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Gutiérrez-Estrada G, Tortolero-Langarica JJA, Carricart-Ganivet JP. Modelling coral calcification rates in Orbicella faveolata (Cnidaria: Scleractinia) using light attenuation coefficients in water (K dPAR). MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2025; 207:107074. [PMID: 40101411 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2025.107074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2024] [Revised: 03/05/2025] [Accepted: 03/06/2025] [Indexed: 03/20/2025]
Abstract
Coral calcification represents a vital process within coral reef ecosystems, wherein reef-building corals contribute significantly to the physical construction and maintenance of the reef framework. The calcification process is related to the photosynthesis of endosymbiotic algae, where light plays a crucial role in coral energetic tradeoffs. However, local stressors have led to increased turbidity, subsequently affecting light availability, especially in nearshore reefs. This study proposes a light-driven model designed to predict coral calcification in Orbicella faveolata under different light conditions, using the diffuse attenuation coefficient in water (KdPAR) as a predictive parameter. To determine annual calcification across different light conditions, we collected coral skeleton samples across depth gradients (∼5-38 m) at five reef sites in the Mexican Caribbean. Sclerochronological characteristics were analyzed through X-ray imaging and KdPAR values were obtained using in-situ light measurements. The results indicate that as light PAR is attenuated with depth, coral skeletal density increases and extension rate decreases. Likewise, annual calcification also responds to the underwater light field. However, calcification shows a pattern that can be explained by a nonlinear Gaussian function and shows that 60 % of surface PAR is needed for optimal calcification. This function was used to predict annual calcification in different suboptimal KdPAR conditions. This report presents the first model of annual calcification of O. faveolata using KdPAR. The results provide significant ecological insights into coral calcification and underscore the importance of conserving optimal optical properties of the water column to sustain coral growth and provides a better understanding of coral distribution and their contribution to reef framework development across vertical gradients in the Caribbean region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela Gutiérrez-Estrada
- Posgrado en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. Universidad 3000, Ciudad Universitaria Coyoacán, Ciudad de México, 04510, Mexico; Laboratorio de Esclerocronología de Corales Arrecifales, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales Puerto Morelos, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cancun, Quintana Roo, 77580, Mexico
| | - J J Adolfo Tortolero-Langarica
- Laboratorio de Esclerocronología de Corales Arrecifales, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales Puerto Morelos, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cancun, Quintana Roo, 77580, Mexico; Tecnológico Nacional de México/ IT Bahía de Banderas, Crucero a Punta de Mita S/N, El Crucero, Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, 63734, Mexico
| | - Juan P Carricart-Ganivet
- Laboratorio de Esclerocronología de Corales Arrecifales, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales Puerto Morelos, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cancun, Quintana Roo, 77580, Mexico.
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2
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Castellan G, Angeletti L, Taviani M. Diversity and future perspectives of Mediterranean deep-water oyster reefs. Sci Rep 2024; 14:30651. [PMID: 39730416 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-77641-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2024] [Accepted: 10/24/2024] [Indexed: 12/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Anthropogenic and climate factors are increasingly affecting the composition and functions of many marine biogenic reefs globally, leading to a decline in associated biodiversity and ecosystem services. Once dominant ecological component, modern oyster reefs in the Mediterranean and Black Sea and the Atlantic Ocean have already been profoundly altered by overharvesting, habitat loss and the introduction of alien species. Far less known are deep-water oyster reefs, which can however form substantial biogenic structures below 30 m depth. Here we analyze the diversity of benthic assemblages associated with deep-water oyster reefs formed by the gryphaeid Neopycnodonte cochlear, and other mesophotic habitats in the central Mediterranean Sea using a taxonomic and functional approach. Our findings suggest that deep-water oyster reefs may act as hotspots of biodiversity and ecological functions in the Mediterranean Sea under current conditions, having also an edge in survival in a changing ocean.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Castellan
- Institute of Marine Sciences, National Research Council (CNR-ISMAR), Bologna, Italy.
- NBFC - National Biodiversity Future Centre, Palermo, Italy.
| | - Lorenzo Angeletti
- Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology, National Research Council (CNR- IRBIM), Ancona, Italy
- NBFC - National Biodiversity Future Centre, Palermo, Italy
| | - Marco Taviani
- Institute of Marine Sciences, National Research Council (CNR-ISMAR), Bologna, Italy
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples, Italy
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3
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Wang Y, Li Y, Yu K, Chen X. Evaluating coral reef restoration in marine protected areas using habitat structural complexity and coral communities. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT 2024; 196:1242. [PMID: 39579300 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-024-13443-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2024] [Indexed: 11/25/2024]
Abstract
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are widely used to protect at-risk ecosystems. This study employed a combined method to quantify the protection performance on coral reef habitats, integrating coral morphology and topographic relief in the rugosity index. In the Weizhou Island reef in the northern South China Sea, after six years of protection, the no-take areas (NTAs) hosted a greater live coral cover (11.7%) compared to the no-protection areas (NPAs, 6.9%), but had a lower rugosity (1.17) than both the NPAs and the habitat protection areas, suggesting that while MPAs enhance coral cover, their benefits for habitat structural complexity may remain insignificant in the short term (six years). In the NTAs, the contribution of live corals to habitat complexity (28.3%) was lower than that of rubbles (34.4%). Moreover, slow-growing massive corals (e.g., Porites lutea), which usually have low rugosity, contributed a larger portion (up to 20%) to habitat complexity. In contrast, fast-growing, structural complex arborescent corals (e.g., Acropora pruinosa) had a limited contribution (2.3%). Foliose corals, which dominated the coral community also have lower rugosity (1.2 ~ 1.3) compared to massive and arborescent corals, presumably due to phenotypic plasticity in response to specific environmental conditions. This study suggests that prioritizing coral species composition, especially corals with high rugosity, is important for effective reef framework reconstruction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongzhi Wang
- Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, China
- South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou, 510530, China
| | - Yuxiao Li
- Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, China
| | - Kefu Yu
- Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, China.
- Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, 511458, China.
| | - Xiaoyan Chen
- Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, China.
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4
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Gutierrez L, Polidoro B, Obura D, Cabada-Blanco F, Linardich C, Pettersson E, Pearce-Kelly P, Kemppinen K, Alvarado JJ, Alvarez-Filip L, Banaszak A, Casado de Amezua P, Crabbe J, Croquer A, Feingold J, Goergen E, Goffredo S, Hoeksema B, Huang D, Kennedy E, Kersting D, Kitahara M, Kružić P, Miller M, Nunes F, Quimbayo JP, Rivera-Sosa A, Rodríguez-Martínez R, Santodomingo N, Sweet M, Vermeij M, Villamizar E, Aeby G, Alliji K, Bayley D, Couce E, Cowburn B, Nuñez Lendo CI, Porter S, Samimi-Namin K, Shlesinger T, Wilson B. Half of Atlantic reef-building corals at elevated risk of extinction due to climate change and other threats. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0309354. [PMID: 39546544 PMCID: PMC11567617 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2024] [Accepted: 08/09/2024] [Indexed: 11/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Atlantic reef-building corals and coral reefs continue to experience extensive decline due to increased stressors related to climate change, disease, pollution, and numerous anthropogenic threats. To understand the impact of ocean warming and reef loss on the estimated extinction risk of shallow water Atlantic reef-building scleractinians and milleporids, all 85 valid species were reassessed under the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, updating the previous Red List assessment of Atlantic corals published in 2008. For the present assessment, individual species declines were estimated based on the modeled coral cover loss (1989-2019) and projected onset of annual severe bleaching events (2020-2050) across the Atlantic. Species traits were used to scale species' relative vulnerability to the modeled cover declines and forecasted bleaching events. The updated assessments place 45.88%-54.12% of Atlantic shallow water corals at an elevated extinction risk compared to the previous assessments conducted in 2008 (15.19%-40.51%). However, coral cover loss estimates indicate an improvement in reef coverage compared to the historic time-series used for the 2008 assessments. Based on this, we infer that, although remaining dangerously high, the rate of Atlantic reef coral cover decline has surprisingly slowed in recent decades. However, based on modeled projections of sea-surface temperature that predict the onset of annual severe bleaching events within the next 30 years, we listed 26 (out of 85) species as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List. Each of these species had previously been listed under a lower threatened category and this result alone highlights the severe threat future bleaching events pose to coral survival and the reef ecosystems they support.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Gutierrez
- Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Beth Polidoro
- Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
- Species Survival Commission, Coral Specialist Group, International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland
| | - David Obura
- Species Survival Commission, Coral Specialist Group, International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland
- Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean East Africa, Mombasa, Kenya
| | - Francoise Cabada-Blanco
- Species Survival Commission, Coral Specialist Group, International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland
- Institute of Marine Sciences, School of the Environment and Life Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, United Kingdom
| | - Christi Linardich
- Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Emma Pettersson
- Species Survival Commission, Coral Specialist Group, International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland
| | | | - Krista Kemppinen
- Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
| | | | - Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip
- Unidad Academia de Sistemas Arrecificales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, Mexico
| | - Anastazia Banaszak
- Unidad Academia de Sistemas Arrecificales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, Mexico
| | | | - James Crabbe
- University of Bedfordshire, Wolfson College, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | | | - Joshua Feingold
- Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States of America
| | - Elizabeth Goergen
- Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
| | | | - Bert Hoeksema
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Danwei Huang
- National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | | | - Diego Kersting
- Spanish National Research Council, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal, Castellón de la Plana, Spain
| | - Marcelo Kitahara
- Departamento de Ciências do Mar, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - Margaret Miller
- SECORE International, Hilliard, Ohio, United States of America
| | - Flavia Nunes
- Institut Français pour la Recherche et Exploitation de la Mer, Plouzané, France
| | | | - Andrea Rivera-Sosa
- Coral Reef Alliance, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | - Rosa Rodríguez-Martínez
- Unidad Academia de Sistemas Arrecificales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, Mexico
| | | | | | | | - Estrella Villamizar
- Ecología en la Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, venezuela
| | - Greta Aeby
- The Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology, Kaneohe, Hawaiʻi, United States of America
| | - Khatija Alliji
- Centre for Environmental, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Weymouth, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel Bayley
- Fauna & Flora International, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Elena Couce
- Centre for Environmental, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Weymouth, United Kingdom
| | - Benjamin Cowburn
- Centre for Environmental, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Weymouth, United Kingdom
| | | | - Sean Porter
- Oceanographic Research Institute, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
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5
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Priest J, Ferreira CM, Munday PL, Roberts A, Rodolfo-Metalpa R, Rummer JL, Schunter C, Ravasi T, Nagelkerken I. Out of shape: Ocean acidification simplifies coral reef architecture and reshuffles fish assemblages. J Anim Ecol 2024; 93:1097-1107. [PMID: 38926938 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.14127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
Climate change stressors are progressively simplifying biogenic habitats in the terrestrial and marine realms, and consequently altering the structure of associated species communities. Here, we used a volcanic CO2 seep in Papua New Guinea to test in situ if altered reef architecture due to ocean acidification reshuffles associated fish assemblages. We observed replacement of branching corals by massive corals at the seep, with simplified coral architectural complexity driving abundance declines between 60% and 86% for an assemblage of damselfishes associated with branching corals. An experimental test of habitat preference for a focal species indicated that acidification does not directly affect habitat selection behaviour, with changes in habitat structural complexity consequently appearing to be the stronger driver of assemblage reshuffling. Habitat health affected anti-predator behaviour, with P. moluccensis becoming less bold on dead branching corals relative to live branching corals, irrespective of ocean acidification. We conclude that coral reef fish assemblages are likely to be more sensitive to changes in habitat structure induced by increasing pCO2 than any direct effects on behaviour, indicating that changes in coral architecture and live cover may act as important mediators of reef fish community structures in a future ocean.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie Priest
