The effects of rainfall on the distribution of inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus in Discovery Bay, Jamaica

Greenaway, Anthony M.; Gordon-Smith, Debbie-Ann

doi:10.4319/lo.2006.51.5.2206

Cited by 26 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Fish and other vertebrate consumers are scarce, and water quality (sediment loads, dissolved nutrient concentrations, etc.) have not improved in the last few decades (Cho & Woodley 2002, Greenaway & Gordon-Smith 2006. Considering this, the rapid reversal of the coral to macroalgal phase shift suggests that algal dominance is not the inevitable and irreversible consequence of overfishing or localized pollution.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recovery of the sea urchin Diadema antillarum promotes scleractinian coral growth and survivorship on shallow Jamaican reefs

Idjadi¹,

Haring²,

Precht³

2010

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

103

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The decline and potential recovery of Caribbean reefs has been the subject of intense discussion and is of great interest to reef ecologists and managers. The recent return of Diadema antillarum sea urchins at some Caribbean locations and the concomitant changes in coral cover and recruitment provide a new perspective on the reversibility of Caribbean coral reef decline. This study examined the influence of recovering populations of Diadema and the subsequent formation of dense urchin zones on the growth and density of newly settled juvenile scleractinian corals. In these urchin zones, where Diadema graze algae, we documented higher growth rates of juvenile corals, and higher densities of small juvenile recruits (likely to be important precursors to reef recovery). Coral survivorship was higher for juvenile corals living in urchin versus algal zones. Roughly 83% of the juvenile corals in urchin zones survived over the 2 yr period of the study, while ~69% survived in the algal zones. Corals in the urchin zones increased in major diameter by an average of 75 ± 7% from 2001 to 2003 versus 24 ± 4% for corals in the algal zones during the same time period. The relatively abrupt decrease in macroalgal cover and the signs of increasing coral cover along the north coast of Jamaica following the return of Diadema, reported here and by other authors, suggest that these reefs have undergone rapid phase shifts, rather than being constrained to alternate stable states. In the Caribbean, it appears that Diadema are effective at enhancing scleractinian coral recruitment and growth and thus could be used as an important manipulative tool for returning reefs to a coral dominated state, especially on reefs that are severely overfished. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 403: 91-100, 2010 stratum colonized by macroalgae in the 1980s on these reefs, there appears to have been an interaction between coral cover and lower herbivory in the shift from coral to macroalgal dominance (Knowlton 1992). Chronic overfishing of scarids and acanthurids and the loss of Diadema left the reefs without enough grazers to remove macroalgae. The result of these multiple, compounded disturbances along the north coast of Jamaica was a reduction in scleractinian coral cover from ~60% in the late 1950s to <10% today, with most reefs at 2 OPEN PEN ACCESS CCESS

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recovery of the sea urchin Diadema antillarum promotes scleractinian coral growth and survivorship on shallow Jamaican reefs

Idjadi¹,

Haring²,

Precht³

2010

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

103

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The absence of evidence for expected widespread increases in macroalgae could be due to the limited extent of nutrient pollution on most reefs (Szmant 2002, Greenaway andGordon-Smith 2006), especially isolated offshore reef systems. Herbivores can clearly regulate reef macroalgae (Lewis 1986, Steneck 1988, Carpenter and Edmunds 2006 and overfishing has reduced the densities of herbivorous fishes on many reefs (Pandolfi et al 2003, Bellwood et al 2004.…”

Section: Macroalgal Blooms Coral Decline and Reef Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing evidence of phase shifts from coral to macroalgal dominance on coral reefs

Bruno

Sweatman

Precht

et al. 2009

Ecology

418

328

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Many marine scientists have concluded that coral reefs are moving toward or are locked into a seaweed-dominated state. However, because there have been no regional-or global-scale analyses of such coral reef ''phase shifts,'' the magnitude of this phenomenon was unknown. We analyzed 3581 quantitative surveys of 1851 reefs performed between 1996 and 2006 to determine the frequency, geographical extent, and degree of macroalgal dominance of coral reefs and of coral to macroalgal phase shifts around the world. Our results indicate that the replacement of corals by macroalgae as the dominant benthic functional group is less common and less geographically extensive than assumed. Although we found evidence of moderate local increases in macroalgal cover, particularly in the Caribbean, only 4% of reefs were dominated by macroalgae (i.e., .50% cover). Across the Indo-Pacific, where regional averages of macroalgal cover were 9-12%, macroalgae only dominated 1% of the surveyed reefs. Between 1996 and 2006, phase shift severity decreased in the Caribbean, did not change in the Florida Keys and Indo-Pacific, and increased slightly on the Great Barrier Reef due to moderate coral loss. Coral reef ecosystems appear to be more resistant to macroalgal blooms than assumed, which has important implications for reef management.

show abstract

“…Water quality is not a factor in differences between the reef sites (D'Elia et al, 1981;Greenaway and Gordon-Smith, 2006). …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Topography and spatial arrangement of reef-building corals on the fringing reefs of North Jamaica may influence their response to disturbance from bleaching

Crabbe

2010

Marine Environmental Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

International audienceKnowledge of factors that are important in reef resilience help us understand how reefs react following major environmental disturbances such as hurricanes and bleaching. Here we test factors that might have influenced Jamaican reef resilience to, and subsequent recovery from, the 2005 bleaching event, and which might help inform management policy for reefs in the future: reef rugosity and contact of corals with macroalgae. In addition,we test in the field, on Dairy Bull reef, whether aggregated colonies exhibit enhanced growth when exposed to superior competition from , as has been found by experiment with the Indo-Pacific corals and the superior competitor (Idjadi and Karlson, 2007)

show abstract

The effects of rainfall on the distribution of inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus in Discovery Bay, Jamaica

Cited by 26 publications

References 27 publications

Recovery of the sea urchin Diadema antillarum promotes scleractinian coral growth and survivorship on shallow Jamaican reefs

Recovery of the sea urchin Diadema antillarum promotes scleractinian coral growth and survivorship on shallow Jamaican reefs

Assessing evidence of phase shifts from coral to macroalgal dominance on coral reefs

Topography and spatial arrangement of reef-building corals on the fringing reefs of North Jamaica may influence their response to disturbance from bleaching

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About