Banha, T.N.S.,
Capel, K.C.C.,
Kitahara, M.V.,
Francini-Filho, R.B.,
Francini, C.L.B.,
Sumida, P.Y.G. and
Mies, M.
2020
Low coral mortality during the
most intense bleaching event
ever recorded in subtropical
Southwestern Atlantic reefs.
Coral Reefs 39: 515-521.
FULL SUMMARY HERE:
http://www.co2science.org/articles/V23/sep/a10.php
MY SHORT SUMMARY FOLLOWS:
The most intense bleaching event ever recorded in the South Atlantic caused no more than 2% mortality in M. hispida populations, which "was far lower than for episodes of similar magnitude in other regions, particularly in the Indo-Pacific." This is a remarkable coral tolerance, contrary to alarmist predictions of a total collapse of coral reefs, from temperature-induced bleaching events.
Nearly 80% of all colonies surveyed at Ubatuba were bleached or severely bleached, representing "the highest bleaching prevalence ever recorded for a given reef area in the South Atlantic." ... "Nevertheless, despite such high bleaching prevalence, less than 2% of mortality was recorded in the coastal Ubatuba population and approximately 0.5% of colonies were diseased."
There was less bleaching at Alcatrazes reefs, where only 18.6% of colonies were affected (bleached), 2% showed disease symptoms and 2% showed partial or total mortality. Both bleaching prevalence and severity declined with depth such that NO bleaching, disease or mortality was detected in colonies at a depth of 12 meters.