziej, G., Manzello, D. P., Lirman, D., Traylor-Knowles, N., & Enochs, I. C. (2022). Pre-exposure to a variable temperature treatment improves the response of Acropora cervicornis to acute thermal stress. Coral Reefs, 41(2), 435-445.

Given that global warming is the greatest threat to coral reefs, coral restoration projects have expanded worldwide with the goal of replenishing habitats whose reef-building corals succumbed to various stressors. In many cases, however, these efforts will be futile if outplanted corals are unable to withstand warmer oceans and an increased frequency of extreme temperature events. Stress-hardening is one approach proposed to increase the thermal tolerance of coral genotypes currently grown for restoration. Previous studies have shown that corals from environments with natural temperature variability experience less bleaching when exposed to thermal stress, though it remains unclear if this localized acclimatization or adaptation to variable temperatures can be operationalized for enhancing restoration efforts…

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Genetic variants of the coral Acropora cervicornis linked to elevated nutrient and heat stress resistance

A recent study by scientists at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Science, the Cooperative Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS), and NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) identified genetic variants in staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis, that can tolerate elevated temperatures and nutrient pollution, two environmental stressors that […]

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Investigating vertical wind shear influences on tropical cyclone intensity change

Scientists at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) and the University of Miami’s Cooperative Institute of Marine & Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS) examine the challenges of accurately predicting when a tropical cyclone will begin a quick and sudden increase in intensity (called rapid intensification or RI) in a new study published in Monthly Weather Review.

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