Calcification and growth rate recovery of the reef-buildingPocilloporaspecies in the northeast tropical Pacific following an ENSO disturbance

Abstract

Pocilloporids are one of the major reef-building corals in the eastern tropical Pacific (ETP) and also the most affected by thermal stress events, mainly those associated with El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) periods. To date, coral growth parameters have been poorly reported in Pocillopora species in the northeastern region of the tropical Pacific. Monthly and annual growth rates of the three most abundant morphospecies (P. cf. verrucosa, P. cf. capitata, and P. cf. damicornis) were evaluated during two annual periods at a site on the Pacific coast of Mexico. The first annual period, 2010–2011 was considered a strong ENSO/La Niña period with cool sea surface temperatures, then followed by a non-ENSO period in 2012–2013. The linear extension rate, skeletal density, and calcification rate averaged (±SD) were 2.31 ± 0.11 cm yr−1, 1.65 ± 0.18 g cm−3, 5.03 ± 0.84 g cm−2 yr-1 respectively, during the strong ENSO event. In contrast, the respective non-ENSO values were 3.50 ± 0.64 cm yr−1, 1.70 ± 0.18 g cm−3, and 6.02 ± 1.36 g cm−2 yr−1. This corresponds to 52% and 20% faster linear extension and calcification rates, respectively, during non-ENSO period. The evidence suggests that Pocillopora branching species responded positively with faster growth rates following thermal anomalies, which allow them to maintain coral communities in the region.

Micro-Fragmentation as an Effective and Applied Tool to Restore Remote Reefs in the Eastern Tropical Pacific

“…In the same way, annual extension (2.74 cm year −1 ) and calcification rates (6.03 g cm −2 year −1 ) obtained for Pocillopora spp. are similar to other documented outcomes in the ETP region [14,56,87,[93][94][95]. The same applies to Pavona, one of the fastest growing massive coral species in the ETP region [49,87,88,[94][95][96][97].…”

“…The same applies to Pavona, one of the fastest growing massive coral species in the ETP region [49,87,88,[94][95][96][97]. The consistency in the comparisons is further applied to coral density for branching (1.90-2.65 g cm −3 ) and massive (0.97-1.95 g cm −3 ) species [14,49,88,96]. Our results thus reveal the possible equal calcification patterns for both extension rates and skeletal density in coral nubbins, a different calcification landscape when compared to adult colonies, where calcification priorities are diverted between extension rates vs. skeletal densities [14,72,98].…”

Survivorship and growth rates for some transplanted coral reef building species and their potential for coral reef rehabilitation in the Red Sea

“…Growth rate of P. verrucosa (1.03 ± 0.07 cm yr -1 ) in this study was higher than that of Abdo and Hegazy (2015) (0.65 ± 0.06 cm yr -1 ) in Ras Muhammad National Park ) but it was lower than that of many areas in the Pacific as in central Pacific of Mexico it was 2.3 cm yr -1 (Tortolero-Langarica et al 2017). Growth rate of S. pistillata ( 1.27 ± 0.06 cm yr -1 ) in this study was higher than that of many areas in the Red Sea, as in Hurghada and Hamrawin (0.63 ± 0.03 cm yr -1 and 0.65 ± 0.02 cm yr -1 respectively) (Mohammed and Dar, 2017), in Hurghada it was 0.55 cm yr -1 (Ammar and Mahmoud, 2005), in Na'ama Bay it was 0.92 cm yr -1 (Ghobashy and Kotb, 2001).…”

“…The main factor to building reef is coral growth with calcareous hard structures that provide indirect and direct habitats for marine organisms and therefore sustain the growth and construction of coral reef ecosystems (Tortolero-Langarica et al 2017). Various techniques have been employed to study coral growth, including measurements of the linear extension of whole colonies or branches (Herler and Dirnwöber, 2011).…”

“…The linear extension rate (cm yr -1 ) have been supportive to evaluate coral growth rate over interval. This allows us to know how the animals are responding to local environmental factors, which thereby allows for the modeling of future growth of the coral reef on an ecosystem level (Glynn et al, 2015;Tortolero-Langarica et al 2017).…”