Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T10:13:36.011Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Environmental effects on coral growth and recruitment in the Caribbean

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2011

M. James C. Crabbe
M. James C. Crabbe*
Affiliation:
Institute for Research in the Applied Natural Sciences, Faculty of Creative Arts, Technologies and Science, University of Bedfordshire, Park Square, Luton, LU1 3JU, UK
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: M.J.C. Crabbe, Institute for Research in the Applied Natural Sciences, Faculty of Creative Arts, Technologies and Science, University of Bedfordshire, Park Square, Luton, LU1 3JU, UK email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Knowledge about factors that are important in coral reef growth help us to understand how reef ecosystems react following major anthropogenic and environmental disturbances. In addition, they may help the industry understand how aquarists can improve the health of their corals. I have studied environmental and climate effects on corals on fringing reefs in Jamaica. Radial growth rates (mm/yr) of non-branching corals calculated on an annual basis from 2000–2008 showed few significant differences either spatially or temporally along the north coast, although growth rates tended to be higher on reefs of higher rugosity and lower macroalgal cover. I have also reconstructed recruitment patterns, using growth modelling, for non-branching corals at sites on the north coast of Jamaica near Discovery Bay, and near Kingston Harbour, on the south coast. For all the sites, recruitment of non-branching corals was lowered due to hurricanes or severe storms. For 1560 non-branching corals at sites along the north coast of Jamaica, from Rio Bueno to Pear Tree, there was a significant difference in estimated coral recruitment in years when there were no storms or hurricanes by comparison to years when storms and hurricanes impacted the area. For 347 non-branching corals at sites in the Port Royal Cays on the south coast, there was a significant difference in estimated coral recruitment in years when there were no storms or hurricanes by comparison to years when storms and hurricanes impacted the area. Interestingly, recruitment of Siderastrea siderea on to the side of the ship channel at Rackham's Cay (~100 m from the path taken by large ships) outside Kingston Harbour had been consistent since its construction. These findings have important implications for better understanding the impacts of tropical storms on coral reefs and for aquarists to better maintain coral reef species in artificial environments.

