Abstract

Historically coral reefs of Bahrain were among the most extensive in the southern basin of the Arabian
Gulf. However, Bahrain's reefs have undergone significant decline in the last four decades as a result of
large-scale coastal development and elevated sea surface temperature events. Here we quantitatively
surveyed six sites including most major coral reef habitats around Bahrain and a reef located 72km
offshore. Fleshy and turf algae now dominate Bahrain's reefs (mean: 72% cover), and live coral cover is
low (mean: 5.1%). Formerly dominant Acropora were not observed at any site. The offshore Bulthama
reef had the highest coral cover (16.3%) and species richness (22 of the 23 species observed, 13 of which
were exclusive to this site). All reefs for which recent and historical data are available show continued
degradation, and it is unlikely that they will recover under continuing coastal development and
projected climate change impacts.

September 2012Marine Pollution Bulletin 72(2)

DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2012.08.022

SourcePubMed

Projects: Coral reef management in northeastern ArabiaCoral community shifts in the Persian/Arabian
Gulf

Authors:

Bahrain to study risks of climate

change on marine environment
https://www.timeoutbahrain.com/news/424678-bahrain-to-study-risks-of-climate-change-on-marine-
environment

1 . Bahrain     

The main coral reefs are limited to a few areas in extreme environmental conditions.
Coral cover is generally low, with evidence of recent, widespread coral mortality. These
coral communities are at the very limits of tolerance to salinity, temperature, and
sediment load, but there are 28 species of coral in Bahrain. The reefs recently
experienced two major coral bleaching events: summer of 1996; and more severely in the
summer of 1998. These events resulted in the complete mortality of corals on Fasht Al
Adhom, west Fasht Al Dibal, Khwar Fasht, north Jabari, Samahij, and Fasht Al Jarim. The
only live coral reef surviving in Bahrain is on Abul Thama, a small raised area surrounded
by 50m deep water about 72km north of the main island. In addition to coral bleaching in
1996, a large fish kill was reported in Ras Hayan lagoon.

http://www.reefbase.org/global_database/dbs1,51,BHR,37.aspx

http://www.vliz.be/events/littoral2012/presentations/day2/day2_s3_naser.pdf

https://www.recyclepointsbh.com/coral%20reefs.pdf

https://www.asprs.org/wp-content/uploads/pers/1993journal/mar/1993_mar_415-421.pdf

https://www.cbd.int/sbstta/sbstta-19/bahrain-notif-2015-045.pdf