Fallen Pillars: The Past, Present, and Future Population Dynamics of a Rare, Specialist Coral–Algal Symbiosis

Chan, Andrea; Lewis, Cynthia L.; Neely, Karen L.; Baums, Iliana B.

doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00218

Cited by 22 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 102 publications

(139 reference statements)

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“…Thus, efficient cryo-banking techniques should be developed for species whose gametes can be collected, and ex situ gene banking (i.e., keeping live animals in aquaria) might be considered for others. We also recommend that restoration feasibility studies be conducted for rare species experiencing massive population declines, multi-year sexual recruitment failure, and those that exhibit unique life histories such as Dendrogyra cylindrus (Neely et al 2018, Chan et al 2019, to help identify and address challenges associated with restoring these species. Lastly, we propose that species prioritizations should follow an adaptive management strategy under which demographic monitoring of natural and outplanted populations is evaluated every 5-10 years to determine changes in population growth rates (k) or sexual recruitment rates (which serve as a reasonable proxy when k cannot be estimated).…”

Section: Prioritizing Coral Species For Restoration Effortsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rare species.-Rare coral species that also associate with rare symbionts such as the threatened Caribbean pillar coral, Dendrogyra cylindrus and its symbiont Breviolum dendrogyrum , Chan et al 2019) face additional challenges. Because adult D. cylindrus are the only known reservoirs for this symbiont, and these populations are in rapid decline, it cannot be assumed that natural sexual recruits will readily be able to acquire appropriate symbionts.…”

Section: Role Of Symbionts In a Sexual Restoration Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This "local is best" (LIB) provenance strategy is sometimes operationally regulated (Tringali et al 2007), placing strict limits on the geographic range of sourcing corals. However, the poor performance of most local coral populations in recent years suggests that whatever local adaptation is present in these populations may not be adequate to assure persistence as environments continue to change (Williams et al 2008, Chan et al 2019). Hence, we advise considering more flexible provenancing strategies.…”

Section: Choosing Coral Colonies For Restoration: Who and From Where?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Considerations for maximizing the adaptive potential of restored coral populations in the western Atlantic

Baums

Baker

Davies

et al. 2019

Ecological Applications

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Active coral restoration typically involves two interventions: crossing gametes to facilitate sexual larval propagation; and fragmenting, growing, and outplanting adult colonies to enhance asexual propagation. From an evolutionary perspective, the goal of these efforts is to establish self-sustaining, sexually reproducing coral populations that have sufficient genetic and phenotypic variation to adapt to changing environments. Here, we provide concrete guidelines to help restoration practitioners meet this goal for most Caribbean species of interest. To enable the persistence of coral populations exposed to severe selection pressure from many stressors, a mixed provenance strategy is suggested: genetically unique colonies (genets) should be sourced both locally as well as from more distant, environmentally distinct sites. Sourcing three to four genets per reef along environmental gradients should be sufficient to capture a majority of intraspecies genetic diversity. It is best for practitioners to propagate genets with one or more phenotypic traits that are predicted to be valuable in the future, such as low partial mortality, high wound healing rate, high skeletal growth rate, bleaching resilience, infectious disease resilience, and high sexual reproductive output. Some effort should also be reserved for underperforming genets because colonies that grow poorly in nurseries sometimes thrive once returned to the reef and may harbor genetic variants with as yet unrecognized value. Outplants should be clustered in groups of four to six genets to enable successful fertilization upon maturation. Current evidence indicates that translocating genets among distant reefs is unlikely to be problematic from a population genetic perspective but will likely provide substantial adaptive benefits. Similarly, inbreeding depression is not a concern given that current practices only raise first-generation offspring. Thus, proceeding with the proposed management strategies even in the absence of a detailed population genetic analysis of the focal species at sites targeted for restoration is the best course of action. These basic guidelines should help maximize the adaptive potential of reef-building corals facing a rapidly changing environment.

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Section: Prioritizing Coral Species For Restoration Effortsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Role Of Symbionts In a Sexual Restoration Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Choosing Coral Colonies For Restoration: Who and From Where?mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Considerations for maximizing the adaptive potential of restored coral populations in the western Atlantic

Baums

Baker

Davies

et al. 2019

Ecological Applications

Self Cite

188

198

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“…Full sampling and analysis protocols for determining genetic variability within FRT D. cylindrus is presented in Chan et al (2019). Briefly, tissue clips and/or syringe tissue biopsy samples (Kemp et al 2008) were taken from 161 colonies across within the Florida Reef Tract.…”

Section: Genetic Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Genetically sampled D. cylindrus colonies identified clonality at most sites containing multiple colonies (Chan et al 2019). The maximum distance between ramets in Florida was identified at Pickles Reef (Upper Keys) where 110 colonies were distributed across a maximum diameter of 84 meters.…”

Section: Genetic Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid Population Decline of the Pillar CoralDendrogyra cylindrusAlong the Florida Reef Tract

Neely

Lewis

2020

Preprint

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Coral reefs worldwide are in a state of decline, but the status of populations and stressors for rare species are generally not well documented using broad-scale monitoring protocol. We fatetracked all known colonies of the pillar coral Dendrogyra cylindrus on the Florida Reef Tract from 2013 -2020 to assess the population and document the impacts of chronic and acute stressors. Large average colony size, an absence of juveniles, and large geographic distances between genotypes suggest that the Florida D. cylindrus population has been reproductively extinct for decades. During the study period, low-intensity chronic stressors were balanced by regrowth, while back-to-back years of coral bleaching and thermally-exacerbated disease led to declines that the subsequent years of recovery suggest would take 11 uninterrupted years to overcome. The most recent stressor on Florida's D. cylindrus population is "stony coral tissue loss disease." Following the appearance of the disease in Florida in 2015, it resulted in unrecoverable losses to the D. cylindrus population as tissue, colonies, and whole genotypes were driven to extinction. Losses of 91% of coral tissue, 88% of colonies, and 73% of genotypes between 2014 and early 2020 have led to functional extinction of D. cylindrus on the Florida Reef Tract.

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Incorporating Genetic Measures of Connectivity and Adaptation in Marine Spatial Planning for Corals

Riginos

Beger

2022

Coral Reefs of the World

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Fallen Pillars: The Past, Present, and Future Population Dynamics of a Rare, Specialist Coral–Algal Symbiosis

Cited by 22 publications

References 102 publications

Considerations for maximizing the adaptive potential of restored coral populations in the western Atlantic

Considerations for maximizing the adaptive potential of restored coral populations in the western Atlantic

Rapid Population Decline of the Pillar CoralDendrogyra cylindrusAlong the Florida Reef Tract

Incorporating Genetic Measures of Connectivity and Adaptation in Marine Spatial Planning for Corals

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