Journal article
Daily timing of low tide drives seasonality in intertidal emersion mortality risk
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol.9, Art. 904191
2022
Abstract
Sea level exerts a fundamental influence on the intertidal zone, where organisms are subject to immersion and emersion at varying timescales and frequencies. While emersed, intertidal organisms are exposed to atmospheric stressors which show marked diurnal and seasonal variability, therefore the daily and seasonal timing of low water is a key determinant of survival and growth in this zone. Using the example of shallow coral reefs, the coincidence of emersion with selected stressors was investigated for eight locations around the Australian coastline. Hourly water levels (1992 – 2016) from a high-resolution sea level hindcast (http://sealevelx.ems.uwa.edu.au), were linked to maximum surface solar radiation data from the Copernicus ERA5 atmospheric model and minimum atmospheric temperature observations from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology to identify seasonal patterns and historical occurrence of coral emersion mortality risk. Local tidal characteristics were found to dictate the time of day when low water, and therefore emersion mortality risk occurs, varying on a seasonal and regional basis. In general, risk was found to be greatest during the Austral spring when mean sea levels are lowest and a phase change in solar tidal constituents occurs. For all Great Barrier Reef sites, low tide occurs close to midday during winter and midnight in the summer, which may be fundamental factor supporting the historical bio-geographical development of the reef. Interannual variability in emersion mortality risk was mostly driven by non-tidal factors, particularly along the West Coast where El Niño events are associated with lower mean sea levels. This paper highlights the importance of considering emersion history when assessing intertidal environments, including shallow coral reef platform habitats, where critical low water events intrinsically influence coral health and cover. The study addresses a fundamental knowledge gap in both the field of water level science and intertidal biology in relation to the daily timing of low tide, which varies predictably on a seasonal and regional basis.
Details
- Title
- Daily timing of low tide drives seasonality in intertidal emersion mortality risk
- Authors/Creators
- J. Buckee (Author/Creator) - Murdoch UniversityY. Hetzel (Author/Creator)W. Edge (Author/Creator)J. Verduin (Author/Creator)C. Pattiaratchi (Author/Creator)
- Publication Details
- Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol.9, Art. 904191
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media
- Identifiers
- 991005541948207891
- Copyright
- © 2022 Buckee et al.
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: InCites
Metrics
276 File views/ downloads
159 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Citation topics
- 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
- 3.2 Marine Biology
- 3.2.570 Coral Reef Ecology
- Web Of Science research areas
- Environmental Sciences
- Marine & Freshwater Biology
- ESI research areas
- Plant & Animal Science