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Updated: May 20, 2026

An Integrated Micro-Device System for Coral Growth and Monitoring
Published on: July 21, 2023
ENSO drove 2500-year collapse of eastern Pacific coral reefs
Lauren T Toth1, Richard B Aronson, Steven V Vollmer
1Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL 32901, USA.
Abstract:
Cores of coral reef frameworks along an upwelling gradient in Panamá show that reef ecosystems in the tropical eastern Pacific collapsed for 2500 years, representing as much as 40% of their history, beginning about 4000 years ago. The principal cause of this millennial-scale hiatus in reef growth was increased variability of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and its coupling with the Intertropical Convergence Zone. The hiatus was a Pacific-wide phenomenon with an underlying climatology similar to probable scenarios for the next century. Global climate change is probably driving eastern Pacific reefs toward another regional collapse.
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