THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF A 15-YEAR DECLINE IN COVER OF THE CARIBBEAN REEF CORAL<i>MONTASTRAEA ANNULARIS</i>

Edmunds, Peter J.; Elahi, Robin

doi:10.1890/05-1081

Cited by 195 publications

(211 citation statements)

References 90 publications

(152 reference statements)

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“…Recruitment is not considered in our matrices, as no recruits were seen in any of the phototransects during the eight years of survey. This observation is in accord with Hughes and Tanner, (2000) where only a single recruit was recorded in 16 years for a M. annularis population in Jamaica; while in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, the density of juvenile corals (number of colonies less or equal to 4 cm diameter per 10 m 2 ) was less than 2 in 10 years (Edmunds and Elahi 2007).…”

Section: Demographic Analysissupporting

confidence: 85%

“…For the most part, the effects of coral bleaching have been measured in terms of loss of tissue cover per unit area (Glynn 1984, Brown 1997, McClanahan et al 2001, Miller et al 2009). Although this approach offers a good measure of the immediate and long-term impacts at the community level Selig 2007, Selig and, it fails to evaluate the consequences of bleaching on the vital rates of a coral population and hence on its dynamics and size structure, including the potential for demographic recovery (Edmunds andElahi 2007, Sheppard et al 2008). This is of major concern because the consequences of bleaching may not be immediate and require demographic modeling to understand its long-term effects on the dynamics of corals populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More than 90% of the M. annularis cover bleached during this event in many areas of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which resulted in significant loss of live tissue cover (Ballantine et al 2008, Miller et al 2009). This is particularly worrisome because changes in cover of primary reefbuilding corals have greater effects on the reef community structure than changes in cover of other corals (Edmunds and Elahi 2007). In addition, M. annularis populations have been shown to be in demographic decline in many areas of the Caribbean even without taking into consideration the effects of bleaching Tanner 2000, Edmunds andElahi 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is particularly worrisome because changes in cover of primary reefbuilding corals have greater effects on the reef community structure than changes in cover of other corals (Edmunds and Elahi 2007). In addition, M. annularis populations have been shown to be in demographic decline in many areas of the Caribbean even without taking into consideration the effects of bleaching Tanner 2000, Edmunds andElahi 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, we use this data to stochastically simulate the effect of different bleaching regimes on the viability of the population, and determine the life cycle transitions that contributed the most to population decline and subsequent recovery after the bleaching event. Based on prior demographic studies of M. annularis from Jamaica and the U.S. Virgin islands Tanner 2000, Edmunds andElahi 2007), we hypothesized that (1) the M. annularis population would exhibit population growth rates (k) below equilibrium before the bleaching event due to prior natural and anthropogenic disturbances such as hurricanes, overfishing, and degradation of water quality, (2) k would significantly decline after the bleaching event mostly as a result of significant decrease in the survival of large colonies, and (3) there would be a slow and negligible recovery in the vital rates after the bleaching event given that M. annularis is a slow growing species. In addition, we expected the viability of M. annularis populations to be increasingly compromised with an increase in the expectation of bleaching events.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Demographics of bleaching in a major Caribbean reef-building coral:Montastraea annularis

Hernández‐Pacheco¹,

Hernández-Delgado²,

Sabat³

2011

Ecosphere

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Abstract. Mass bleaching events have become a major cause of coral decline at a global scale. In the summer/fall of 2005 the northeastern Caribbean experienced a record-breaking sea surface warming that resulted in a prolonged mass bleaching event and significant percent coral cover decline of the principal Caribbean reef-building coral Montastraea annularis. In this study, we measured changes in the vital rates of a M. annularis population before, during, and after the 2005 mass bleaching event; stochastically projected the population with different bleaching regimes using a 100 year horizon; and quantified the population level effect of the bleaching event using a life table response experiment. Size-based transition matrices from 2001-2009 were constructed following 399 colonies through time in 17 permanent photo-transects located in Culebra Island, Puerto Rico. Temporal variation in the population growth rate indicates the population (1) was in demographic equilibrium before the event (k ' 1.0), (2) suffered a significant decline in growth rate for two consecutive years after the event (k , 1.0), and (3) demographically recovered three years after the event (k ' 1.0). Partial tissue mortality due to bleaching caused dramatic colony fragmentation that resulted in a population made up almost entirely of small colonies by 2007 (97% were ,50 cm 2 ). The stochastic simulation indicates that an annual probability of bleaching in excess of 6% would result in a decreasing population (k s , 1.0) with a reduction of more than 54% in colony abundance after 100 years of projection. The life table response experiments reveal that most of the effect that bleaching had on the population growth rate comes from changes in the survivorship of small colonies. Recent trends in population decline, as well as the life history traits of M. annularis, suggest that recovery of affected populations by sexual recruitment alone is unlikely. Our findings indicate that survival of small colonies will determine the viability of the M. annularis populations within the context of rising sea surface temperatures. We conclude that the demography of M. annularis is highly susceptible to bleaching and that its viability is seriously compromised under the predicted global warming scenarios.

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Section: Demographic Analysissupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Demographics of bleaching in a major Caribbean reef-building coral:Montastraea annularis

Hernández‐Pacheco¹,

Hernández-Delgado²,

Sabat³

2011

Ecosphere

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Infectious Disease and Novel Ecosystems

Yakob

2013

Novel Ecosystems

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A window to the past: documenting the status of one of the last remaining ‘megapopulations’ of the threatened staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis in the Dominican Republic

Lirman

Bowden-Kerby

Schopmeyer

et al. 2010

Aquatic Conservation

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ABSTRACT1. Acropora cervicornis (staghorn coral) and Acropora palmata (elkhorn coral), once common features of shallow Caribbean reefs observed growing as large stands or thickets, are now found mainly as remnant pockets or isolated colonies at a fraction of their historical areal extent.2. In February 2010, a large, surviving population of A. cervicornis was surveyed at Cabezos del Cayo, Punta Rusia, Dominican Republic to document its present condition and potential threats to its persistence.3. The A. cervicornis surveyed at Cabezos del Cayo provides a rare glimpse of the habitat structure that these keystone components of coral reefs once provided. The staghorn population covers an area of 2 ha and is formed by interlocking skeletons of unusually large and thick A. cervicornis colonies.4. The large size of its colonies (maximum branch length 250 cm; average linear length of live tissue 471 cm; maximum number of branch tips 141 per colony; maximum branch diameter 5 cm) and the complex open canopy of these colonies, have not been described, to our knowledge, in the recent literature.5. The site is within Montecristi National Park but there is no active protection in this area and signs of overfishing are evident based on low fish abundance and complete lack of fish 420 cm in length.6. The stressors associated with this population include significant predation by gastropods and fireworms, overgrowth by macroalgae, damselfish 'gardening' activities, and white band disease.7. The management priority for the staghorn population at Cabezos del Cayo, Dominican Republic, should be to enforce the legal framework that is already in place for the protection of Montecristi National Park, limiting unsustainable and damaging fishing practices, and limiting land-based sources of pollution associated with increasing population numbers and future coastal development.

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THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF A 15-YEAR DECLINE IN COVER OF THE CARIBBEAN REEF CORALMONTASTRAEA ANNULARIS

Abstract: Abstract.On

Cited by 195 publications

References 90 publications

Demographics of bleaching in a major Caribbean reef-building coral:Montastraea annularis

Demographics of bleaching in a major Caribbean reef-building coral:Montastraea annularis

Infectious Disease and Novel Ecosystems

A window to the past: documenting the status of one of the last remaining ‘megapopulations’ of the threatened staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis in the Dominican Republic

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