status of the montastraea annularis species complex in … · status of the montastraea annularis...
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Status of the Montastraea annularis species complex in
the face of increasing local human stress and climate
change: Lessons learned and recommendations
Edwin A. Hernández-Delgado, Raisa Hernández,
Tagrid Ruiz, María Ocasio, & Alberto Sabat
University of Puerto Rico, Department of Biology,
Center for Applied Tropical Ecology & Conservation
Coral Reef Research Group, UPR-RP
[email protected] U.S. Coral Reefs Task Force Meeting
Acropora/Montastraea Workshop
October 30 – November 4, 2009, San Juan, PR
Objectives
• Summarize what is the actual condition of the M. annularisspecies complex in several representative coral reefs in PR.
• Discuss several case studies regarding combined local
M. annularis et al.
regarding combined local anthropogenic impacts and climate change (i.e., sea surface warming).
• Identify some research gaps, needs, and suggest some management actions.
http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/d/dying.asp
Facts
• Unprecedented coral mortality
event in the Caribbean at least in
the last 220,000 years (Pandolfi &
Jackson, 2006).
• Time scales necessary for coral reef
recovery from any type of recovery from any type of
disturbance will increase with
increasing spatial scales of impacts.
• Current spatial magnitude of coral
mortality will require radical
actions and decisions, both in land
and sea. Large-reef building corals
will require a recovery time scale
out of our context.
“Montastraea annularis”
• Species complex:
– M. annularis.
– M. faveolata.
– M. franksi.
• Wide bathymetric distribution (>60 m), • Wide bathymetric distribution (>60 m), principal reef-builder in the Atlantic.
• Simultaneous hermaphrodites.
• Annual reproductive cycles.
• Extremely low sexual recruitment rates.
• High recruit mortality rates.M. faveolata
“Montastraea annularis”
• Annual skeletal growth rate <1 cm.
• Highly susceptible to different diseases and/or syndromes.
• Inability to recover lost tissue following disease/syndrome impacts.
• Susceptible to prolonged exposure (>8-15 DHWs) to high SSTs.
• Susceptible to chronic water quality degradation (i.e., transparency, sedimentation, eutrophication).
Bleached M. faveolata
“Montastraea annularis”
• Susceptible to a wide diversity of
competitors (i.e., sponges, encrusting
tunicates, algae, cyanobacteria).
• Deepwater (>30 m) colonies appear to
be in better shape than those from be in better shape than those from
shallower reefs.
• All surveyed shallow-water reefs (<20
m) show at least a moderate degree
of population declines.
M. annularis
60
Increasing M. annularis abundance withincreasing water transparency
Mann
6E-2
0.24
0.42
0.6Low
Moderate
Moderate
ModerateHigh
High
High
High High
BombardedModerate
LowLow
Bombarded
High
2D Stress: 0.13
Water transparency (m)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
% C
ove
r M
. annu
laris
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
y= -4.57 + 1.42xr= 0.8488, p<0.0001
Threshold in
transparency?
Low Low
Low
LowBombarded
Moderate
Moderate
But significant coral reef decline
within 1997-2009
CR1
% C
ora
l cover
60
80
100
<4 m
4-8 m
>8 m
Repeated Measures ANOVAYear p<0.001Depth p=0.2881Year x Depth p=0.9999
(Hernández-Delgado & Sabat, in prep.)Year
- 1997 - 1998 - 1999 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009
% C
ora
l cover
0
20
40
60
CR1
M.
an
nula
ris s
pp
. co
mp
lex
30
40
50
Collapsing population of
Montastraea annularis
-72%
Time
- 1997 - 1998 - 1999 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007
% C
ove
r M
. a
nn
ula
ris
0
10
20
-52%
Oth
er e
xam
ple
s from
PR
% Coral cover
60
80
100
1999
2005
2007
Site
s
PFL
PCR
CLP-S
IBE
CBT
PSO
CSJ
PLT
PLM
DIA
NEG
CAR-S
CAR-D
PSAR
PAR-N
PAR-S
PMUJ
PCAR
% Coral cover
0
20
40
Cu
leb
raF
aja
rdo
CR
Mo
na
Eastern PR coast: M. annularis species complex
population collapse? c
om
ple
x s
pp.
