Increasing relative abundance of Porites astreoides on Caribbean reefs mediated by an overall decline in coral cover

Abstract

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 359:1-10 (2008) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07454 Increasing relative abundance of Porites astreoides on Caribbean reefs mediated by an overall decline in coral cover Daniel H. Green, Peter J. Edmunds*, Robert C. Carpenter Department of Biology, California State University, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, California 91330-8303, USA *Corresponding author. Email: peter.edmunds@csun.edu ABSTRACT: On most coral reefs, the percentage cover of scleractinian corals has declined greatly over the last 30 yr; some species that are more resistant to mortality have been less affected than others. Porites astreoides is one species that has become a more prominent component of coral reef communities throughout the Caribbean. Analyses of coral reefs in shallow water (5 to 6 m depth) at 6 locations spanning a 4100 km arc of the Caribbean were used to evaluate the contribution of P. astreoides to contemporary reefs. Photoquadrats recorded in 2003/2004 were used to estimate the percentage cover and colony density of P. astreoides, and colony size-frequency structure was analyzed to gain insight into demographic processes. At all locations, reefs were characterized by <15% coral cover, but 16 to 72% of this cover was P. astreoides, at mean densities of 1.76 colonies per 0.25 m2. Most of these colonies (62%) were ≤50 cm2 in size, demonstrating that the populations were young and influenced strongly by recruitment. Comparison to historical data collected between 1974 and 1992 suggests that the relative percentage cover of P. astreoides in shallow water reef habitats has increased at a rate of 1.5% yr–1, from <20% in the 1970s to 50% in 2003/2004. These findings indicate that community structure of Caribbean coral reefs is changing on a decadal time scale to become dominated by 'weedy' corals that form rapidly growing, small colonies that are short lived and quickly replaced. KEY WORDS: Porites astreoides · Population dynamics · Coral reef · Decadal scale Full text in pdf format NextCite this article as: Green DH, Edmunds PJ, Carpenter RC (2008) Increasing relative abundance of Porites astreoides on Caribbean reefs mediated by an overall decline in coral cover. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 359:1-10. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07454 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 359. Online publication date: May 05, 2008 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2008 Inter-Research.