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Camilo M Ferreira
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Philip L Munday
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
| | - Amelia Roberts
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Riccardo Rodolfo-Metalpa
- ENTROPIE-UMR 9220 (CNRS, IRD, UR, UNC, IFREMER), IRD Institut de Recherche Pour le Développement, Nouméa Cedex, New Caledonia
| | - Jodie L Rummer
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
| | - Celia Schunter
- Swire Institute of Marine Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Timothy Ravasi
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- Marine Climate Change Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), Onna-son, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Ivan Nagelkerken
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
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6
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Shinzato C, Yoshioka Y. Genomic Data Reveal Diverse Biological Characteristics of Scleractinian Corals and Promote Effective Coral Reef Conservation. Genome Biol Evol 2024; 16:evae014. [PMID: 38271267 PMCID: PMC10901607 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evae014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2023] [Revised: 01/11/2024] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Reef-building corals (Scleractinia, Anthozoa, Cnidaria) are the keystone organisms of coral reefs, which constitute the most diverse marine ecosystems. Since the first decoded coral genome reported in 2011, about 40 reference genomes are registered as of 2023. Comparative genomic analyses of coral genomes have revealed genomic characters that may underlie unique biological characteristics and coral diversification. These include existence of genes for biosynthesis of mycosporine-like amino acids, loss of an enzyme necessary for cysteine biosynthesis in family Acroporidae, and lineage-specific gene expansions of DMSP lyase-like genes in the genus Acropora. While symbiosis with endosymbiotic photosynthetic dinoflagellates is a common biological feature among reef-building corals, genes associated with the intricate symbiotic relationship encompass not only those shared by many coral species, but also genes that were uniquely duplicated in each coral lineage, suggesting diversified molecular mechanisms of coral-algal symbiosis. Coral genomic data have also enabled detection of hidden, complex population structures of corals, indicating the need for species-specific, local-scale, carefully considered conservation policies for effective maintenance of corals. Consequently, accumulating coral genomic data from a wide range of taxa and from individuals of a species not only promotes deeper understanding of coral reef biodiversity, but also promotes appropriate and effective coral reef conservation. Considering the diverse biological traits of different coral species and accurately understanding population structure and genetic diversity revealed by coral genomic analyses during coral reef restoration planning could enable us to "archive" coral reef environments that are nearly identical to natural coral reefs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuya Shinzato
- Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8564, Japan
| | - Yuki Yoshioka
- Marine Genomics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa 904-0412, Japan
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7
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Rico-Esenaro SD, de Jesús Adolfo Tortolero-Langarica J, Iglesias-Prieto R, Carricart-Ganivet JP. The δ 15N in Orbicella faveolata organic matter reveals anthropogenic impact by sewage inputs in a Mexican Caribbean coral reef lagoon. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2023; 30:118872-118880. [PMID: 37919495 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-30476-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023]
Abstract
Coral-reef ecosystems provide essentials services to human societies, representing the most important source of income (e.g., tourism and artisanal fishing) for many coastal developing countries. In the Caribbean region, most touristic and coastal developments are in the vicinity of coral reefs where they may contribute to reef degradation. Here we evaluated the influence of sewage inputs in the coral reef lagoon of Puerto Morelos during a period of 40 years (1970-2012). Annual δ15N values were determined in the organic matter (OM) extracted from coral skeletons of Orbicella faveolata. Average protein content in the OM was 0.33 mg of protein g-1 CaCO3 (±0.10 SD) and a 0.03% of OM relative to the sample weight (n =100). The average of N g-1 CaCO3 was 0.002% (± 0.001 SD). The results showed an increase (p < 0.001) in δ15N over the time, positively correlated with population growth derived from touristic development. These findings emphasize the need to generate urban-planning remediation strategies that consider the impact on natural environments, reduce sewage pollution, and mitigate local stressors that threaten the status of coral-reef communities in the Caribbean region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serguei Damián Rico-Esenaro
- Laboratorio de Esclerocronología de Corales Arrecifales, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Prol. Av. Niños Héroes S/N, Domicilio conocido, Puerto Morelos, Q. Roo, 77580, México
- Departamento El Hombre y su Ambiente, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Xochimilco, Calzada del Hueso 1100, Col. Villa Quietud, Coyoacán, Cd. de México, 04960, México
| | - José de Jesús Adolfo Tortolero-Langarica
- Laboratorio de Esclerocronología de Corales Arrecifales, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Prol. Av. Niños Héroes S/N, Domicilio conocido, Puerto Morelos, Q. Roo, 77580, México
- Tecnológico Nacional de México/IT Bahía de Banderas, Crucero a Punta de Mita S/N, Bahía de Banderas, 63734, Nayarit, México
| | - Roberto Iglesias-Prieto
- Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, 208 Mueller Lab, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - Juan P Carricart-Ganivet
- Laboratorio de Esclerocronología de Corales Arrecifales, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Prol. Av. Niños Héroes S/N, Domicilio conocido, Puerto Morelos, Q. Roo, 77580, México.
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8
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Edmunds PJ. Coral recruitment: patterns and processes determining the dynamics of coral populations. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:1862-1886. [PMID: 37340617 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Revised: 05/30/2023] [Accepted: 06/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/22/2023]
Abstract
Coral recruitment describes the addition of new individuals to populations, and it is one of the most fundamental demographic processes contributing to population size. As many coral reefs around the world have experienced large declines in coral cover and abundance, there has been great interest in understanding the factors causing coral recruitment to vary and the conditions under which it can support community resilience. While progress in these areas is being facilitated by technological and scientific advances, one of the best tools to quantify recruitment remains the humble settlement tile, variants of which have been in use for over a century. Here I review the biology and ecology of coral recruits and the recruitment process, largely as resolved through the use of settlement tiles, by: (i) defining how the terms 'recruit' and 'recruitment' have been used, and explaining why loose terminology has impeded scientific advancement; (ii) describing how coral recruitment is measured and why settlement tiles have value for this purpose; (iii) summarizing previous efforts to review quantitative analyses of coral recruitment; (iv) describing advances from hypothesis-driven studies in determining how refuges, seawater flow, and grazers can modulate coral recruitment; (v) reviewing the biology of small corals (i.e. recruits) to understand better how they respond to environmental conditions; and (vi) updating a quantitative compilation of coral recruitment studies extending from 1974 to present, thus revealing long-term global declines in density of recruits, juxtaposed with apparent resilience to coral bleaching. Finally, I review future directions in the study of coral recruitment, and highlight the need to expand studies to deliver taxonomic resolution, and explain why time series of settlement tile deployments are likely to remain pivotal in quantifying coral recruitment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Edmunds
- Department of Biology, California State University, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA, 91330-8303, USA
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9
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McDevitt-Irwin JM, McCauley DJ, Brumbaugh DR, Elmer F, Ferretti F, White TD, Wible JG, Micheli F. Dynamic interplay: disentangling the temporal variability of fish effects on coral recruitment. Sci Rep 2023; 13:20971. [PMID: 38017077 PMCID: PMC10684556 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47758-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 11/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Ecosystems around the world are continuously undergoing recovery from anthropogenic disturbances like climate change, overexploitation, and habitat destruction. Coral reefs are a prime example of a threatened ecosystem and coral recruitment is a critical component of reef recovery from disturbances. Reef fishes structure this recruitment by directly consuming macroalgae and coral recruits or by indirectly altering the substrate to facilitate coral settlement (e.g., grazing scars). However, how these direct and indirect mechanisms vary through time remains largely unknown. Here, we quantified coral recruitment on settlement tiles with divots that mimic grazing scars and caging treatments to exclude or allow fish feeding over 3 years at Palmyra Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. We found that the positive and negative effects of fishes on coral recruitment varies through time. After 3 years, both grazing scars and fish grazing no longer predicted coral recruitment, suggesting that the role of fishes decreases over time. Our results emphasize that reef fish populations are important in promoting initial coral recovery after disturbances. However, over time, factors like the environment may become more important. Future work should continue to explore how the strength and direction of top-down control by consumers varies through time across multiple ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie M McDevitt-Irwin
- Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA.
- Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
| | - Douglas J McCauley
- Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Daniel R Brumbaugh
- Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, Watsonville, CA, USA
- Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Franziska Elmer
- School for Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
- Center for Marine Resource Studies, School for Field Studies, Cockburn Harbour, South Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands
| | - Francesco Ferretti
- Fish and Wildlife Conservation Department, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Timothy D White
- Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
| | - Joseph G Wible
- Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
| | - Fiorenza Micheli
- Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
- Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
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10
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Sánchez-Pelcastre DW, Tortolero-Langarica JJA, Alvarez-Filip L, Cruz-Ortega I, Carricart-Ganivet JP. Sclerochronological characteristics of Orbicella faveolata in Cayo Arenas, a remote coral reef from the Gulf of Mexico. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0293802. [PMID: 37963126 PMCID: PMC10645327 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
During coral calcification in massive scleractinian corals, a double annual banding of different densities (high- and low-density) is formed in their skeletons, which can provide a retrospective record of growth and the influence of environmental conditions on the coral's lifespan. Evidence indicates that during the last decades, the reduction in coral calcification rate is attributed to the combination of global stress factors such as Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and local anthropic stressors. Yet, coral growth trajectories can vary between regions and coral species, where remote locations of coral reefs can act as natural laboratories, as they are far from the harmful effects of direct anthropogenic stressors. The present study reports historical chronology over a 24-year period (1992-2016) of coral extension rate (cm yr-1), skeletal density (g cm-3), and calcification rate (g cm-2 yr-1) of the reef-building coral Orbicella faveolata at the remote reef Cayo Arenas, Campeche Bank, in the south-eastern Gulf of Mexico. The relationships between the three sclerochronological features show that O. faveolata uses its calcification resources to build denser skeletons. Chronological trends indicate that coral extension increased, skeletal density and calcification rate decreased (33% calcification rate) over time. The results reveal that despite the remoteness of the locality the maximum SST has been increased, and the coral calcification rate decreased over time. If the temperature continues to rise, there is a conceivable risk of experiencing a decline in reef-building coral species. This scenario, in turn, could pose a significant threat, endangering not only the framework of coral reefs but also their ecological functionality, even within remote Atlantic reef ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- D. Wendoline Sánchez-Pelcastre
- Laboratorio de Esclerocronología, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, México
| | - J. J. Adolfo Tortolero-Langarica
- Laboratorio de Esclerocronología, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, México
- Tecnológico Nacional de México/ IT Bahía de Banderas, Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, México
| | - Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip
- Biodiversity and Reef Conservation (BARCO) Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, México
| | - Israel Cruz-Ortega
- Laboratorio de Esclerocronología, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, México
| | - Juan P. Carricart-Ganivet
- Laboratorio de Esclerocronología, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, México
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11