40
50
60
2003
2005
2007
Site
PLT PLM CDI PFL PCR CBT
% C
over
M.
annula
ris c
om
ple
x s
pp.
0
10
20
30
An
om
alie
s
Temperature (C)
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
20
03
20
04
20
05
20
06
20
07
20
08
Yea
r-rou
nd
the
rma
l an
om
alie
s (20
03
-20
08
)
Pe
riod
Jan 1-15
Jan 16-31
Feb 1-15
Feb 16-28
Mar 1-15
Mar 16-31
Apr 1-15
Apr 16-30
May 1-15
May 16-31
Jun 1-15
Jun 16-30
Jul 1-15
Jul 16-31
Aug 1-15
Aug 16-31
Sep 1-15
Sep 16-30
Oct 1-15
Oct 16-31
Nov 1-15
Nov 16-30
Dec 1-15
Dec 16-31
Temperature (C)
-1.0
-0.5
0.0
0.5
Mon
thly M
axim
um
Mass bleaching impacted M. annularis complex
• Montastraea spp.
impacts:
– M.annularis 97.1%Alam
Ecar
Acer
Agra
Mcom
Ssid
Cnat
Dstr
Mfer
Irig
Dcli
Past
Mcav
Apal
*
– M.annularis 97.1%
– M. faveolata 90.4%
– M. franksi 92.1%
– M. cavernosa 36.7%
% Bleaching
0 20 40 60 80 100
Spe
cie
s
Cbre
Srad
Mmea
Dcyl
Pdiv
Pbra
Ahum
Aten
Afra
Lcuc
Ffrag
Isin
Msqu
Basb
Pfur
Mann
Aaga
Mfra
Mfav
Malc
Dlab
Ppor
Alam
*
**
Hernández-Delgado et al., unpub. data
Montastraea annularisMann
6E-2
0.24CLA1
DIA2
PFL1
PFL2
PFL4
PFL8
PFL9
PFL10
PCR2PCR5
PCR6
PCR7
PCR8 PCR9
PCR11
PLAR2
PLAR3
PSOL1
PSOL2
PSOL3
PSOL4PSOL5
PSOL6
PSOL7
PSOL8
PSOL9PSOL10
CBT1 CBT2
2D Stress: 0.2
Community structure and oceanographic patterns
influenced bleaching severity
Severe
Moderate
Limited
circulation
0.42
0.6
Sha1Sha2
Sha3
CSJ1
CSJ2
CSJ3
CLA2
CLA3
PLT1PLT2PLT3
PLT4
PLT5
PLT6
PLT7
PLT8
PLM1
PLM2
PLM3
PLM4
PLM5PLM6
PLM7
PLM8
PLM9
SDP1
SDP2
SDP3
SDP4
DIA1DIA3DIA4
PFL2PFL3 PFL5
PFL6
PFL7
PFL10PCR1
PCR3
PCR4
PCR10
PLAR1
PLAR2
CBT3
CBT4
CBT5
Moderate
MinimumModerate
circulation Strong
Circulation
Mona Island’s coral reefs are also collapsing
% C
ora
l
30
40
Garcia (2000)
Garcia (2000)Hernandez (1997)
Hernandez (1993)
Site
CAR
(5-1
0 m
)
CAR
(10-
15 m
)
SAR (5
m)
ARE (5
m)
MU
J (1
5-20
m)
PCA (1
0-12
m)
% C
ora
l
0
10
20
Garcia (2000)
Ferrer y Canals (1981)
Hernandez (1997)
Abrupt decline in % living tissue cover%
Cora
l co
ver
20
25
30
35
Pre-mortality
Post-mortality
Sites
CAR-S CAR-D PSAR PAR-N PAR-S PMUJ PCAR
% C
ora
l co
ver
0
5
10
15
20
Major reef-building species undergoing
significant mortality
• Most large reef builders
have recently died or
have suffered significant
partial mortality.
