CORAL REEFS OF Arabian Gulf, the Hottest Sea on Earth

By: Ashraf Al Cibahy, Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, aalcibahy@ead.aeA brief to the IUCN, 2nd SSC Chairs’ Meeting

23-27 Feb. 2012, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Why Arabian Gulf Corals are Exceptional?

Temperature anomalies

Gulf coral fauna and its differentiation is a direct response to this environment

Recent Bleaching Events

How do corals (and “reefs”) react to these environmental extremes?

Framework Breakdown and Regeneration

(Modified from Purkis and Riegl (2005)

What mechanisms allow Arabian Gulf corals to persist?

Spatial and Temporal Changes to the Coral Reef CommunitySpatial Comparion of Reef Slope (2006)

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Spatial Comparion of Rugosity (2006)

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Spatial Comparion of Diadema Presence (2006)

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Mapping Reef Areas in Abu Dhabi

Coral Reef Diversity in the Gulf

Siderastrea savignyana Milne Edwards and Haime 1850Psammocora contigua (Esper 1795)Psammocora stellata (Verrill 1866)Psammocora haimeana Milne Edwards and Haime 1851Psammocora superficialis Gardiner 1898Psammocora albopicta Benzoni 2007Coscinaraea monile (Forskaal 1775)Coscinaraea columna (Dana 1846)Pavona cactus (Forskål 1775)Pavona frondifera (Lamarck 1816)Pavona varians (Verrill 1864)Pavona explanulata (Lamarck 1816)Pavona diffluens (Lamarck 1816)Pavona venosa (Ehrenberg 1834)Pavona decussata (Dana 1846)Leptoseris solida (Quelch 1886)Leptoseris mycetoseroides Wells 1954Leptoseris foliosa Dinesen 1980Gardineroseris planulata Dana 1846Cycloseris curvata (Hoeksema 1989)Echinophyllia aspera (Ellis and Solander 1788)Oxypora lacera (Verrill 1864)Hydnophora exesa (Pallas 1766)Hydnophora microconos (Lamarck 1816)Turbinaria peltata (Esper 1794)Turbinaria reniformis Bernard 1896 Turbinaria mesenterina (Lamarck 1816)Blastomussa merleti (Wells 1961)Acanthastrea echinata (Dana 1846)Acanthastrea hillae Wells 1955Acanthastrea maxima Sheppard and Salm 1988Symphyllia radians Milne Edwards and Haime 1849Symphyllia agaricia Milne Edwards and Haime 1849Favia pallida (Dana 1846)

Favia speciosa Dana 1846Favia favus (Forskål 1775)Favia rotumana (Gardiner 1898) Barabattoia amicorum (Milne Edwards and Haime 1850) Favites pentagona (Esper 1794)Favites chinensis (Verrill 1866)Favites acuticollis (Ortmann 1889)Favites abdita (Ellis and Solander 1786)Favites complanata (Ehrenberg 1834)Platygyra daedalea (Ellis and Solander 1786)Platygyra lamellina (Ehrenberg 1834) Platygyra sinensis (Milne Edwards and Haime 1849)Platygyra cf. crosslandi (Matthai 1928) Leptoria phrygia (Ellis and Solander 1786)Plesiastrea versipora (Lamarck 1816)Cyphastrea microphthalma (Lamarck 1816)Cyphastrea serailia (Forskaal 1775)Leptastrea purpurea (Dana 1846)Leptastrea transversa Klunzinger 18479Leptastrea inaequalis Klunzinger 1879Parasimplastrea sheppardi Veron 2000Echinopora gemmacea Lamarck 1816Echinopora lamellosa (Esper 1795)Porites lutea Milne Edwards and Haime 1851Porites solida (Forskål 1775)Porites lobata (Dana 1846) Porites compressa Dana 1846 Porites nodifera Klunzinger 1879Porites cf. mayeri Vaughan 1918 Porites lichen Dana 1846Goniopora lobata Milne Edwards and Haime 1860Goniopora djiboutensis Vaughan 1907Goniopora columna Dana 1846Goniopora somaliensis Vaughan 1907Gonipora tenuidens (Quelch 1886)