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Zampa G, Azzola A, Bianchi CN, Morri C, Oprandi A, Montefalcone M. Patterns of change in coral reef communities of a remote Maldivian atoll revisited after eleven years. PeerJ 2023; 11:e16071. [PMID: 38077433 PMCID: PMC10710173 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Coral reefs are exposed worldwide to several global and local human pressures including climate change and coastal development. Assessing the effects of such pressures on coral reef communities and the changes they undergo over time is mandatory to understand their possible future trends. Nonetheless, some coral reefs receive no or little scientific attention, as in the case of Huvadhoo Atoll that is an under-studied region in the southernmost area of the Maldives (Indian Ocean). This study analyzes the changes occurring over time in eight coral reefs (four inner reefs within the atoll lagoon and four outer reefs on the ocean side) at Huvadhoo Atoll, firstly surveyed in 2009 and revisited in 2020 using the same field methods. The cover of 23 morphological benthic descriptors (including different growth forms of Acropora) was taken into account and then grouped into three categories (i.e., hard coral, other benthic taxa and abiotic descriptors) to analyze the change in the composition of the coral reef community. Significant changes (e.g., increase in hard coral cover and decrease in abiotic descriptors) were observed in the inner reefs as compared to the outer reefs, which showed less variability. A significant decrease in tabular Acropora cover was observed in both inner and outer reefs, with possible negative effects on reef complexity and functioning. By comparing two time periods and two reef types, this study provides novel information on the change over time in the community composition of Maldivian coral reefs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Greta Zampa
- BiGeA, Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Annalisa Azzola
- Seascape Ecology Laboratory, DiSTAV, Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
- National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), Palermo, Italy
| | - Carlo Nike Bianchi
- Seascape Ecology Laboratory, DiSTAV, Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
- Department of Integrative Marine Ecology (EMI), Ecology and Biotechnology, Genoa Marine Centre, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn –National Institute of Marine Biology, Genoa, Italy
| | - Carla Morri
- Seascape Ecology Laboratory, DiSTAV, Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
- Department of Integrative Marine Ecology (EMI), Ecology and Biotechnology, Genoa Marine Centre, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn –National Institute of Marine Biology, Genoa, Italy
| | - Alice Oprandi
- Seascape Ecology Laboratory, DiSTAV, Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Monica Montefalcone
- Seascape Ecology Laboratory, DiSTAV, Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
- National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), Palermo, Italy
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12
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Díaz-López AM, Hernández-Arana HA, Vega-Zepeda A, Ruiz-Zárate MÁ, Victoria-Salazar I. Changes in the community structure of stony corals in the southern Mexican Caribbean. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2023; 191:106154. [PMID: 37678100 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Revised: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023]
Abstract
The Mexican Caribbean coral reef ecosystem has endured the effects of global and regional stressors and, recently, the massive arrivals of the free-living, floating brown algae Sargassum spp. This study aimed to evaluate spatiotemporal changes in the stony coral community structure in the southern Mexican Caribbean by a temporal comparison of live coral cover and colony density using a data set collected in 2008-2009 and a recent survey in 2021 within a Protected Natural Area. A multivariate analysis approach was used to reveal spatiotemporal changes in coral cover and colony densities. Coral cover ranged from 6.9 to 8.9% in 2008-2009 to 6.5% in 2021, the lowest values recorded for the area. Coral colony density ranged from 0.68 to 0.78 colonies m-1 in 2008-2009 to 0.68 colonies m-1 in 2021. The present results appear to represent subtle changes during the last decade.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan Mauri Díaz-López
- El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad Chetumal. Departamento de Sistemática y Ecología Acuática. Av. Centenario km 5.5, CP. 77014. Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico
| | - Héctor Abuid Hernández-Arana
- El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad Chetumal. Departamento de Sistemática y Ecología Acuática. Av. Centenario km 5.5, CP. 77014. Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
| | - Alejandro Vega-Zepeda
- El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad Chetumal. Departamento de Sistemática y Ecología Acuática. Av. Centenario km 5.5, CP. 77014. Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico
| | - Miguel Ángel Ruiz-Zárate
- El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad Chetumal. Departamento de Sistemática y Ecología Acuática. Av. Centenario km 5.5, CP. 77014. Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico
| | - Isael Victoria-Salazar
- El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad Chetumal. Departamento de Sistemática y Ecología Acuática. Av. Centenario km 5.5, CP. 77014. Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico
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13
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Speelman PE, Parger M, Schoepf V. Divergent recovery trajectories of intertidal and subtidal coral communities highlight habitat-specific recovery dynamics following bleaching in an extreme macrotidal reef environment. PeerJ 2023; 11:e15987. [PMID: 37727686 PMCID: PMC10506583 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.15987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 09/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Coral reefs face an uncertain future punctuated by recurring climate-induced disturbances. Understanding how reefs can recover from and reassemble after mass bleaching events is therefore important to predict their responses and persistence in a rapidly changing ocean. On naturally extreme reefs characterized by strong daily temperature variability, coral heat tolerance can vary significantly over small spatial gradients but it remains poorly understood how this impacts bleaching resilience and recovery dynamics, despite their importance as resilience hotspots and potential refugia. In the macrotidal Kimberley region in NW Australia, the 2016 global mass bleaching event had a strong habitat-specific impact on intertidal and subtidal coral communities at our study site: corals in the thermally variable intertidal bleached less severely and recovered within six months, while 68% of corals in the moderately variable subtidal died. We therefore conducted benthic surveys 3.5 years after the bleaching event to determine potential changes in benthic cover and coral community composition. In the subtidal, we documented substantial increases in algal cover and live coral cover had not fully recovered to pre-bleaching levels. Furthermore, the subtidal coral community shifted from being dominated by branching Acropora corals with a competitive life history strategy to opportunistic, weedy Pocillopora corals which likely has implications for the functioning and stress resilience of this novel coral community. In contrast, no shifts in algal and live coral cover or coral community composition occurred in the intertidal. These findings demonstrate that differences in coral heat tolerance across small spatial scales can have large consequences for bleaching resilience and that spatial patchiness in recovery trajectories and community reassembly after bleaching might be a common feature on thermally variable reefs. Our findings further confirm that reefs adapted to high daily temperature variability play a key role as resilience hotspots under current climate conditions, but their ability to do so may be limited under intensifying ocean warming.
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Affiliation(s)
- P. Elias Speelman
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Dept. of Freshwater and Marine Ecology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Michael Parger
- UWA Ocean Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Verena Schoepf
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Dept. of Freshwater and Marine Ecology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- UWA Ocean Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
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14
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González-Barrios FJ, Estrada-Saldívar N, Pérez-Cervantes E, Secaira-Fajardo F, Álvarez-Filip L. Legacy effects of anthropogenic disturbances modulate dynamics in the world's coral reefs. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2023; 29:3285-3303. [PMID: 36932916 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Rapidly changing conditions alter disturbance patterns, highlighting the need to better understand how the transition from pulse disturbances to more persistent stress will impact ecosystem dynamics. We conducted a global analysis of the impacts of 11 types of disturbances on reef integrity using the rate of change of coral cover as a measure of damage. Then, we evaluated how the magnitude of the damage due to thermal stress, cyclones, and diseases varied among tropical Atlantic and Indo-Pacific reefs and whether the cumulative impact of thermal stress and cyclones was able to modulate the responses of reefs to future events. We found that reef damage largely depends on the condition of a reef before a disturbance, disturbance intensity, and biogeographic region, regardless of the type of disturbance. Changes in coral cover after thermal stress events were largely influenced by the cumulative stress of past disturbances and did not depend on disturbance intensity or initial coral cover, which suggests that an ecological memory is present within coral communities. In contrast, the effect of cyclones (and likely other physical impacts) was primarily modulated by the initial reef condition and did not appear to be influenced by previous impacts. Our findings also underscore that coral reefs can recover if stressful conditions decrease, yet the lack of action to reduce anthropogenic impacts and greenhouse gas emissions continues to trigger reef degradation. We uphold that evidence-based strategies can guide managers to make better decisions to prepare for future disturbances.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Javier González-Barrios
- Biodiversity and Reef Conservation Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Mexico
| | - Nuria Estrada-Saldívar
- Biodiversity and Reef Conservation Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Mexico
| | - Esmeralda Pérez-Cervantes
- Biodiversity and Reef Conservation Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Mexico
| | | | - Lorenzo Álvarez-Filip
- Biodiversity and Reef Conservation Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Mexico
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15
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Victoria-Salazar I, González EJ, Meave JA, Ruiz-Zárate MÁ, Hernández-Arana HA. Stories told by corals, algae, and sea-urchins in a Mesoamerican coral reef: degradation trumps succession. PeerJ 2023; 11:e14680. [PMID: 36684679 PMCID: PMC9851048 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.14680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding the mechanisms that allow the permanence of coral reefs and the constancy of their characteristics is necessary to alleviate the effects of chronic environmental changes. After a disturbance, healthy coral reefs display trajectories that allow regaining coral cover and the establishment of framework building corals. Through a comparative approach, in a patch reef partially affected by a ship grounding, we analyzed the successional trajectories in affected and unaffected sectors. Fleshy algae (which do not promote the recruitment of corals) dominated the reef surface irrespective of the impact of the ship grounding incident. Acropora species had near-zero contributions to community structure, whereas non-framework building corals like Porites sp. had a slightly higher recruitment. Cover of coral and calcareous crustose algae decreased over time, and neither the latter nor adult coral colonies had any effect on the occurrence probabilities of small corals. Sea urchin (Diadema antillarum) densities were generally low, and thus unlikely to contribute to reverting algal dominance. The successional trajectories of the community in the impacted and non-impacted sectors of the coral patch reef agree with the inhibition successional model, leading to the development of a degraded state dominated by fleshy algae. It is probable that the stability and resilience of this degraded state are high due to the ability of fleshy algae to monopolize space, along with low coral recovery potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isael Victoria-Salazar
- Departamento de Sistemática y Ecología Acuática, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico,Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Edgar J. González
- Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Jorge A. Meave
- Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Miguel-Ángel Ruiz-Zárate
- Departamento de Sistemática y Ecología Acuática, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico
| | - Héctor A. Hernández-Arana
- Departamento de Sistemática y Ecología Acuática, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico
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16
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A contemporary baseline of Madagascar's coral assemblages: Reefs with high coral diversity, abundance, and function associated with marine protected areas. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0275017. [PMID: 36264983 PMCID: PMC9584525 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2022] [Accepted: 09/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Madagascar is a major hotspot of biodiversity in the Western Indian Ocean, but, as in many other regions, coral reefs surrounding the island confront large-scale disturbances and human-induced local stressors. Conservation actions have been implemented with encouraging results for fisheries, though their benefit on coral assemblages has never been rigorously addressed. In this context, we analyzed the multiscale spatial variation of the composition, generic richness, abundance, life history strategies, and cover of coral assemblages among 18 stations placed at three regions around the island. The potential influences of marine protected areas (MPAs), algal cover, substrate rugosity, herbivorous fish biomass, and geographic location were also analyzed. Our results highlight the marked spatial variability, with variation at either or both regional and local scales for all coral descriptors. The northeast coastal region of Masoala was characterized by the high abundance of coral colonies, most notably of the competitive Acropora and Pocillopora genera and stress-tolerant taxa at several stations. The southwest station of Salary Nord was distinguished by lower abundances, with depauperate populations of competitive taxa. On the northwest coast, Nosy-Be was characterized by higher diversity and abundance as well as by high coral cover (~42-70%) recorded at unfished stations. Results clearly underline the positive effects of MPAs on all but one of the coral descriptors, particularly at Nosy-Be where the highest contrast between fished and unfished stations was observed. Biomass of herbivorous fishes, crustose coralline algae cover, and substrate rugosity were also positively related to several coral descriptors. The occurrence of reefs with high diversity, abundance, and cover of corals, including the competitive Acropora, is a major finding of this study. Our results strongly support the implementation of locally managed marine areas with strong involvement by primary users, particularly to assist in management in countries with reduced logistic and human resources such as Madagascar.
