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Fingerprints of the Anthropocene: the 2016 Coral Bleaching Event in an Equatorial Archipelago

Coral reef ecosystems worldwide are experiencing increasingly frequent episodes of temperature-related “coral bleaching”. The Banggai Archipelago in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, has extensive coral reefs and is home to the endemic Banggai cardinalfish, Pterapogon kauderni, a species listed as Endangered in the IUCN red List. A rapid survey was undertaken at seven sites (1.2°S-2°S) in this archipelago, in response to the national call for action during the 2016 global bleaching event. The CoralWatch method (6 point colour scale: CW1-CW6) was used; colony life-form (Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network categories) and genus (Indo-Pacific Coral-finder) were recorded. Partial and full bleaching were observed at all sites; of 1166 colonies, 64.7% were fully bleached (CW1) or very pale (CW2); with 13.5% in CW4-CW6. Water temperatures were 1-3°C above recorded maxima from 2004-2012. Branching and encrusting life-forms had the highest full/severe bleaching rates. Common genera with above average bleaching rates included Stylophora, Seriatopora, Pocillopora, Isopora, Merulina, Galaxea, some forms of Acropora and Porites. Algal overgrowth was observed on both live (fully/partially) bleached and dead colonies. Densities of Diadema sp. urchins, a key simbiont of the Banggai cardinalfish, until recently the most abundant coral reef herbivore, were extremely low (orders of magnitude less than 2004 densities), with few adult individuals present at 5/7 sites. The Caribbean experience underlines the urgency of addressing the unregulated Diadema fishery which has developed in the Banggai Archipelago since around 2007. Rehabilitating populations of this key invertebrate herbivore would contribute to biodiversity conservation and reef resilience/recovery in this equatorial archipelago.