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Martínez-Castillo V, Rodríguez-Troncoso AP, Bautista-Guerrero E, Cupul-Magaña AL. Symbiont-coral relationship in the main reef building scleractinians of the Central Mexican Pacific. Symbiosis 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s13199-022-00848-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Glynn PW, Feingold JS, Baker A, Banks S, Baums IB, Cole J, Colgan MW, Fong P, Glynn PJ, Keith I, Manzello D, Riegl B, Ruttenberg BI, Smith TB, Vera-Zambrano M. State of corals and coral reefs of the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador): Past, present and future. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2018; 133:717-733. [PMID: 30041369 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2018] [Revised: 05/31/2018] [Accepted: 06/02/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Coral populations and structural coral reefs have undergone severe reductions and losses respectively over large parts of the Galápagos Islands during and following the 1982-83 El Niño event. Coral tissue loss amounted to 95% across the Archipelago. Also at that time, all coral reefs in the central and southern islands disappeared following severe degradation and eventual collapse due primarily to intense bioerosion and low recruitment. Six sites in the southern islands have demonstrated low to moderate coral community (scattered colonies, but no carbonate framework) recovery. The iconic pocilloporid reef at Devil's Crown (Floreana Island) experienced recovery to 2007, then severe mortality during a La Niña cooling event, and is again (as of 2017) undergoing rapid recovery. Notable recovery has occurred at the central (Marchena) and northern islands (Darwin and Wolf). Of the 17 structural reefs first observed in the mid-1970s, the single surviving reef (Wellington Reef) at Darwin Island remains in a positive growth mode. The remainder either degraded to a coral community or was lost. Retrospective analyses of the age structure of corals killed in 1983, and isotopic signatures of the skeletal growth record of massive corals suggest the occurrence of robust coral populations during at least a 500-year period before 1983. The greatest potential threats to the recovery and persistence of coral reefs include: ocean warming and acidification, bioerosion, coral diseases, human population growth (increasing numbers of residents and tourists), overfishing, invasive species, pollution, and habitat destruction. Such a diverse spectrum of disturbances, acting alone or in combination, are expected to continue to cause local and archipelago-wide mortality and degradation of the coral reef ecosystem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter W Glynn
- Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Joshua S Feingold
- Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach, FL, USA.
| | - Andrew Baker
- Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Stuart Banks
- Charles Darwin Research Station, Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador; Conservation International, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Iliana B Baums
- Center for Marine Science and Technology, Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Julia Cole
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | | | - Peggy Fong
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | | | - Inti Keith
- Charles Darwin Research Station, Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
| | - Derek Manzello
- Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratories, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Bernhard Riegl
- Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach, FL, USA
| | - Benjamin I Ruttenberg
- Biological Sciences Department and Center for Coastal Marine Sciences, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA
| | - Tyler B Smith
- Center for Marine and Environmental Studies, University of the Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands, USA
| | - Mariana Vera-Zambrano
- Conservation International, Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
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The Eastern Tropical Pacific coral population connectivity and the role of the Eastern Pacific Barrier. Sci Rep 2018; 8:9354. [PMID: 29921956 PMCID: PMC6008413 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-27644-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2017] [Accepted: 06/01/2018] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Long-distance dispersal is believed to strongly influence coral reef population dynamics across the Tropical Pacific. However, the spatial scale and strength at which populations are potentially connected by dispersal remains uncertain. To determine the patterns in connectivity between the Eastern (ETP) and Central Tropical Pacific (CTP) ecoregions, we used a biophysical model incorporating ocean currents and larval biology to quantify the seascape-wide dispersal potential among all population. We quantified the likelihood and determined the oceanographic conditions that enable the dispersal of coral larvae across the Eastern Pacific Barrier (EP-Barrier) and identified the main connectivity pathways and their conservation value for dominant reef-building corals. Overall, we found that coral assemblages within the CTP and ETP are weakly connected through dispersal. Although the EP-Barrier isolates the ETP from the CTP ecoregion, we found evidence that the EP-Barrier may be breached, in both directions, by rare dispersal events. These rare events could explain the evolutionary genetic similarity among populations of pocilloporids in the ecoregions. Moreover, the ETP may function as a stronger source rather than a destination, providing potential recruits to CTP populations. We also show evidence for a connectivity loop in the ETP, which may positively influence long-term population persistence in the region. Coral conservation and management communities should consider eight-key stepping stone ecoregions when developing strategies to preserve the long-distance connectivity potential across the ETP and CTP.
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