Montastraea annularis
% F
requ
ency
0
20
40
60
80
100Montastraea faveolata
PM
YBD
RTM
WP
Coplpohyllia natans
80
100Agaricia agaricites
• High prevalence of YBD
and other syndromes.%
Fre
quen
cy
0
20
40
60
80
Diploria clivosa
Site
CA
R (5
-10
m)
CAR
(10-
15 m
)
SAR (5
m)
ARE
(5 m
)M
UJ
(15-
20 m
)PC
A (10-
12 m
)
% F
req
ue
ncy
0
20
40
60
80
100Diploria strigosa
Site
CAR
(5-1
0 m
)C
AR (1
0-15
m)
SAR (5
m)
ARE (5
m)
MU
J (1
5-20
m)
PC
A (10-
12 m
)
Less than 5% of shallow-water colonies spawned
(only isolated polyps spawned in those colonies who did)
Data Sat. Aug. 23, 2008Playa Carlos Rosario, Culebra
# C
olo
nie
s 30
40
50
Spawned
Did not spawned
Species
Mann Mfav Mfra
# C
olo
nie
s
0
10
20
30
• Annual monitoring of shallow water
mass spawning.
– 2006: Total collapse.
– 2007: Total collapse.
– 2008-09: Nearly total collapse.
Are deep water reefs the coral spawning
(=genetic) refuges of the future?
Wednesday August 27, 2008 (Culebra)(10 nights after full moon)
Source: R. Kingsley, M. Mercado
Significant mortality in smaller size categories
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
lambda
Time period
4-8 m
> 8 m
Bleaching
Runoff &
disease Mortality &
fragmentation
Long-term consequences of climate change and
other human insults in coral reef functional roles
Declining food
Production!
Update 31-year old Coral Reef Inventory
• Revisit original sites.
• Also include:
– Adjacent islands and keys.– Adjacent islands and keys.
– Shelf-edge reefs.
– Mesophotic reefs.
• Develop a GIS-based model
regarding spatial distribution
and actual conditions of coral
colonies.
Go back to Montastraea Biology 101
• Study basic biology of coral
physiological fragments:
– Survival rates*.
– Growth rates*.
– Tissue regeneration*.
– Competition effects*.
– Gametogenesis*.
– Reproduction*.
– Population genetics.
– Impacts of environmental gradients.
– Geographic and bathimetric
distribution.
– Microbiology.
Population collapse? Hyerarchical approach:
From regional to coral colony scale
• Develop a protocol to monitor
individual tagged coral colonies.
• Modification of existing long-
term ecological monitoring term ecological monitoring
programs to address water
quality issues.
• Develop “early warning signals”.
• Sediment-water toxicity
assessments.
Applied research
• Develop studies regarding
bioerosion rates under different
environmental conditions.
• Document coral recruitment• Document coral recruitment
rates.
• Expand existing experiments
regarding larval culture and
reintroduction of coral spat to
natural reefs.
The past is still the key to the present!
• Develop large scale
sclerochronological studies to:
– Address historical rates of
ecological change across large ecological change across large
spatial scales.
– Determine historical patterns of
change in coral reefs across
anthropogenic gradients.
– Discriminate between historical
trends of localized human impacts
and climate change.
Acknowledgements
• This presentation was made possible by:
• NOAA/CSCOR (NA04NOS4260206, NA05NOS4261159,
NA07NOS4000192 through CCRI/UPR).
• NOAA/CRCP (NA05NMF4631050 to UPR/CRRG).
• NSF through UPR-CREST-CATEC.
[email protected]://ccri.uprm.edu/
http://crest-catec.hpcf.upr.edu/
787-764-0000, x-2009