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17
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Walker NS, Cornwell BH, Nestor V, Armstrong KC, Golbuu Y, Palumbi SR. Persistence of phenotypic responses to short-term heat stress in the tabletop coral Acropora hyacinthus. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0269206. [PMID: 36084033 PMCID: PMC9462741 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0269206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Widespread mapping of coral thermal resilience is essential for developing effective management strategies and requires replicable and rapid multi-location assays of heat resistance and recovery. One- or two-day short-term heat stress experiments have been previously employed to assess heat resistance, followed by single assays of bleaching condition. We tested the reliability of short-term heat stress resistance, and linked resistance and recovery assays, by monitoring the phenotypic response of fragments from 101 Acropora hyacinthus colonies located in Palau (Micronesia) to short-term heat stress. Following short-term heat stress, bleaching and mortality were recorded after 16 hours, daily for seven days, and after one and two months of recovery. To follow corals over time, we utilized a qualitative, non-destructive visual bleaching score metric that correlated with standard symbiont retention assays. The bleaching state of coral fragments 16 hours post-heat stress was highly indicative of their state over the next 7 days, suggesting that symbiont population sizes within corals may quickly stabilize post-heat stress. Bleaching 16 hours post-heat stress predicted likelihood of mortality over the subsequent 3–5 days, after which there was little additional mortality. Together, bleaching and mortality suggested that rapid assays of the phenotypic response following short-term heat stress were good metrics of the total heat treatment effect. Additionally, our data confirm geographic patterns of intraspecific variation in Palau and show that bleaching severity among colonies was highly correlated with mortality over the first week post-stress. We found high survival (98%) and visible recovery (100%) two months after heat stress among coral fragments that survived the first week post-stress. These findings help simplify rapid, widespread surveys of heat sensitivity in Acropora hyacinthus by showing that standardized short-term experiments can be confidently assayed after 16 hours, and that bleaching sensitivity may be linked to subsequent survival using experimental assessments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nia S. Walker
- Department of Biology, Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, Pacific Grove, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Brendan H. Cornwell
- Department of Biology, Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, Pacific Grove, California, United States of America
| | | | - Katrina C. Armstrong
- Department of Biology, Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, Pacific Grove, California, United States of America
| | | | - Stephen R. Palumbi
- Department of Biology, Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, Pacific Grove, California, United States of America
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18
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Toth LT, Courtney TA, Colella MA, Kupfner Johnson SA, Ruzicka RR. The past, present, and future of coral reef growth in the Florida Keys. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2022; 28:5294-5309. [PMID: 35789026 PMCID: PMC9542952 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Revised: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/26/2022] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Coral-reef degradation is driving global-scale reductions in reef-building capacity and the ecological, geological, and socioeconomic functions it supports. The persistence of those essential functions will depend on whether coral-reef management is able to rebalance the competing processes of reef accretion and erosion. Here, we reconstructed census-based carbonate budgets of 46 reefs throughout the Florida Keys from 1996 to 2019. We evaluated the environmental and ecological drivers of changing budget states and compared historical trends in reef-accretion potential to millennial-scale baselines of accretion from reef cores and future projections with coral restoration. We found that historically, most reefs had positive carbonate budgets, and many had reef-accretion potential comparable to the ~3 mm year-1 average accretion rate during the peak of regional reef building ~7000 years ago; however, declines in reef-building Acropora palmata and Orbicella spp. corals following a series of thermal stress events and coral disease outbreaks resulted in a shift from positive to negative budgets for most reefs in the region. By 2019, only ~15% of reefs had positive net carbonate production. Most of those reefs were in inshore, Lower Keys patch-reef habitats with low water clarity, supporting the hypothesis that environments with naturally low irradiance may provide a refugia from thermal stress. We caution that our estimated carbonate budgets are likely overly optimistic; comparison of reef-accretion potential to measured accretion from reef cores suggests that, by not accounting for the role of nonbiological physical and chemical erosion, census-based carbonate budgets may underestimate total erosion by ~1 mm year-1 (-1.15 kg CaCO3 m-2 year-1 ). Although the present state of Florida's reefs is dire, we demonstrate that the restoration of reef-building corals has the potential to help mitigate declines in reef accretion in some locations, which could allow some key ecosystem functions to be maintained until the threat of global climate change is addressed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren T. Toth
- U.S. Geological SurveySt. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science CenterSt. PetersburgFloridaUSA
| | - Travis A. Courtney
- Scripps Institution of OceanographyUniversity of California San DiegoLa JollaCaliforniaUSA
- Department of Marine SciencesUniversity of Puerto Rico MayagüezMayagüezPuerto Rico
| | - Michael A. Colella
- Fish & Wildlife Research Institute, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation CommissionSt. PetersburgFloridaUSA
| | | | - Robert R. Ruzicka
- Fish & Wildlife Research Institute, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation CommissionSt. PetersburgFloridaUSA
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19
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Millington RC, Rogers A, Cox P, Bozec Y, Mumby PJ. Combined direct and indirect impacts of warming on the productivity of coral reef fishes. Ecosphere 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca C. Millington
- College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Science University of Exeter Exeter UK
- Marine Spatial Ecology Lab, School of Biological Sciences The University of Queensland Brisbane Queensland Australia
| | - Alice Rogers
- School of Biological Sciences Victoria University of Wellington Wellington New Zealand
| | - Peter Cox
- College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Science University of Exeter Exeter UK
| | - Yves‐Marie Bozec
- Marine Spatial Ecology Lab, School of Biological Sciences The University of Queensland Brisbane Queensland Australia
| | - Peter J. Mumby
- Marine Spatial Ecology Lab, School of Biological Sciences The University of Queensland Brisbane Queensland Australia
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20
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Carturan BS, Parrott L, Pither J. Functional Richness and Resilience in Coral Reef Communities. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.780406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Within the Anthropocene the functional diversity of coral communities is changing rapidly, putting the resilience of many coral reef ecosystems in jeopardy. A better understanding of the relationship between coral functional diversity and reef resilience could reveal practical ways to achieve increased resilience. However, manipulating coral diversity experimentally is challenging, and consequently the links between coral functional diversity, resilience, and ecosystem functioning remain obscure. We used an ecologically detailed agent-based model to conduct a virtual experiment in which functional diversity was manipulated over the entire trait space of scleractinian corals. Using an imputed trait dataset of 798 coral species and eight key functional traits, we assembled 245 functionally distinct coral communities, which we subjected to a cyclone and bleaching event. We then measured four different aspects of their resilience and quantified for each measure the respective effect of (i) the functional richness (FRic), and (ii) community-weighted means (CWM) of four types of trait: effect, resistance, recovery, and competitive. FRic represents the volume occupied by a community in the functional space, while CWM indicates the location of the communities’ centroid in the functional space. We found a significant and positive effect of FRic on three measures of resilience: communities with higher FRic recovered surface cover faster and had more rugosity and cover 10 years after the disturbances. In contrast, the resistance of the coral community—i.e., the capacity to maintain surface cover when subjected to the disturbances—was independent of FRic and was determined primarily by the CWM of resistance traits. By analyzing community dynamics and functional trade-offs, we show that FRic increases resilience via the selection and the insurance effects due to the presence of competitive species in the functional space, i.e., those highly dominant species that contribute the most to the complexity of the habitat and recover quickly from disturbances. Building from the results of our experiment and the trait correlation analysis, we discuss the potential for FRic to serve as a proxy measure of resilience and we present a strategy that can provide direction to on-going reef restoration efforts, and pave the way for sustaining coral communities in a context of rapid global change.
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21
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Edmunds PJ, Lasker HR. Portfolio effects and functional redundancy contribute to the maintenance of octocoral forests on Caribbean reefs. Sci Rep 2022; 12:7106. [PMID: 35501329 PMCID: PMC9061744 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10478-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2021] [Accepted: 03/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Declines in abundance of scleractinian corals on shallow Caribbean reefs have left many reefs dominated by forests of arborescent octocorals. The ecological mechanisms favoring their persistence require exploration. We quantified octocoral communities from 2014 to 2019 at two sites in St. John, US Virgin Islands, and evaluated their dynamics to assess whether portfolio effects might contribute to their resilience. Octocorals were identified to species, or species complexes, and their abundances and heights were measured, with height2 serving as a biomass proxy. Annual variation in abundance was asynchronous among species, except when they responded in similar ways to hurricanes in September 2017. Multivariate changes in octocoral communities, viewed in 2-dimensional ordinations, were similar between sites, but analyses based on density differed from those based on the biomass proxy. On the density scale, variation in the community composed of all octocoral species was indistinguishable from that quantified with subsets of 6–10 of the octocoral species at one of the two sites, identifying structural redundancy in the response of the community. Conservation of the relative colony size-frequency structure, combined with temporal changes in the species represented by the tallest colonies, suggests that portfolio effects and functional redundancy stabilize the vertical structure and canopy in these tropical octocoral forests.
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22
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Westphal H, Murphy GN, Doo SS, Mann T, Petrovic A, Schmidt C, Stuhr M. Ecosystem design as an avenue for improving services provided by carbonate producing marine ecosystems. PeerJ 2022; 10:e12785. [PMID: 35116197 PMCID: PMC8784016 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.12785] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2021] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Ecosystem Design (ED) is an approach for constructing habitats that places human needs for ecosystem services at the center of intervention, with the overarching goal of establishing self-sustaining habitats which require limited management. This concept was originally developed for use in mangrove ecosystems, and is understandably controversial, as it markedly diverges from other protection approaches that assign human use a minor priority or exclude it. However, the advantage of ED lies within the considered implementation of these designed ecosystems, thus preserving human benefits from potential later disturbances. Here, we outline the concept of ED in tropical carbonate depositional systems and discuss potential applications to aid ecosystem services such as beach nourishment and protection of coastlines and reef islands at risk from environmental and climate change, CO2 sequestration, food production, and tourism. Biological carbonate sediment production is a crucial source of stability of reef islands and reef-rimmed coastlines. Careful implementation of designed carbonate depositional ecosystems could help counterbalance sea-level rise and manage documented erosion effects of coastal constructions. Importantly, adhering to the core ethos of ED, careful dynamic assessments which provide a balanced approach to maximizing ecosystem services (e.g., carbonate production), should identify and avoid any potential damages to existing functioning ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hildegard Westphal
- Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen, Germany,Geoscience Department, Universität Bremen, Bremen, Germany,King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Gary N. Murphy
- Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen, Germany
| | - Steve S. Doo
- Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen, Germany,King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Thomas Mann
- Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR), Hannover, Germany
| | - Alexander Petrovic
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | | | - Marleen Stuhr
- Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen, Germany,Inter-University Institute for Marine Sciences (IUI), Eilat, Israel,Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
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23
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Cheung MWM, Hock K, Skirving W, Mumby PJ. Cumulative bleaching undermines systemic resilience of the Great Barrier Reef. Curr Biol 2021; 31:5385-5392.e4. [PMID: 34739820 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.09.078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2021] [Revised: 08/23/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Climate change and ENSO have triggered five mass coral bleaching events on Australia's Great Barrier Reef (GBR), three of which occurred in the last 5 years.1-5 Here, we explore the cumulative nature of recent impacts and how they fragment the reef's connectivity. The coverage and intensity of thermal stress have increased steadily over time. Cumulative bleaching in 2016, 2017, and 2020 is predicted to have reduced systemic larval supply by 26%, 50%, and 71%, respectively. Larval disruption is patchy and can guide interventions. The majority of severely bleached reefs (75%) are predicted to have experienced an 80%-100% loss of larval supply. Yet restoration would not be cost-effective in the 2% of such reefs (∼30) that still experience high larval supply. Managing such climate change impacts will benefit from emerging theory on the facilitation of genetic adaptation,6,7 which requires the existence of regions with predictably high or low thermal stress. We find that a third of reefs constitute warm spots that have consistently experienced bleaching stress. Moreover, 13% of the GBR are potential refugia that avoid significant warming more than expected by chance, with a modest proportion (14%) within highly protected areas. Coral connectivity is likely to become increasingly disrupted given the predicted escalation of climate-driven disturbances,8 but the existence of thermal refugia, potentially capable of delivering larvae to 58% of the GBR, may provide pockets of systemic resilience in the near-term. Theories of conservation planning for climate change will need to consider a shifting portfolio of thermal environments over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mandy W M Cheung
- Marine Spatial Ecology Lab, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
| | - Karlo Hock
- Marine Spatial Ecology Lab, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - William Skirving
- Coral Reef Watch, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, College Park, MD 20740, USA; ReefSense Pty Ltd, Cranbrook, QLD 4814, Australia
| | - Peter J Mumby
- Marine Spatial Ecology Lab, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
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24
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Alemu I JB, Mallela J. Recent dynamics on turbid-water corals reefs following the 2010 mass bleaching event in Tobago. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2021; 170:105411. [PMID: 34298264 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2021.105411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2021] [Revised: 06/26/2021] [Accepted: 07/07/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
We detail the benthic compositon of the turbid-water coral reefs of Tobago in 2016 and examine the influence of mass coral bleaching and hydro-geomorphic setting (sheltereted vs. wave-exposed) on benthic community dynamics against the 2007 baseline. In the current assessment mean hard coral cover was 14.83% ± 0.85, which ranged from 2% to 37% with few sites exceeding 20%. Mean macroalgal cover was low (6.04% ± 0.61) with most sites experiencing less than 8% macroalgal cover. Differences in benthic cover between sheltered and wave-exposed settings were mainly driven by contrasts in proportions of sponge, macroalgae and Orbicella faveolata corals. Linear mixed-effects modelling suggests stability in hard coral cover and decline in macroalgal cover across sites against the 2007 baseline. Significant spatio-temporal interactions were observed for soft coral and CTB (crustose coralline algae, turf algae and bare substrate). Overall, hard coral cover appears to have declined at some sites and macroalgal cover to have increased at other, but there is no evidence of widespread regime shift. While the hydro-geomorphic setting had a significant but weak effect (R > 0.3) on observed spatial and temporal patterns, our findings suggest that sheltered settings were less predisposed to macroalgal overgrowth compared to wave-exposed areas. In the era of climate change, targeted management should focus on strategies that mitigate macroalgal overgrowth, promote hard coral stability (or resilience) while preventing further loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jahson Berhane Alemu I
- Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, 117570, Singapore; Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago.
