Unprecedented marine heat wave on Caribbean coral reefs
Decades of overfishing, habitat destruction, and eutrophication have led to a drastic decrease of hard coral cover across coral reefs in the Caribbean (Gardner et al., 2003). In addition to these historical local stressors, coral reefs face the adverse effects of climate change, specifically the increase in frequency and extended durations of marine heat waves […]
GCRMN Steering Committee Meeting
The GCRMN organised a two day steering committee meeting in Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i, on September 18th and 19th. This meeting was held in conjunction with the 37th ICRI general meeting and marked the first in-person gathering of the GCRMN steering committee since the March 2022 meeting in Monaco. A total of 31 participants, including seven node […]
Pacific hard coral identification online workshop
One of the most widely used indicators of coral reef state is the percentage cover of benthic organisms. Because of the huge diversity hosted by coral reefs, the cover of benthic species is usually aggregated in large categories, such as hard coral cover or macroalgae cover. This aggregation is mainly justified by a trade-off between […]
Pacific coral reef shows historic increase in climate resistance
Coral reefs in one part of the Pacific Ocean have likely adjusted to higher ocean temperatures which could reduce future bleaching impacts of climate change, new research reveals. Photo Credit: Ocean Image Bank // Tracey Jennings A Newcastle University-led study focused on the Pacific Island Nation of Palau and has shown that historic increases in […]
Pause in recent coral recovery on much of Great Barrier Reef
In-water monitoring by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) shows hard coral cover across the Great Barrier Reef remains at similar levels to that recorded in 2022, with small decreases in the Northern, Central and Southern regions. Published on (Wednesday 9 August), AIMS’ Annual Summary Report on Coral Reef Condition for 2022/23 found that […]
GCRMN Reef Encounter Article: Values of a long-term partnership
Since 1995, the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), an operational network of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) has nurtured a global community dedicated to coral reef conservation by providing a platform to exchange data and share knowledge, expertise, innovative ideas and diverse perspective. Utilising data from a range of techniques, from ground-level […]
2023 Coral Bleaching Guidance
Coral Restoration Consortium releases guidance to practitioners on coral bleaching Bleaching is reaching severe levels throughout the tropics with more reports coming in daily. This extreme heat stress due to the predicted El Niño, is arriving a month earlier than expected. Corals can recover from mild or short-term bleaching but long-term or extreme heat causes […]
Regional Coordinators Meeting – July 2023
The GCRMN is structured in ten regional nodes, which operate as independent entities around a regional coordinator. These node coordinators facilitate the communication within the region, workshops on monitoring and data management and contributions to global and regional GCRMN “Status and Trends of Coral Reefs” reports. Regional node coordinators interact with the GCRMN Core Team […]
Is El Niño on the horizon? What does it mean for coral reefs
Hard corals are particularly sensitive to marine heatwaves (a period of abnormally high ocean temperatures), as thermal stress can lead them to expel their symbiotic algae – zooxanthellae -, revealing their white calcium carbonate structure, a phenomenon called “coral bleaching”. As hard corals heavily depend on the energetic resources provided by their symbiotic algae, marine […]
GCRMN Steering Committee meeting – May 2023
On 16th May 2023, the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) Steering Committee convened for a productive online meeting that saw discussions ranging from the establishment of a new Data Taskforce, the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems and updates from regional nodes. The Steering Committee meeting was opened by Tom Dallison (International Coral Reef Initiative […]
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