Potential habitat of Acropora spp. on Florida reefs

Potential Habitat of Acropora spp. on Reefs of Florida, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands

“…This reflects more extensive potential habitat for A. cervicornis, because habitat for A. palmata is less variable and more often limited to reef margins. These results are comparable to those of Wirt et al (2013), who found 1% of A. palmata and 7% of A. cervicornis observations outside of mapped reef or hardbottom. A key question can be addressed using this data set: Do the data points that do not fall on mapped coral reef or hardbottom reflect mapping error, the potential of Acropora spp.…”

“…The study found that locations of 99% of A. palmata and 84% of A. cervicornis observations coincided with previously mapped coral reef or hard-bottom habitat. A main conclusion of that research was that potential habitat for A. palmata is currently well defined in Florida, while A. cervicornis, habitat is more variable and has a wider range (Wirt et al, 2013).…”

“…location data in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, as described by Wirt et al (2013). Due to errors discovered in the original Florida data set, the data here represent a reanalysis of the Florida region.…”

“…Most of these colonies, however, have not been documented, nor has their location been verified by observation. Wirt et al (2013) used reported observations of A. palmata and A. cervicornis to generate potential-habitat maps for the species along the Florida reef tract. The study found that locations of 99% of A. palmata and 84% of A. cervicornis observations coincided with previously mapped coral reef or hard-bottom habitat.…”

Florida’s Oceans and Marine Habitats in a Changing Climate

“…For example, they are within the Acropora sp. critical zone, an important endangered reef-building coral in the Caribbean (Wirt et al 2013), and provide habitat for the highly endangered hawksbill turtle (Wood et al 2013) in addition to a wide range of fish, shellfish, sharks, rays, and marine mammal species. The southeastern Florida reef system is composed of outer, middle, and inner relict reef terraces (Precht and Aronson 2004), with only the outer reef extending northward to Palm Beach County.…”