| | - Jennie Mallela
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 261, Australia
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25
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Simancas-Giraldo SM, Xiang N, Kennedy MM, Nafeh R, Zelli E, Wild C. Photosynthesis and respiration of the soft coral Xenia umbellata respond to warming but not to organic carbon eutrophication. PeerJ 2021; 9:e11663. [PMID: 34395065 PMCID: PMC8323596 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.11663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2020] [Accepted: 06/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Eutrophication with dissolved organic carbon (DOC) as a far under-investigated stressor, and ocean warming, can strongly affect coral reefs and hard corals as major reefs ecosystem engineers. However, no previous studies have investigated the metabolic responses of soft corals to DOC eutrophication, or its interaction with ocean warming. Thus, we investigated respiration and photosynthesis response of Xenia umbellata, a common mixotrophic soft coral from the Indo-pacific, to (1) three levels of DOC eutrophication simulated by glucose addition over the first 21 days of experiment and (2) ocean warming scenarios where the temperature was gradually increased from 26 °C (control condition) to 32 °C over another 24 days in an aquarium experiment. We found no significant difference in response to DOC treatments and all corals survived regardless of the DOC concentrations, whilst subsequent exposure to simulated ocean warming significantly decreased gross photosynthesis by approximately 50% at 30 °C, and 65% at 32 °C, net photosynthesis by 75% at 30 °C and 79% at 32 °C, and respiration by a maximum of 75% at 30 °C; with a slight increase at 32 °C of 25%. The ratio between gross photosynthesis and respiration decreased by the end of the warming period but remained similar between controls and colonies previously exposed to DOC. Our findings suggest that soft corals may be more resistant than hard corals to DOC eutrophication and in consequence, may potentially experiment in less magnitude the negative effects of increased temperature or subsequently both stressors. The results of this study may contribute to explain the successful role of soft corals in phase shifts as reported from many coral reefs. Where predicted declines in reef ecosystems health due to increased eutrophication levels can be exacerbated by future warming.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nan Xiang
- Marine Ecology Department, Universität Bremen, Bremen, Germany
- Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | | | - Rassil Nafeh
- Marine Ecology Department, Universität Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Edoardo Zelli
- Marine Ecology Department, Universität Bremen, Bremen, Germany
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche ed Ambientali (BiGeA) & Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca per le Scienze Ambientali (CIRSA), University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Christian Wild
- Marine Ecology Department, Universität Bremen, Bremen, Germany
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26
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Shinzato C, Khalturin K, Inoue J, Zayasu Y, Kanda M, Kawamitsu M, Yoshioka Y, Yamashita H, Suzuki G, Satoh N. Eighteen Coral Genomes Reveal the Evolutionary Origin of Acropora Strategies to Accommodate Environmental Changes. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:16-30. [PMID: 32877528 PMCID: PMC7783167 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msaa216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The genus Acropora comprises the most diverse and abundant scleractinian corals (Anthozoa, Cnidaria) in coral reefs, the most diverse marine ecosystems on Earth. However, the genetic basis for the success and wide distribution of Acropora are unknown. Here, we sequenced complete genomes of 15 Acropora species and 3 other acroporid taxa belonging to the genera Montipora and Astreopora to examine genomic novelties that explain their evolutionary success. We successfully obtained reasonable draft genomes of all 18 species. Molecular dating indicates that the Acropora ancestor survived warm periods without sea ice from the mid or late Cretaceous to the Early Eocene and that diversification of Acropora may have been enhanced by subsequent cooling periods. In general, the scleractinian gene repertoire is highly conserved; however, coral- or cnidarian-specific possible stress response genes are tandemly duplicated in Acropora. Enzymes that cleave dimethlysulfonioproprionate into dimethyl sulfide, which promotes cloud formation and combats greenhouse gasses, are the most duplicated genes in the Acropora ancestor. These may have been acquired by horizontal gene transfer from algal symbionts belonging to the family Symbiodiniaceae, or from coccolithophores, suggesting that although functions of this enzyme in Acropora are unclear, Acropora may have survived warmer marine environments in the past by enhancing cloud formation. In addition, possible antimicrobial peptides and symbiosis-related genes are under positive selection in Acropora, perhaps enabling adaptation to diverse environments. Our results suggest unique Acropora adaptations to ancient, warm marine environments and provide insights into its capacity to adjust to rising seawater temperatures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuya Shinzato
- Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Chiba, Japan
| | - Konstantin Khalturin
- Marine Genomics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Jun Inoue
- Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Chiba, Japan.,Marine Genomics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Yuna Zayasu
- Marine Genomics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Miyuki Kanda
- DNA Sequence Section (SQC), Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Mayumi Kawamitsu
- DNA Sequence Section (SQC), Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Yuki Yoshioka
- Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Chiba, Japan.,Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Yamashita
- Research Center for Subtropical Fisheries, Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Go Suzuki
- Research Center for Subtropical Fisheries, Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Noriyuki Satoh
- Marine Genomics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
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27
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Figueroa-Pico J, Tortosa FS, Carpio AJ. Natural and anthropogenic-induced stressors affecting the composition of fish communities on the rocky reefs of Ecuador. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2021; 164:112018. [PMID: 33515829 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2020] [Revised: 01/11/2021] [Accepted: 01/14/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Natural and human-induced stressors have threatened the sustainability of the fish communities of coral-rocky reefs worldwide in the last decades. The composition of the fish communities on the reefs of Ecuador and the factors affecting spatiotemporal changes are unknown. We studied the influence of the descriptors of structural complexity, the current status of coral and human-induced variables over fish communities. A video transect method was used to assess fish communities in three zones (slope, crest, and bottom) of two reefs during two seasons (rainy and dry). The structure of fish communities was highly influenced by the zones and season; rugosity and live coral affected the fish composition on the crest and slope zones. The fractured coral and derelict fishing gear on coral produced an adverse effect on fish composition over the crest. A multifactorial process causing loss of structural complexity and affecting fish composition was identified, however, periodical assessment is required for a greater understanding of this process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Figueroa-Pico
- Departamento Central de Investigación (DCI), Ecuadorian Aquatic Ecotoxicology Group (ECUACTOX), Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí (ULEAM), Manta, Ecuador.
| | - Francisco S Tortosa
- Department of Zoology, University of Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
| | - Antonio J Carpio
- Department of Zoology, University of Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain; Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC (UCLM-CSIC-JCCM), Ronda Toledo 12, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
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28
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Simmons KR, Eggleston DB, Bohnenstiehl DR. Hurricane impacts on a coral reef soundscape. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0244599. [PMID: 33626054 PMCID: PMC7904201 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2020] [Accepted: 12/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Soundscape ecology is an emerging field in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and provides a powerful approach for assessing habitat quality and the ecological response of sound-producing species to natural and anthropogenic perturbations. Little is known of how underwater soundscapes respond during and after severe episodic disturbances, such as hurricanes. This study addresses the impacts of Hurricane Irma on the coral reef soundscape at two spur-and-groove fore-reef sites within the Florida Keys USA, using passive acoustic data collected before and during the storm at Western Dry Rocks (WDR) and before, during and after the storm at Eastern Sambo (ESB). As the storm passed, the cumulative acoustic exposure near the seabed at these sites was comparable to a small vessel operating continuously overhead for 1–2 weeks. Before the storm, sound pressure levels (SPLs) showed a distinct pattern of low frequency diel variation and increased high frequency sound during crepuscular periods. The low frequency band was partitioned in two groups representative of soniferous reef fish, whereas the high frequency band represented snapping shrimp sound production. Daily daytime patterns in low-frequency sound production largely persisted in the weeks following the hurricane. Crepuscular sound production by snapping shrimp was maintained post-hurricane with only a small shift (~1.5dB) in the level of daytime vs nighttime sound production for this high frequency band. This study suggests that on short time scales, temporal patterns in the coral reef soundscape were relatively resilient to acoustic energy exposure during the storm, as well as changes in the benthic habitat and environmental conditions resulting from hurricane damage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kayelyn R. Simmons
- Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - David B. Eggleston
- Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
- Center for Marine Sciences and Technology, North Carolina State University, Morehead City, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - DelWayne R. Bohnenstiehl
- Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
- Center for Geospatial Analytics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
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29
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González-Barrios FJ, Cabral-Tena RA, Alvarez-Filip L. Recovery disparity between coral cover and the physical functionality of reefs with impaired coral assemblages. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2021; 27:640-651. [PMID: 33131196 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2020] [Revised: 10/22/2020] [Accepted: 10/25/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The ecology and structure of many tropical coral reefs have been markedly altered over the past few decades. Although long-term recovery has been observed in terms of coral cover, it is not clear how novel species configurations shape reef functionality in impaired reefs. The identities and life-history strategies of the corals species that recover are essential for understanding reef functional dynamics. We used a species identity approach to quantify the physical functionality outcomes over a 13 year period across 56 sites in the Mexican Caribbean. This region was affected by multiple stressors that converged and drastically damaged reefs in the early 2000s. Since then, the reefs have shown evidence of a modest recovery of coral cover. We used Bayesian linear models and annual rates of change to estimate temporal changes in physical functionality and coral cover. Moreover, a functional diversity framework was used to explore changes in coral composition and the traits of those assemblages. Between 2005 and 2018, physical functionality increased at a markedly lower rate compared to that of coral cover. The disparity between recovery rates depended on the identity of the species that increased (mainly non-framework and foliose-digitate corals). No changes in species dominance or functional trait composition were observed, whereas non-framework building corals consistently dominated most reefs. Although the observed recovery of coral cover and functional potential may provide some ecological benefits, the long-term effects on reef frameworks remain unclear, as changes in the cover of key reef-building species were not observed. Our findings are likely to be representative of many reefs across the wider Caribbean basin, as declines in coral cover and rapid increases in the relative abundance of weedy corals have been reported regionally. A coral identity approach to assess species turnover is needed to understand and quantify changes in the functionality of coral reefs.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Javier González-Barrios
- Biodiversity and Reef Conservation Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, México
- Department of Marine Ecology, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Ensenada, México
| | - Rafael A Cabral-Tena
- Department of Marine Ecology, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Ensenada, México
| | - Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip
- Biodiversity and Reef Conservation Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, México
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30
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Molina-Hernández A, González-Barrios FJ, Perry CT, Álvarez-Filip L. Two decades of carbonate budget change on shifted coral reef assemblages: are these reefs being locked into low net budget states? Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20202305. [PMID: 33290684 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The ecology of coral reefs is rapidly shifting from historical baselines. One key-question is whether under these new, less favourable ecological conditions, coral reefs will be able to sustain key geo-ecological processes such as the capacity to accumulate carbonate structure. Here, we use data from 34 Caribbean reef sites to examine how the carbonate production, net erosion and net carbonate budgets, as well as the organisms underlying these processes, have changed over the past 15 years in the absence of further severe acute disturbances. We find that despite fundamental benthic ecological changes, these ecologically shifted coral assemblages have exhibited a modest but significant increase in their net carbonate budgets over the past 15 years. However, contrary to expectations this trend was driven by a decrease in erosion pressure, largely resulting from changes in the abundance and size-frequency distribution of parrotfishes, and not by an increase in rates of coral carbonate production. Although in the short term, the carbonate budgets seem to have benefitted marginally from reduced parrotfish erosion, the absence of these key substrate grazers, particularly of larger individuals, is unlikely to be conducive to reef recovery and will thus probably lock these reefs into low budget states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Molina-Hernández
- Posgrado en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. Ciudad Universitaria 3000, C.P. 04510, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México, México.,Biodiversity and Reef Conservation Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, México
| | - F Javier González-Barrios
- Biodiversity and Reef Conservation Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, México
| | - Chris T Perry
- Geography, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Lorenzo Álvarez-Filip
- Biodiversity and Reef Conservation Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, México
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31
