As marine heatwaves of varying severity have been detected in Australian waters throughout the summer, a new study at a remote coral reef in the north-west has found that given enough time, they can recover from heatwave-induced bleaching events and other disturbances.

The research, conducted by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), was based on data collected over 30 years at remote Scott Reef, located between northwestern Washington and Indonesia.

It included periods of disturbance, including intense hurricanes and major bleaching in 2016 and 2017 caused by high ocean temperatures. The study found cycles of collapse and recovery, in which coral numbers decline and then slowly recover.

AIMS coral researcher Dr Luke Thomas said the finding offered a glimmer of hope for the reefs.

“This points to the resilience of these ecosystems, an innate ability to recover from disturbances,” he said. “The main problem is that it takes enough time for them to heal. “When bleaching cases occur every year, as predicted for the future, it’s a different story.

“If regular disturbances occur and corals cannot recover, these ecosystems will collapse.”

The study focused on the reef-building coral Acropora and included genetic studies showing that coral diversity is maintained over time; This is a key component of corals’ resilience to climate change.

Dr Thomas said the study was one of the most detailed coral monitoring studies in the world.

“This is one of the few datasets where we look at how perturbations affect coral populations over time, not just at a single snapshot,” he said.

“Genetic diversity promotes adaptation and is extremely important for coral reefs, especially in remote systems such as Scott’s Reef, where populations are isolated from neighboring reefs and rely on local larval resources to maintain healthy populations.” Scott’s reefs allow us to understand fundamental processes in ecology and evolution in isolation. knows. “These lessons can then be applied to larger systems such as the Great Barrier Reef.”

Oceanographers were preparing for a hot summer when oceanic heat waves caused by El Niño conditions, the Indian Ocean positive dipole, and climate change were detected in the waters off northern Australia.

Dr Thomas said Western Australia was home to some of the healthiest coral reefs in the world. He explained that the health of places like Scott reefs is supported by isolation, good water quality and relatively low fishing levels. But Dr Thomas said the long-term outlook for coral reefs was difficult, with disturbances linked to climate change expected to increase.

“Our research demonstrates the current resilience of these reef systems,” he said. “They are wonderful; They can withstand a lot of pressure and a lot of disruption. “But climate change is approaching tipping points from which corals may not recover.”

The article comes after aerial photographs by AIMS and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority confirmed the fifth mass bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park since 2016.