Conservation of Coral Reefs after the 1998 Global Bleaching Event

Abstract

Large-scale coral bleaching has happened
\nrepeatedly in the Pacific and Indian
\noceans and the Caribbean since
\n1982. Previously it was observed only
\non a small scale (Williams and Bunkley-
\nWilliams 1990;Jokiel & Coles 1990;
\nGlynn 1988, 1991; Goreau et al. 1993;
\nGoreau & Hayes 1994, 1995). The
\n1998 bleaching event was globally the
\nmost extensive such event recorded
\nexcept in the Caribbean and Central
\nPacific where a comparison of year-byyear
\ntemperature and bleaching maps
\nshow that it was comparable with the
\nlargest previous events (T.G. et al., unpublished
\ndata). Global analyses of
\ncoral bleaching are rare, but critical to
\nan understanding of the widespread
\necological effect of bleaching events.