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Smallhorn-West P, Gordon S, Stone K, Ceccarelli D, Malimali S, Halafihi T, Wyatt M, Bridge T, Pressey R, Jones G. Biophysical and anthropogenic influences on the status of Tonga's coral reefs and reef fish fishery. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0241146. [PMID: 33201891 PMCID: PMC7671563 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2020] [Accepted: 10/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite increasing threats to Tonga's coral reefs from stressors that are both local (e.g. overfishing and pollution) and global (e.g. climate change), there is yet to be a systematic assessment of the status of the country's coral reef ecosystem and reef fish fishery stocks. Here, we provide a national ecological assessment of Tonga's coral reefs and reef fish fishery using ecological survey data from 375 sites throughout Tonga's three main island groups (Ha'apai, Tongatapu and Vava'u), represented by seven key metrics of reef health and fish resource status. Boosted regression tree analysis was used to assess and describe the relative importance of 11 socio-environmental variables associated with these key metrics of reef condition. Mean live coral cover across Tonga was 18%, and showed a strong increase from north to south correlated with declining sea surface temperature, as well as with increasing distance from each provincial capital. Tongatapu, the southernmost island group, had 2.5 times greater coral cover than the northernmost group, Vava'u (24.9% and 10.4% respectively). Reef fish species richness and density were comparable throughout Tongatapu and the middle island group, Ha'apai (~35 species/transect and ~2500 fish/km2), but were significantly lower in Vava'u (~24 species/transect and ~1700 fish/km2). Spatial patterns in the reef fish assemblage were primarily influenced by habitat-associated variables (slope, structural complexity, and hard coral cover). The biomass of target reef fish was greatest in Ha'apai (~820 kg/ha) and lowest in Vava'u (~340 kg/ha), and was negatively associated with higher human influence and fishing activity. Overall mean reef fish biomass values suggest that Tonga's reef fish fishery can be classified as moderately to heavily exploited, with 64% of sites having less than 500 kg/ha. This study provides critical baseline ecological information for Tonga's coral reefs that will: (1) facilitate ongoing management and research; and (2) enable accurate reporting on conservation targets locally and internationally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Smallhorn-West
- Marine Biology and Aquaculture, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
- WorldFish, Jalan Batu Maung, Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia
| | - Sophie Gordon
- Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, QLD, Australia
| | - Karen Stone
- Vava’u Environmental Protection Association (VEPA), Neiafu, Vava’u, Tonga
| | - Daniela Ceccarelli
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
| | | | | | - Mathew Wyatt
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Cape Cleveland, QLD, Australia
| | - Tom Bridge
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
- Biodiversity and Geosciences Program, Museum of Tropical Queensland, Queensland Museum Network Townsville, QLD, Australia
| | - Robert Pressey
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
| | - Geoffrey Jones
- Marine Biology and Aquaculture, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
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32
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Medina-Valmaseda AE, Rodríguez-Martínez RE, Alvarez-Filip L, Jordan-Dahlgren E, Blanchon P. The role of geomorphic zonation in long-term changes in coral-community structure on a Caribbean fringing reef. PeerJ 2020; 8:e10103. [PMID: 33150066 PMCID: PMC7585725 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.10103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2020] [Accepted: 09/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Ecological processes on coral reefs commonly have limited spatial and temporal scales and may not be recorded in their long-term geological history. The widespread degradation of Caribbean coral reefs over the last 40 years therefore provides an opportunity to assess the impact of more significant ecological changes on the geological and geomorphic structure of reefs. Here, we document the changing ecology of communities in a coral reef seascape within the context of its geomorphic zonation. By comparing basic ecological indices between historical and modern data we show that in 35 years the reef-front zone was transformed from a complex coral assemblage with a three-dimensional structure, to a size-homogenized and flattened one that is quasi indistinguishable from the adjacent non-accretional coral-ground zone. Today coral assemblages at Punta Maroma are characterized by the dominance of opportunistic species which are either tolerant to adverse environmental conditions, including sedimentation, or are known to be the first scleractinian species to recruit on disturbed reefs, implying they reflect a post-hurricane stage of adjustment. Despite an increase in similarity in ecological indices, the reef-front and coral-ground geomorphic zones still retain significant differences in coral assemblages and benthic habitat and are not homogeneous. The partial convergence of coral assemblages certainly has important consequences for the ecology and geological viability of the reef and its role in coastal protection, but environmental physical drivers continue to exert a fundamental role in the character and zonation of benthic communities of this reef seascape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis Enrique Medina-Valmaseda
- Posgrado en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México, Mexico.,Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico
| | - Rosa E Rodríguez-Martínez
- Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico
| | - Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip
- Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico
| | - Eric Jordan-Dahlgren
- Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico
| | - Paul Blanchon
- Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico
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33
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Zimmerman JK, Willig MR, Hernández‐Delgado EA. Resistance, resilience, and vulnerability of social‐ecological systems to hurricanes in Puerto Rico. Ecosphere 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Jess K. Zimmerman
- Department of Environmental Sciences University of Puerto Rico San Juan Puerto Rico 00925 USA
| | - Michael R. Willig
- Institute of the Environment Center for Environmental Sciences & Engineering and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology University of Connecticut Storrs Connecticut 06269 USA
| | - Edwin A. Hernández‐Delgado
- Department of Environmental Sciences University of Puerto Rico San Juan Puerto Rico 00925 USA
- Center for Applied Tropical Ecology and Conservation University of Puerto Rico San Juan Puerto Rico 00925 USA
- Sociedad Ambiente Marino San Juan Puerto Rico 00931 USA
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34
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Coral Reef Recovery in the Mexican Caribbean after 2005 Mass Coral Mortality—Potential Drivers. DIVERSITY 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/d12090338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
In 2005, an extreme heatwave hit the Wider Caribbean, followed by 13 hurricanes (including hurricanes Emily and Wilma) that caused significant loss in hard coral cover. However, the drivers of the potential recovery are yet to be fully understood. Based on recent findings in the literature of coral cover recovery in the Mexican Caribbean after the mass bleaching event and associated hurricanes in 2005, this study analyzed, through random-effects meta-analysis, the hard coral and macroalgae benthic development and potential drivers of change between 2005 and 2016 in the Mexican Caribbean. Therefore, we tested the relative effect of sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll-a water concentration, coastal human population development, reef distance to shore, and geographical location on both hard coral and macroalgae cover over time. Findings revealed increases of both hard coral (by 6%) and algae cover (by ca. 14%, i.e., almost three times the increase of corals) over 12 years. Although our findings confirm the partial coral recovery after the 2005 Caribbean mass coral mortality event, they also indicate rapid colonization of algae across the region. Surprisingly, only SST correlated negatively with changes in coral cover. Contrary to expectations, there was a significantly greater algae cover increase in the Central section of the Mexican Caribbean, which is characterized by a low population density. However, a constant discharge of nutrient-rich freshwater may have facilitated algae growth there. This study reports partial regional reef recovery, but it also indicates that local factors, particularly eutrophication, facilitate algae growth at a speed that is much faster than coral recovery.
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36
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Matsuda SB, Huffmyer AS, Lenz EA, Davidson JM, Hancock JR, Przybylowski A, Innis T, Gates RD, Barott KL. Coral Bleaching Susceptibility Is Predictive of Subsequent Mortality Within but Not Between Coral Species. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.00178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
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37
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Courtney TA, Barnes BB, Chollett I, Elahi R, Gross K, Guest JR, Kuffner IB, Lenz EA, Nelson HR, Rogers CS, Toth LT, Andersson AJ. Disturbances drive changes in coral community assemblages and coral calcification capacity. Ecosphere 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Travis A. Courtney
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of California San Diego La Jolla California 92093 USA
| | - Brian B. Barnes
- College of Marine Science University of South Florida St. Petersburg Florida 33701 USA
| | | | - Robin Elahi
- Hopkins Marine Station Stanford University Pacific Grove California 93950 USA
| | - Kevin Gross
- Department of Statistics North Carolina State University Raleigh North Carolina 27695 USA
| | - James R. Guest
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne NE17RU UK
| | - Ilsa B. Kuffner
- U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center St. Petersburg Florida 33701 USA
| | - Elizabeth A. Lenz
- Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology University of Hawai'i Kāne'ohe Hawai'i 96744 USA
| | - Hannah R. Nelson
- Department of Biology California State University Northridge California 91330 USA
| | - Caroline S. Rogers
- U.S. Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center St John U.S. Virgin Islands USA
| | - Lauren T. Toth
- U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center St. Petersburg Florida 33701 USA
| | - Andreas J. Andersson
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of California San Diego La Jolla California 92093 USA
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Montilla LM, Miyazawa E, Ascanio A, López-Hernández M, Mariño-Briceño G, Rebolledo-Sánchez Z, Rivera A, Mancilla DS, Verde A, Cróquer A. The use of pseudo-multivariate standard error to improve the sampling design of coral monitoring programs. PeerJ 2020; 8:e8429. [PMID: 32351778 PMCID: PMC7183304 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.8429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2019] [Accepted: 12/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The characteristics of coral reef sampling and monitoring are highly variable, with numbers of units and sampling effort varying from one study to another. Numerous works have been carried out to determine an appropriate effect size through statistical power; however, these were always from a univariate perspective. In this work, we used the pseudo multivariate dissimilarity-based standard error (MultSE) approach to assess the precision of sampling scleractinian coral assemblages in reefs of Venezuela between 2017 and 2018 when using different combinations of number of transects, quadrats and points. For this, the MultSE of 36 sites previously sampled was estimated, using four 30m-transects with 15 photo-quadrats each and 25 random points per quadrat. We obtained that the MultSE was highly variable between sites and is not correlated with the univariate standard error nor with the richness of species. Then, a subset of sites was re-annotated using 100 uniformly distributed points, which allowed the simulation of different numbers of transects per site, quadrats per transect and points per quadrat using resampling techniques. The magnitude of the MultSE stabilized by adding more transects, however, adding more quadrats or points does not improve the estimate. For this case study, the error was reduced by half when using 10 transects, 10 quadrats per transect and 25 points per quadrat. We recommend the use of MultSE in reef monitoring programs, in particular when conducting pilot surveys to optimize the estimation of the community structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis M Montilla
- Experimental Ecology Laboratory, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Miranda, Venezuela
| | - Emy Miyazawa
- Experimental Ecology Laboratory, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Miranda, Venezuela
| | - Alfredo Ascanio
- Experimental Ecology Laboratory, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Miranda, Venezuela
| | - María López-Hernández
- Experimental Ecology Laboratory, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Miranda, Venezuela
| | - Gloria Mariño-Briceño
- Experimental Ecology Laboratory, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Miranda, Venezuela
| | | | - Andreína Rivera
- Experimental Ecology Laboratory, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Miranda, Venezuela
| | - Daniela S Mancilla
- Experimental Ecology Laboratory, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Miranda, Venezuela
| | - Alejandra Verde
- Experimental Ecology Laboratory, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Miranda, Venezuela
| | - Aldo Cróquer
- Experimental Ecology Laboratory, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Miranda, Venezuela
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Hernández-Landa RC, Barrera-Falcon E, Rioja-Nieto R. Size-frequency distribution of coral assemblages in insular shallow reefs of the Mexican Caribbean using underwater photogrammetry. PeerJ 2020; 8:e8957. [PMID: 32337105 PMCID: PMC7169971 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.8957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2019] [Accepted: 03/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The characterisation of changes in coral communities depends heavily on systematic monitoring programs and the collection of necessary metrics to assess reef health. Coral cover is the most used metric to determine reef health. The current organizational shift in coral requires the evaluation of complementary metrics, such as colony size and frequency distributions, which help to infer the responses of the coral populations to local stress or larger scale environmental changes. In this study, underwater digital photogrammetry techniques were used to assess the live cover of all coral colonies ≥3 cm2 and determine the size-frequency distribution of the dominant species in the shallow reefs of the Cozumel Reefs National Park (CRNP). In addition, the minimum sampling area (m2) needed to obtain a representative sample of the local species pool was estimated. Areas between 550 and 825 m2 per reef were photographed to generate high-resolution digital ortho-mosaics. The live area of the colonies was digitised to generate community matrices of species and abundance. EstimateS software was used to generate accumulation curves and diversity (Shannon H′) at increasing area intervals. Chi-Square tests (χ2, p = 0.05) were used to compare the observed vs estimated species richness. Spearman’s coefficients (rs), were calculated to correlate the increase in sampling area (m2) vs H′, and the Clench’s function was used to validate the observed richness (R2 = 1 and R > 90%). SIMPER analysis was performed to identify dominant species. Comparisons in terms of abundance, coral cover and size-frequencies were performed with Kruskal-Wallis (H test, p = 0.05), and paired Mann-Whitney (U test, p = 0.05). In order to obtain 90% of the species richness, a minimum sampling area of 374 m2is needed. This sampling area could be used in shallow Caribbean reefs with similar characteristics. Twelve (mainly non-massive) species: Agaricia agaricites, A humilis, A. tenuifolia, Eusmilia fastigiata, Meandrina meandrites, Montastrea cavernosa, Orbicella annularis, Porites astreoides, P. porites, Pseudodiploria strigosa, Siderastrea radians andS. siderea, were dominant in terms of abundance and coral cover. A significant increase (p < 0.05) in the number of colonies and live coral (m2) was observed from north to south of the study area. Furthermore, a wide intraspecific variation of size-frequency, even between adjacent reefs, was also observed. The size-frequency distributions presented positive skewness and negative kurtosis, which are related to stable populations, with a greater number of young colonies and a constant input of recruits. Considering the increase in disturbances in the Caribbean and the appearance of a new coral disease, digital photogrammetry techniques allow coral community characteristics to be assessed at high spatial resolutions and over large scales, which would be complementary to conventional monitoring programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto C Hernández-Landa
- Laboratorio de Análisis Espacial de Zonas Costeras (COSTALAB), Unidad Multidisciplinaria de Docencia e Investigación-Sisal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Sierra Papacal, Yucatán, México
| | - Erick Barrera-Falcon
- Laboratorio de Análisis Espacial de Zonas Costeras (COSTALAB), Unidad Multidisciplinaria de Docencia e Investigación-Sisal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Sierra Papacal, Yucatán, México.,Posgrado en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Rodolfo Rioja-Nieto
