High, but localized recruitment of Montastraea annularis complex in St. John, United States Virgin Islands

Edmunds, Peter J.; Ross, Cliff; Didden, Craig

doi:10.1007/s00338-010-0676-4

Cited by 20 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…) demonstrates that strong and inverse DD recruitment for the dominant coral ( Orbicella in Jamaica) clearly is not a universal mechanism of recovery for coral assemblages; indeed the historically low recruitment of this genus throughout the region (Edmunds et al. ) suggests that DD recruitment may not be feasible for this coral under any circumstance. Elucidating why coral assemblages on the outer reefs of Mo'orea are able to benefit from DD recruitment by the dominant coral clearly is an important objective for future research.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Density‐dependence mediates coral assemblage structure

Edmunds

Nelson

Bramanti

2018

Ecology

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Density dependence (DD) controls community recovery following widespread mortality, yet this principle rarely has been applied to coral assemblages. The reefs of Mo'orea, French Polynesia, provide the opportunity to study DD of coral population growth, because coral assemblages in this location responded to declines in abundance with high recruitment and an increase in cover during which recruitment of pocilloporid corals was inversely associated with density. This study tests for DD in this system, first, by describing the context within which it operates: coral cover changed from 46% in 2005, to <1% in 2010 following an outbreak of a corallivorous sea star and a cyclone, and then increased to 74% by 2017, in large part through inverse density‐associated pocilloporid recruitment. Second, a test for DD of recruitment was conducted by decreasing Pocillopora spp. cover from 33% to 19%: one year later, the density of Pocillopora spp. recruits was 1.65‐fold higher in the low vs. high cover treatment. Finally, the effects of DD were investigated by comparing simulated and empirical distributions of pocilloporid colonies: as predicted by DD, small colonies were randomly distributed, while large colonies were uniformly distributed. Together these results demonstrate DD of population regulation for Pocillopora spp. corals, thus revealing the potential importance of this ecological principle in determining the resilience of coral assemblages.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Density‐dependence mediates coral assemblage structure

Edmunds

Nelson

Bramanti

2018

Ecology

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“…), and has recruited in St. John at low rates for decades (Edmunds et al. ). Over a longer period, however, a regional decline in fecundity will undermine the possibility of future episodic high recruitment that has been hypothesized as important for maintaining populations of this species (Hughes and Jackson , Edmunds and Elahi ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The demography of hurricane effects on two coral populations differing in dynamics

Edmunds

2019

Ecosphere

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On most tropical coral reefs, decades of disturbances have ratcheted down coral cover to create low abundance communities. In such a state, the reefs of St. John, US Virgin Islands, were hit by two Category 5 hurricanes in September 2017, yet the effects on two sites dominated by Orbicella annularis were minor in terms of coral cover. To explore the implications of this outcome, the fates of O. annularis colonies were determined from photoquadrats and used to prepare size‐based matrix models for the year preceding the storms and the four months bracketing the storms. The populations displayed contrasting dynamics from 1988 to July 2017, with coral cover declining from 43% to 5% at Yawzi Point but remaining at ~30% at Tektite. Over this period, colony sizes declined, with ≥82% having planar areas ≤50 cm2 (i.e., the smallest size class) by July 2017, and while densities declined from 47 to 8 colonies/m2 at Yawzi Point, they increased from 36 to 51 colonies/m2 at Tektite. Hurricanes Irma and Maria depressed coral cover by 1–4%, transitioned colonies into the smallest size class (>87% by November), killed 27% and 5% of the colonies in the smallest size class at Yawzi Point and Tektite, respectively, and depressed the 5‐yr intrinsic rate of population growth (λ) to 0.53–0.87. Twenty‐year projections suggested these demographic effects will not have ecologically meaningful impacts on population size, at least compared to projections initiated assuming Hurricanes Irma and Maria had not occurred. With low cover of O. annularis distributed among many small colonies, future disturbances may play more important roles in winnowing the few remaining host genotypes rather than further depressing coral cover.

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“…This relatively small range of SST between dates possibly tampered the stressing effects of temperature increments on the biological parameters of M. annularis we measured in August. Since the three Montastraea and the two Acropora species involved in [69] spawn in summer [32], [68], [71], the possible coral stress caused by reproduction and that caused by increasing SST cannot be distinguished. When stress caused by wounds and reproduction occur concurrently, corals divert more energy into reproduction [35], healing injuries, or both attributes at the same time with allocation of insufficient energy to either attribute [36].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Montastraea annularis , one of the most important reef-building coral species in the Caribbean [31], [32], is a hermaphrodite species with an annual reproductive cycle that begins in May and ends in August-September. The formation of gametes is asynchronous (i.e., formation of the female gametes begins in May and the formation of male gametes begins in June), while their release occurs synchronously in summer [33].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological Responses of the Coral Montastraea annularis to the Removal of Filamentous Turf Algae

et al. 2013

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Coral reef degradation increases coral interactions with filamentous turf algae (FTA) and macroalgae, which may result in chronic stress for the corals. We evaluated the effects of short (2.5 month) and long (10 month) periods of FTA removal on tissue thickness (TT), zooxanthellae density (ZD), mitotic index (MI), and concentration of chlorophyll a (Chl a) in Montastraea annularis at the beginning and end of gametogenesis. Ramets (individual lobes within a colony) consistently surrounded by FTA and ramets surrounded by crustose coralline algae (CCA) were used as controls. FTA removal reduced coral stress, indicated by increased TT and ZD and lower MI. The measured effects were similar in magnitude for the short and long periods of algal removal. Ramets were more stressed at the end of gametogenesis compared with the beginning, with lower ZD and Chl a cm−2, and higher MI. However, it was not possible to distinguish the stress caused by the presence of FTA from that caused by seasonal changes in seawater temperature. Ramets surrounded by CCA showed less stress in comparison with ramets surrounded by FTA: with higher TT, Chl a cm−2 and ZD, and lower MI values. Coral responses indicated that ramets with FTA suffered the most deleterious effects and contrasted with those measured in ramets surrounded by CCA. According to published studies and our observations, there could be at least six mechanisms associated to FTA in the stress caused to M. annularis by FTA. Owing to the high cover of FTA (in contrast to macroalgae and CCA) in the Caribbean, the chronic stress, the overgrowth and mortality that this functional algal group can cause on M. annularis species complex, a further decline of this important reef-building coral in the Caribbean is expected.

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High, but localized recruitment of Montastraea annularis complex in St. John, United States Virgin Islands

Cited by 20 publications

References 38 publications

Density‐dependence mediates coral assemblage structure

Density‐dependence mediates coral assemblage structure

The demography of hurricane effects on two coral populations differing in dynamics

Biological Responses of the Coral Montastraea annularis to the Removal of Filamentous Turf Algae

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