A Ship Grounding Over a Century Ago Left a Lasting Channel Among Corals

ABSTRACT Among disturbance events to coral reef ecosystems, ship groundings can be among the most acute due to the physical damage they cause to coral reef habitats. Following ship groundings, monitoring studies show that some reefs recover whereas others retain changes in coral community structure...

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Main Authors: Thomas M. DeCarlo, Leticia Cavole, Gabriel Castro‐Falcón, Vinícius Ribau Mendes, Guilherme Ortigara Longo, Natan S. Pereira, Cristiano Mazur Chiessi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-07-01
Series:Ecology and Evolution
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71857
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author Thomas M. DeCarlo
Leticia Cavole
Gabriel Castro‐Falcón
Vinícius Ribau Mendes
Guilherme Ortigara Longo
Natan S. Pereira
Cristiano Mazur Chiessi
author_facet Thomas M. DeCarlo
Leticia Cavole
Gabriel Castro‐Falcón
Vinícius Ribau Mendes
Guilherme Ortigara Longo
Natan S. Pereira
Cristiano Mazur Chiessi
author_sort Thomas M. DeCarlo
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT Among disturbance events to coral reef ecosystems, ship groundings can be among the most acute due to the physical damage they cause to coral reef habitats. Following ship groundings, monitoring studies show that some reefs recover whereas others retain changes in coral community structure for at least a decade. Thus, the recovery timescales following groundings are variable, but the general paradigm is that reef communities will begin on a trajectory toward recovery to the pre‐disturbance state. Here, we report several lines of evidence of a 100+ year old ship grounding in northeastern Brazil. Strikingly, the ship grounding led to a semi‐permanent sand channel in the reef that has not substantially trended toward recovery. Our observations support the notion that acute disturbance on coral reefs can cause structural changes that may never return to the pre‐disturbance conditions.
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series Ecology and Evolution
spelling doaj-art-41e28451f5424ed6aa8f272f58c75c8b2025-08-20T03:35:24ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582025-07-01157n/an/a10.1002/ece3.71857A Ship Grounding Over a Century Ago Left a Lasting Channel Among CoralsThomas M. DeCarlo0Leticia Cavole1Gabriel Castro‐Falcón2Vinícius Ribau Mendes3Guilherme Ortigara Longo4Natan S. Pereira5Cristiano Mazur Chiessi6Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Tulane University New Orleans Louisiana USASchool of Arts, Sciences and Humanities University of São Paulo São Paulo BrazilSchool of Arts, Sciences and Humanities University of São Paulo São Paulo BrazilInstitute of Marine Science Federal University of São Paulo Santos BrazilMarine Ecology Laboratory, Department of Oceanography and Limnology Federal University of Rio Grande Do Norte Natal BrazilPGQA, Department of Exact and Earth Science State University of Bahia Salvador BrazilSchool of Arts, Sciences and Humanities University of São Paulo São Paulo BrazilABSTRACT Among disturbance events to coral reef ecosystems, ship groundings can be among the most acute due to the physical damage they cause to coral reef habitats. Following ship groundings, monitoring studies show that some reefs recover whereas others retain changes in coral community structure for at least a decade. Thus, the recovery timescales following groundings are variable, but the general paradigm is that reef communities will begin on a trajectory toward recovery to the pre‐disturbance state. Here, we report several lines of evidence of a 100+ year old ship grounding in northeastern Brazil. Strikingly, the ship grounding led to a semi‐permanent sand channel in the reef that has not substantially trended toward recovery. Our observations support the notion that acute disturbance on coral reefs can cause structural changes that may never return to the pre‐disturbance conditions.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71857aerial imagerycoral reefship groundingshipwreck
spellingShingle Thomas M. DeCarlo
Leticia Cavole
Gabriel Castro‐Falcón
Vinícius Ribau Mendes
Guilherme Ortigara Longo
Natan S. Pereira
Cristiano Mazur Chiessi
A Ship Grounding Over a Century Ago Left a Lasting Channel Among Corals
Ecology and Evolution
aerial imagery
coral reef
ship grounding
shipwreck
title A Ship Grounding Over a Century Ago Left a Lasting Channel Among Corals
title_full A Ship Grounding Over a Century Ago Left a Lasting Channel Among Corals
title_fullStr A Ship Grounding Over a Century Ago Left a Lasting Channel Among Corals
title_full_unstemmed A Ship Grounding Over a Century Ago Left a Lasting Channel Among Corals
title_short A Ship Grounding Over a Century Ago Left a Lasting Channel Among Corals
title_sort ship grounding over a century ago left a lasting channel among corals
topic aerial imagery
coral reef
ship grounding
shipwreck
url https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71857
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