- Laboratorio de Análisis Espacial de Zonas Costeras (COSTALAB), Unidad Multidisciplinaria de Docencia e Investigación-Sisal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Sierra Papacal, Yucatán, México.,Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores, Unidad Mérida, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
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40
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Antonio-Martínez F, Henaut Y, Vega-Zepeda A, Cerón-Flores AI, Raigoza-Figueras R, Cetz-Navarro NP, Espinoza-Avalos J. Leachate effects of pelagic Sargassum spp. on larval swimming behavior of the coral Acropora palmata. Sci Rep 2020; 10:3910. [PMID: 32127622 PMCID: PMC7054338 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-60864-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2019] [Accepted: 02/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
An emerging disturbance for Caribbean reefs is the massive arrival of pelagic Sargassum, which deteriorates water quality due to the production of leachates. The highest arrivals of Sargassum took place when broadcasting corals spawned. We experimentally determined the effect of Sargassum leachates on swimming behavior of Acropora palmata larvae through five treatments (control, stain (simulating 100% leachate color), and 25%, 50% and 100% Sargassum leachate concentrations) during 30 min (10 min of videos and 20 min of post-observations). In the videos, larvae with leachates reduced swimming speed, were positively geotactic, the percentage of individuals that swam in a spiral pattern increased, and most behavioral displacements occurred at lower frequencies than larvae without leachates. Moreover, symptomatic spiral behavior was higher in the presence of leachates, suggesting that this behavior may be an effect of pollution. During post-observations, most larvae with leachates were motionless. This is the first time that Sargassum leachates have been documented modifying larval swimming behavior, which may reduce larval dispersion and genetic diversity. We suggest that a future evaluation of the effects of leachates at lower concentrations and over longer periods of exposure is needed. The resilience of corals may be compromised if Sargassum arrivals become frequent events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Antonio-Martínez
- ECOSUR, Avenida Centenario km 5.5, Colonia Pacto Obrero Campesino, Chetumal, 77014, Quintana Roo, Mexico
| | - Yann Henaut
- ECOSUR, Avenida Centenario km 5.5, Colonia Pacto Obrero Campesino, Chetumal, 77014, Quintana Roo, Mexico
| | - Alejandro Vega-Zepeda
- ECOSUR, Avenida Centenario km 5.5, Colonia Pacto Obrero Campesino, Chetumal, 77014, Quintana Roo, Mexico
| | | | | | - Neidy P Cetz-Navarro
- ECOSUR, Avenida Centenario km 5.5, Colonia Pacto Obrero Campesino, Chetumal, 77014, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
- Freelance, Chetumal, 77025, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
| | - Julio Espinoza-Avalos
- ECOSUR, Avenida Centenario km 5.5, Colonia Pacto Obrero Campesino, Chetumal, 77014, Quintana Roo, Mexico
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41
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Richardson LE, Graham NAJ, Hoey AS. Coral species composition drives key ecosystem function on coral reefs. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20192214. [PMID: 32070253 PMCID: PMC7062023 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Rapid and unprecedented ecological change threatens the functioning and stability of ecosystems. On coral reefs, global climate change and local stressors are reducing and reorganizing habitat-forming corals and associated species, with largely unknown implications for critical ecosystem functions such as herbivory. Herbivory mediates coral-algal competition, thereby facilitating ecosystem recovery following disturbance such as coral bleaching events or large storms. However, relationships between coral species composition, the distribution of herbivorous fishes and the delivery of their functional impact are not well understood. Here, we investigate how herbivorous fish assemblages and delivery of two distinct herbivory processes, grazing and browsing, differ among three taxonomically distinct, replicated coral habitats. While grazing on algal turf assemblages was insensitive to different coral configurations, browsing on the macroalga Laurencia cf. obtusa varied considerably among habitats, suggesting that different mechanisms may shape these processes. Variation in browsing among habitats was best predicted by the composition and structural complexity of benthic assemblages (in particular the cover and composition of corals, but not macroalgal cover), and was poorly reflected by visual estimates of browser biomass. Surprisingly, the lowest browsing rates were recorded in the most structurally complex habitat, with the greatest cover of coral (branching Porites habitat). While the mechanism for the variation in browsing is not clear, it may be related to scale-dependent effects of habitat structure on visual occlusion inhibiting foraging activity by browsing fishes, or the relative availability of alternate dietary resources. Our results suggest that maintained functionality may vary among distinct and emerging coral reef configurations due to ecological interactions between reef fishes and their environment determining habitat selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura E Richardson
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia.,School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Menai Bridge LL59 5AB, UK
| | - Nicholas A J Graham
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia.,Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK
| | - Andrew S Hoey
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia
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42
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Fontoura L, Zawada KJA, D'agata S, Álvarez-Noriega M, Baird AH, Boutros N, Dornelas M, Luiz OJ, Madin JS, Maina JM, Pizarro O, Torres-Pulliza D, Woods RM, Madin EMP. Climate-driven shift in coral morphological structure predicts decline of juvenile reef fishes. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2020; 26:557-567. [PMID: 31697006 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2019] [Revised: 09/06/2019] [Accepted: 10/24/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Rapid intensification of environmental disturbances has sparked widespread decline and compositional shifts in foundation species in ecosystems worldwide. Now, an emergent challenge is to understand the consequences of shifts and losses in such habitat-forming species for associated communities and ecosystem processes. Recently, consecutive coral bleaching events shifted the morphological makeup of habitat-forming coral assemblages on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Considering the disparity of coral morphological growth forms in shelter provision for reef fishes, we investigated how shifts in the morphological structure of coral assemblages affect the abundance of juvenile and adult reef fishes. We used a temporal dataset from shallow reefs in the northern GBR to estimate coral convexity (a fine-scale quantitative morphological trait) and two widely used coral habitat descriptors (coral cover and reef rugosity) for disentangling the effects of coral morphology on reef fish assemblages. Changes in coral convexity, rather than live coral cover or reef rugosity, disproportionately affected juvenile reef fishes when compared to adults, and explained more than 20% of juvenile decline. The magnitude of this effect varied by fish body size with juveniles of small-bodied species showing higher vulnerability to changes in coral morphology. Our findings suggest that continued large-scale shifts in the relative abundance of morphological groups within coral assemblages are likely to affect population replenishment and dynamics of future reef fish communities. The different responses of juvenile and adult fishes according to habitat descriptors indicate that focusing on coarse-scale metrics alone may mask fine-scale ecological responses that are key to understand ecosystem functioning and resilience. Nonetheless, quantifying coral morphological traits may contribute to forecasting the structure of reef fish communities on novel reef ecosystems shaped by climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luisa Fontoura
- Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawai'i, Kāne'ohe, HI, USA
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University - Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Kyle J A Zawada
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University - Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Centre for Biological Diversity, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, UK
| | - Stephanie D'agata
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University - Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Marine Programs, Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Mariana Álvarez-Noriega
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld., Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld., Australia
| | - Andrew H Baird
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld., Australia
| | - Nader Boutros
- Australian Centre for Field Robotics, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Maria Dornelas
- Centre for Biological Diversity, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, UK
| | - Osmar J Luiz
- Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, Australia
| | - Joshua S Madin
- Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawai'i, Kāne'ohe, HI, USA
| | - Joseph M Maina
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University - Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Oscar Pizarro
- Australian Centre for Field Robotics, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Damaris Torres-Pulliza
- Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawai'i, Kāne'ohe, HI, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University - Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Rachael M Woods
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University - Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Elizabeth M P Madin
- Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawai'i, Kāne'ohe, HI, USA
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43
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Ceccarelli DM, Evans RD, Logan M, Mantel P, Puotinen M, Petus C, Russ GR, Williamson DH. Long-term dynamics and drivers of coral and macroalgal cover on inshore reefs of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2020; 30:e02008. [PMID: 31550393 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2019] [Revised: 08/20/2019] [Accepted: 09/04/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Quantifying the role of biophysical and anthropogenic drivers of coral reef ecosystem processes can inform management strategies that aim to maintain or restore ecosystem structure and productivity. However, few studies have examined the combined effects of multiple drivers, partitioned their impacts, or established threshold values that may trigger shifts in benthic cover. Inshore fringing reefs of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) occur in high-sediment, high-nutrient environments and are under increasing pressure from multiple acute and chronic stressors. Despite world-leading management, including networks of no-take marine reserves, relative declines in hard coral cover of 40-50% have occurred in recent years, with localized but persistent shifts from coral to macroalgal dominance on some reefs. Here we use boosted regression tree analyses to test the relative importance of multiple biophysical drivers on coral and macroalgal cover using a long-term (12-18 yr) data set collected from reefs at four island groups. Coral and macroalgal cover were negatively correlated at all island groups, and particularly when macroalgal cover was above 20%. Although reefs at each island group had different disturbance-and-recovery histories, degree heating weeks (DHW) and routine wave exposure consistently emerged as common drivers of coral and macroalgal cover. In addition, different combinations of sea-surface temperature, nutrient and turbidity parameters, exposure to high turbidity (primary) floodwater, depth, grazing fish density, farming damselfish density, and management zoning variously contributed to changes in coral and macroalgal cover at each island group. Clear threshold values were apparent for multiple drivers including wave exposure, depth, and degree heating weeks for coral cover, and depth, degree heating weeks, chlorophyll a, and cyclone exposure for macroalgal cover, however, all threshold values were variable among island groups. Our findings demonstrate that inshore coral reef communities are typically structured by broadscale climatic perturbations, superimposed upon unique sets of local-scale drivers. Although rapidly escalating climate change impacts are the largest threat to coral reefs of the GBRMP and globally, our findings suggest that proactive management actions that effectively reduce chronic stressors at local scales should contribute to improved reef resistance and recovery potential following acute climatic disturbances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela M Ceccarelli
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia
| | - Richard D Evans
- Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Kensington, Western Australia, 6151, Australia
- Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, 6009, Australia
| | - Murray Logan
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville, Queensland, 4810, Australia
| | - Philippa Mantel
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia
| | - Marji Puotinen
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville, Queensland, 4810, Australia
| | - Caroline Petus
- TropWATER, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia
| | - Garry R Russ
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia
| | - David H Williamson
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia
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de Bakker DM, van Duyl FC, Perry CT, Meesters EH. Extreme spatial heterogeneity in carbonate accretion potential on a Caribbean fringing reef linked to local human disturbance gradients. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2019; 25:4092-4104. [PMID: 31566878 PMCID: PMC6899606 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2018] [Revised: 06/26/2019] [Accepted: 08/05/2019] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
The capacity of coral reefs to maintain their structurally complex frameworks and to retain the potential for vertical accretion is vitally important to the persistence of their ecological functioning and the ecosystem services they sustain. However, datasets to support detailed along-coast assessments of framework production rates and accretion potential do not presently exist. Here, we estimate, based on gross bioaccretion and bioerosion measures, the carbonate budgets and resultant estimated accretion rates (EAR) of the shallow reef zone of leeward Bonaire - between 5 and 12 m depth - at unique fine spatial resolution along this coast (115 sites). Whilst the fringing reef of Bonaire is often reported to be in a better ecological condition than most sites throughout the wider Caribbean region, our data show that the carbonate budgets of the reefs and derived EAR varied considerably across this ~58 km long fringing reef complex. Some areas, in particular the marine reserves, were indeed still dominated by structurally complex coral communities with high net carbonate production (>10 kg CaCO3 m-2 year-1 ), high live coral cover and complex structural topography. The majority of the studied sites, however, were defined by relatively low budget states (<2 kg CaCO3 m-2 year-1 ) or were in a state of net erosion. These data highlight the marked spatial heterogeneity that can occur in budget states, and thus in reef accretion potential, even between quite closely spaced areas of individual reef complexes. This heterogeneity is linked strongly to the degree of localized land-based impacts along the coast, and resultant differences in the abundance of reef framework building coral species. The major impact of this variability is that those sections of reef defined by low-accretion rates will have limited capacity to maintain their structural integrity and to keep pace with current projections of climate change induced sea-level rise (SLR), thus posing a threat to reef functioning and biodiversity, potentially leading to trophic cascades. Since many Caribbean reefs are more severely degraded than those found around Bonaire, it is to be expected that the findings presented here are rather the rule than the exception, but the study also highlights the need for similar high spatial resolution (along-coast) assessments of budget states and accretion rates to meaningfully explore increasing coastal risk at the country level. The findings also more generally underline the significance of reducing local anthropogenic disturbance and restoring framework building coral assemblages. Appropriately focussed local preservation efforts may aid in averting future large-scale above reef water depth increases on Caribbean coral reefs and will limit the social and economic implications associated with the loss of reef goods and services.