Acropora clathrata (Brook 1891)Acropora pharaonis (Milne Edwards and Haime 1860)Acropora horrida (Dana 1846)Acropora valenciennesi (Milne Edwards and Haime 1860)Acropora arabensis (Hodgson and Carpenter 1994)Acropora florida (Dana 1846) Acropora valida (Dana 1846)Acropora nasuta (Dana 1846)Acropora tenuis (Dana 1846) Acropora downingi Wallace 1999Acropora divaricata (Dana 1846)Acropora muricata (Linnaeus 1758)Montipora verrucosa (Lamarck 1816)Montipora venosa (Ehrenberg 1834)Montipora mollis Bernard 1897Montipora efflorescens Bernard 1897Montipora tuberculosa (Lamarck 1816)Montipora monasteriata (Forskål 1775)Montipora aequituberculata Bernard 1897Montipora foliosa (Pallas 1766)Montipora stellata Bernard 1897Astraeopora expansa Brueggemann 1877Astraeopora myriophthalma (Lamarck 1816)Stylocoeniella guentheri Basset-Smith 1890Madracis kirbyi Veron and Pichon 1976Pocillopora damicornis (Linnaeus 1758)Pocillopora verrucosa (Ellis and Solander 1786)Seriatopora caliendrum Ehrenberg 1834Stylophora pistillata (Esper 1797)Euphyllia glabrescens (Chamisso and Eysenhardt 1821)Physogyra lichtensteini (Milne Edwards and Haime 1851)Galaxea fascicularis (Linnaeus 1767)Pseudosiderastrea tayamai Yabe and Sugyama 1935Anomastraea irregularis Marenzeller 1901

The hermatypic scleractinian (hard) coral fauna of the Arabian Gulf / Arabian Sea34 spp. (Arabian Gulf) – 103 Spp. (Arabian Sea) of 16 families

A. downingiA. clathrataA. pharaonisA. arabensis

e.g., Taxonomic account: Acropora species (from Abu Dhabi and Dubai)

The octocoral (soft) coral fauna of the Arabian Gulf / Arabian Sea

Carijoa sp.Sarcophyton minusculum Samimi-Namin and Ofwegen, 2009Sinularia erecta Tixier-Durivault, 1945 Sinularia compressa Tixier-Durivault, 1945Dendronephthya sp. aDendronephthya sp. bSubergorgia suberosa (Pallas, 1766)Briareum cf. hamrumAcanthogorgia spinosa Hiles, 1899Muricella sp.Astrogorgia fruticosa Samimi-Namin and Ofwegen, 2009Echinogorgia sp. aEchinogorgia sp. b?Echinogorgia macrospiculata Thomson and Simpson, 1909Echinomuricea sp. a Echinomuricea sp. bEuplexaura plana Samimi-Namin & Ofwegen, 2009Euplexaura sp. aEuplexaura sp. bMenella sp. aMenella sp. bMenella sp. cMenella cf. kanisa Grasshofff, 2000Menella bahrelfarsi (Stiasny, 1940)Paraplexaura sp. Trimuricea aff. reticulata (Thomson and Simpson, 1909)Junceella juncea (Pallas, 1766)Verrucella cf. reticulata (Thomson and Simpson, 1909)Cavernularia sp.Veretillum sp. Virgularia sp.Pteroeides sp.

32 spp. of 10 families

Colonies of Sarcophyton minusculumat Larak Island, a) expanded polyps b) retracted polyps

Dendronephthya sp. from Oman, Farur Island, and Kish Island

(CR) Kaveh Samimi-Namin, Leen van Ofwegen, 2012

(upper) Paraplexaura sp., (down) Euplexaura sp. covered with brittle stars – Al Bazm Island – Abu Dhabi

e.g., Octocorallia species (from Abu Dhabi, Oman and Iran)

Direct Value of Arabian Gulf Coral Reef Ecosystems

CR: Edwin Grandcourt, EAD

Reef Fish and Fisheries in the Gulf

Reef Fish and Fisheries in the Gulf

(from Hartmann et al., 2010)

1,218

5,978

(from Grandcourt et.al., 2011)

Coral Reef Conservation in Arabian Gulf

Bahrain MPAs (0.24 %)

Iran MPAs (1.17 %)

Kuwait MPAs (0.11 %)

Qatar MPAs (0.54 %)

Saudi Arabia MPAs (0.94 %)

UAE MPAs (2.67 %)

Multiple Use Areas

Conclusion

Coral reef ecosystems of the Arabian Gulf have significant ecological, cultural, economic, and scientific value

Gulf corals are adapted to the most extreme coral-bearing environment on earth

The Gulf is an open laboratory to understand biological system resilience and impact of climate change

Coral reefs of the Gulf are moving towards a critically endangered state

Effective conservation actions, long term monitoring, and regional partnerships are needed

Acknowledgment to our Coral Reef Partners, Leaders and staff:

H.E. Razan Khalifa Al MubarakFred LaunayThabit Al AbdessalaamSuaad Al HarthiEdwin GrandcourtIbrahim Bugla

Bernhard Riegle, NCRI, FloridaSam Purkis, NCRI, FloridaKristi Foster, NCRI, FloridaJohn Burt, NYU-AD

EWS-WWF, UAEDolphin Energy, UAEISBN 978-94-007-3007-6

Due: April 30, 2012