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Affiliation(s)
- Didier M. de Bakker
- Wageningen Marine ResearchDen HelderThe Netherlands
- Marine Microbiology and BiogeochemistryNIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and Utrecht UniversityTexelThe Netherlands
| | - Fleur C. van Duyl
- Marine Microbiology and BiogeochemistryNIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and Utrecht UniversityTexelThe Netherlands
| | - Chris T. Perry
- GeographyCollege of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of ExeterExeterUK
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Alvarez-Filip L, Estrada-Saldívar N, Pérez-Cervantes E, Molina-Hernández A, González-Barrios FJ. A rapid spread of the stony coral tissue loss disease outbreak in the Mexican Caribbean. PeerJ 2019; 7:e8069. [PMID: 31788355 PMCID: PMC6883952 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.8069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2019] [Accepted: 10/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Caribbean reef corals have experienced unprecedented declines from climate change, anthropogenic stressors and infectious diseases in recent decades. Since 2014, a highly lethal, new disease, called stony coral tissue loss disease, has impacted many reef-coral species in Florida. During the summer of 2018, we noticed an anomalously high disease prevalence affecting different coral species in the northern portion of the Mexican Caribbean. We assessed the severity of this outbreak in 2018/2019 using the AGRRA coral protocol to survey 82 reef sites across the Mexican Caribbean. Then, using a subset of 14 sites, we detailed information from before the outbreak (2016/2017) to explore the consequences of the disease on the condition and composition of coral communities. Our findings show that the disease outbreak has already spread across the entire region by affecting similar species (with similar disease patterns) to those previously described for Florida. However, we observed a great variability in prevalence and tissue mortality that was not attributable to any geographical gradient. Using long-term data, we determined that there is no evidence of such high coral disease prevalence anywhere in the region before 2018, which suggests that the entire Mexican Caribbean was afflicted by the disease within a few months. The analysis of sites that contained pre-outbreak information showed that this event considerably increased coral mortality and severely changed the structure of coral communities in the region. Given the high prevalence and lethality of this disease, and the high number of susceptible species, we encourage reef researchers, managers and stakeholders across the Western Atlantic to accord it the highest priority for the near future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip
- Biodiversity and Reef Conservation Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico
| | - Nuria Estrada-Saldívar
- Biodiversity and Reef Conservation Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico
| | - Esmeralda Pérez-Cervantes
- Biodiversity and Reef Conservation Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico
| | - Ana Molina-Hernández
- Biodiversity and Reef Conservation Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico
| | - Francisco J. González-Barrios
- Biodiversity and Reef Conservation Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico
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Baumann JH, Ries JB, Rippe JP, Courtney TA, Aichelman HE, Westfield I, Castillo KD. Nearshore coral growth declining on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2019; 25:3932-3945. [PMID: 31456305 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2019] [Revised: 07/23/2019] [Accepted: 07/23/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenic global change and local stressors are impacting coral growth and survival worldwide, altering the structure and function of coral reef ecosystems. Here, we show that skeletal extension rates of nearshore colonies of two abundant and widespread Caribbean corals (Siderastrea siderea, Pseudodiploria strigosa) declined across the Belize Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS) over the past century, while offshore coral conspecifics exhibited relatively stable extension rates over the same temporal interval. This decline has caused nearshore coral extension rates to converge with those of their historically slower growing offshore coral counterparts. For both species, individual mass coral bleaching events were correlated with low rates of skeletal extension within specific reef environments, but no single bleaching event was correlated with low skeletal extension rates across all reef environments. We postulate that the decline in skeletal extension rates for nearshore corals is driven primarily by the combined effects of long-term ocean warming and increasing exposure to higher levels of land-based anthropogenic stressors, with acute thermally induced bleaching events playing a lesser role. If these declining trends in skeletal growth of nearshore S. siderea and P. strigosa continue into the future, the structure and function of these critical nearshore MBRS coral reef systems is likely to be severely impaired.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin H Baumann
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Biology Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Justin B Ries
- Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Marine Science Center, Northeastern University, Nahant, Massachusetts
| | - John P Rippe
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Travis A Courtney
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Marine Science Center, Northeastern University, Nahant, Massachusetts
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Hannah E Aichelman
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Department of Biological Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Isaac Westfield
- Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Marine Science Center, Northeastern University, Nahant, Massachusetts
| | - Karl D Castillo
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Environment, Ecology, and Energy Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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Estrada-Saldívar N, Jordán-Dalhgren E, Rodríguez-Martínez RE, Perry C, Alvarez-Filip L. Functional consequences of the long-term decline of reef-building corals in the Caribbean: evidence of across-reef functional convergence. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2019; 6:190298. [PMID: 31824686 PMCID: PMC6837220 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.190298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2019] [Accepted: 09/23/2019] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Functional integrity on coral reefs is strongly dependent upon coral cover and coral carbonate production rate being sufficient to maintain three-dimensional reef structures. Increasing environmental and anthropogenic pressures in recent decades have reduced the cover of key reef-building species, producing a shift towards the relative dominance of more stress-tolerant taxa and leading to a reduction in the physical functional integrity. Understanding how changes in coral community composition influence the potential of reefs to maintain their physical reef functioning is a priority for their conservation and management. Here, we evaluate how coral communities have changed in the northern sector of the Mexican Caribbean between 1985 and 2016, and the implications for the maintenance of physical reef functions in the back- and fore-reef zones. We used the cover of coral species to explore changes in four morpho-functional groups, coral community composition, coral community calcification, the reef functional index and the reef carbonate budget. Over a period of 31 years, ecological homogenization occurred between the two reef zones mostly due to a reduction in the cover of framework-building branching (Acropora spp.) and foliose-digitiform (Porites porites and Agaricia tenuifolia) coral species in the back-reef, and a relative increase in non-framework species in the fore-reef (Agaricia agaricites and Porites astreoides). This resulted in a significant decrease in the physical functionality of the back-reef zone. At present, both reef zones have negative carbonate budgets, and thus limited capacity to sustain reef accretion, compromising the existing reef structure and its future capacity to provide habitat and environmental services.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nuria Estrada-Saldívar
- Biodiversity and Reef Conservation Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, México
- Posgrado en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Avenida Ciudad Universitaria 3000, CP 04510 Coyoacán, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Eric Jordán-Dalhgren
- Coral Ecology Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, México
| | - Rosa E. Rodríguez-Martínez
- Coral Ecology Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, México
| | - Chris Perry
- Geography, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4RJ, UK
| | - Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip
- Biodiversity and Reef Conservation Laboratory, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, México
- Author for correspondence: Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip e-mail:
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Darling ES, McClanahan TR, Maina J, Gurney GG, Graham NAJ, Januchowski-Hartley F, Cinner JE, Mora C, Hicks CC, Maire E, Puotinen M, Skirving WJ, Adjeroud M, Ahmadia G, Arthur R, Bauman AG, Beger M, Berumen ML, Bigot L, Bouwmeester J, Brenier A, Bridge TCL, Brown E, Campbell SJ, Cannon S, Cauvin B, Chen CA, Claudet J, Denis V, Donner S, Estradivari, Fadli N, Feary DA, Fenner D, Fox H, Franklin EC, Friedlander A, Gilmour J, Goiran C, Guest J, Hobbs JPA, Hoey AS, Houk P, Johnson S, Jupiter SD, Kayal M, Kuo CY, Lamb J, Lee MAC, Low J, Muthiga N, Muttaqin E, Nand Y, Nash KL, Nedlic O, Pandolfi JM, Pardede S, Patankar V, Penin L, Ribas-Deulofeu L, Richards Z, Roberts TE, Rodgers KS, Safuan CDM, Sala E, Shedrawi G, Sin TM, Smallhorn-West P, Smith JE, Sommer B, Steinberg PD, Sutthacheep M, Tan CHJ, Williams GJ, Wilson S, Yeemin T, Bruno JF, Fortin MJ, Krkosek M, Mouillot D. Social–environmental drivers inform strategic management of coral reefs in the Anthropocene. Nat Ecol Evol 2019; 3:1341-1350. [DOI: 10.1038/s41559-019-0953-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 111] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2018] [Accepted: 06/24/2019] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
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Toth LT, Stathakopoulos A, Kuffner IB, Ruzicka RR, Colella MA, Shinn EA. The unprecedented loss of Florida's reef-building corals and the emergence of a novel coral-reef assemblage. Ecology 2019; 100:e02781. [PMID: 31170313 PMCID: PMC6851685 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2781] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2018] [Revised: 05/01/2019] [Accepted: 05/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Over the last half century, climate change, coral disease, and other anthropogenic disturbances have restructured coral‐reef ecosystems on a global scale. The disproportionate loss of once‐dominant, reef‐building taxa has facilitated relative increases in the abundance of “weedy” or stress‐tolerant coral species. Although the recent transformation of coral‐reef assemblages is unprecedented on ecological timescales, determining whether modern coral reefs have truly reached a novel ecosystem state requires evaluating the dynamics of reef composition over much longer periods of time. Here, we provide a geologic perspective on the shifting composition of Florida's reefs by reconstructing the millennial‐scale spatial and temporal variability in reef assemblages using 59 Holocene reef cores collected throughout the Florida Keys Reef Tract (FKRT). We then compare the relative abundances of reef‐building species in the Holocene reef framework to data from contemporary reef surveys to determine how much Florida's modern reef assemblages have diverged from long‐term baselines. We show that the composition of Florida's reefs was, until recently, remarkably stable over the last 8000 yr. The same corals that have dominated shallow‐water reefs throughout the western Atlantic for hundreds of thousands of years, Acropora palmata, Orbicella spp., and other massive coral taxa, accounted for nearly 90% of Florida's Holocene reef framework. In contrast, the species that now have the highest relative abundances on the FKRT, primarily Porites astreoides and Siderastrea siderea, were rare in the reef framework, suggesting that recent shifts in species assemblages are unprecedented over millennial timescales. Although it may not be possible to return coral reefs to pre‐Anthropocene states, our results suggest that coral‐reef management focused on the conservation and restoration of the reef‐building species of the past, will optimize efforts to preserve coral reefs, and the valuable ecosystem services they provide into the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- L T Toth
- St. Petersburg Coastal & Marine Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg, Florida, 33701, USA
| | - A Stathakopoulos
- St. Petersburg Coastal & Marine Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg, Florida, 33701, USA
| | - I B Kuffner
- St. Petersburg Coastal & Marine Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg, Florida, 33701, USA
| | - R R Ruzicka
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, St. Petersburg, Florida, 33701, USA
| | - M A Colella
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, St. Petersburg, Florida, 33701, USA
| | - E A Shinn
- College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, Florida, 33701, USA
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