Keywords

tropical stormshurricanescyclonesbleachingclimate changeglobal warmingJamaica
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 92 , Issue 4: Coral Reefs, the Aquarium Trade and the Maritime Industry , June 2012 , pp. 747 - 752
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abrego, D., Ulstrup, K.E., Willis, B.L. and van Oppen, M.J.H. (2008) Species-specific interactions between algal endosymbionts and coral hosts define their bleaching response to heat and light stress. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B—Biological Sciences 275, 2273–2282.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Adger, W.N., Hughes, T.P., Folke, C., Carpenter, S.R. and Rockstrom, J. (2005) Social–ecological resilience to coastal disasters. Science 309, 1036–1039.Google Scholar
Adjeroud, M., Michonneau, F., Edmunds, P.J., Chancerelle, Y., de Loma, T. L., Penin, L., Thibaut, L., Vidal-Dupiol, J., Salvat, B. and Galzin, R. (2009) Recurrent disturbances, recovery trajectories, and resilience of coral assemblages on a South Central Pacific reef. Coral Reefs 28, 775–780.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alvarez-Filip, L., Dulvy, N.K., Gill, J.A., Côté, I.M. and Watkinson, A.R. (2009) Flattening of Caribbean coral reefs: region-wide declines in architectural complexity. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B—Biological Sciences 276, 3019–3025.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Andrews, J.E., Greenaway, A.M., Bigg, G.R., Webber, D.F., Dennis, P.F. and Guthrie, G.A. (1999) Pollution history of a tropical estuary revealed by combined hydrodynamic modelling and sediment geochemistry. Journal of Marine Systems 18, 333–343.Google Scholar
Atkinson, M.J., Carlson, B. and Crow, G.L. (1995) Coral growth in high-nutrient, low pH seawater: a case study of corals cultured at the Waikiki Aquarium, Honolulu, Hawaii. Coral Reefs 14, 215–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carricart-Ganivet, J.P., Beltrán-Torrs, A.U., Merino, M. and Ruiz-Zárate, M.A. (2000) Skeletal extension, density and calcification rate of the reef building coral Montastrea annularis (Ellis and Solander) in the Mexican Caribbean. Bulletin of Marine Science 66, 215–224.Google Scholar
Carpenter, S., Walker, B., Anderies, J.M. and Abel, N. (2001) From metaphor to measurement: resilience of what to what? Ecosystems 4, 765–781.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cofforth, M.A., Poland, D.M., Petrou, E.L., Brazeau, D.A. and Holmberg, J.C. (2010) Environmental symbiont acquisition may not be the solution to warming seas for reef-building corals. PLoS ONE 5, e13258.Google Scholar
Coles, S.L. and Brown, E.K. (2007) Twenty-five years of change in coral coverage on a hurricane impacted reef in Hawai'i: the importance of recruitment. Coral Reefs 26, 705–717.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crabbe, M.J.C. (2008) Influence of macroalgal cover on coral colony growth rates on fringing reefs of Discovery Bay, Jamaica. Open Marine Biology Journal 2, 1–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crabbe, M.J.C. (2009) Scleractinian coral population size structures and growth rates indicate coral resilience on the fringing reefs of North Jamaica. Marine Environmental Research 67, 189–198.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crabbe, M.J.C. (2010a) Topography and spatial arrangement of reef-building corals on the fringing reefs of North Jamaica may influence their response to disturbance from bleaching. Marine Environmental Research 69, 158–162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crabbe, M.J.C. (2010b) Coral ecosystem resilience, conservation and management on the reefs of Jamaica in the face of anthropogenic activities and climate change. Diversity 2, 881–896.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crabbe, M.J.C., Mendes, J.M. and Warner, G.F. (2002) Lack of recruitment of non-branching corals in Discovery Bay is linked to severe storms. Bulletin of Marine Science 70, 939–945.Google Scholar
Crabbe, M.J.C., Martinez, E., Garcia, C., Chub, J., Castro, L. and Guy, J. (2008) Growth modelling indicates hurricanes and severe storms are linked to low coral recruitment in the Caribbean. Marine Environmental Research 65, 364–368.Google Scholar
Crabbe, M.J.C., Martinez, E., Garcia, C., Chub, J., Castro, L. and Guy, J. (2010) Is capacity building important in policy development for sustainability? A case study using action plans for sustainable Marine Protected Areas in Belize. Society and Natural Resources 23, 181–190.Google Scholar
Creary, M., Alcolado, P., Coelho, V., Crabbe, M.J.C., Green, S., Geraldes, F., Hibbert, M., Jones, R., Jones-Smith, L., Manfrino, C., Manuel, S., McCoy, C. and Weiner, J. (2008) Status of coral reefs in the Northern Caribbean and Western Atlantic GCRMN Mode in 2008. In Wilkinson, C. (ed.) Status of coral reefs of the world: 2008. Townsville, QL: Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, and Reef and Rainforest Research Centre, pp. 239–252.Google Scholar
D'Elia, C.F., Webb, K.L. and Porter, J.W. (1981) Nitrate-rich groundwater inputs to Discovery Bay, Jamaica: a significant source of N to local reefs? Bulletin of Marine Science 31, 903–910.Google Scholar
Douglas, A.E. (2003) Coral bleaching—how and why? Marine Pollution Bulletin 46, 385–392.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eakin, C.M., Morgan, J.A., Heron, S.F., Smith, T.B., Liu, G., Alvarez-Filip, L., Baca, B., Bartels, E., Bastidas, C., Bouchon, C., Brandt, M., Bruckner, A., Bunkley-Williams, L., Cameron, A., Causey, B.D., Chiappone, M., Christensen, T.R.L., Crabbe, M.J.C., Day, O., de la Guardia, E., Díaz-Pulido, G., DiResta, D., Gil-Agudelo, D.L., Gilliam, D., Ginsburg, R., Gore, S., Guzman, H.M., Hendee, J.C., Hernández-Delgado, E.A., Husain, E., Jeffrey, C.F.G., Jones, R.J., Jordán-Dahlgren, E., Kaufman, L., Kline, D.I., Kramer, P., Lang, J.C., Lirman, D., Mallela, J., Manfrino, C., Maréchal, J-P., Marks, K., Mihaly, J., Miller, W.J., Mueller, E.M., Muller, E., Orozco Toro, C.A., Oxenford, H.A., Ponce-Taylor, D., Quinn, N., Ritchie, K.B., Rodríguez, S., Rodríguez Ramírez, A., Romano, S., Samhouri, J.F., Sánchez, J.A., Schmahl, G.P., Shank, B., Skirving, W.J., Steiner, S.C.C., Villamizar, E., Walsh, S.M., Walter, C., Weil, E., Williams, E.H., Woody Roberson, K. and Yusuf, Y. (2010) Caribbean corals in crisis: record thermal stress, bleaching, and mortality in 2005. PLoS ONE 5, e13969. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013969CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elahi, R. and Edmunds, P.J. (2007) Consequences of fission in the coral Sidastrea siderea: growth rates of small colonies and clonal input to population structure. Coral Reefs 26, 271–276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flood, V.S., Pitt, J.M. and Smith, S.R. (2005) Historical and ecological analysis of coral communities in Castle Harbour (Bermuda) after more than a century of environmental perturbation. Marine Pollution Bulletin 51, 545–557.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Forsman, Z.H., Rinkevich, B. and Hunter, C.L. (2006) Investigating fragment size for culturing reef-building corals (Porites lobata and P. compressa) in ex situ nurseries. Aquaculture 261, 89–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, N.L., Baums, I.B. and Mumby, P.J. (2007) Sexual vs asexual reproduction in an ecosystem engineer: the massive coral Montastrea annularis. Journal of Animal Ecology 76, 384–391.Google Scholar
Gayle, P.M.H., Wilson-Kelly, P. and Green, S. (2005) Transplantation of benthic species to mitigate impacts of coastal developments in Jamaica. Revista de Biologia Tropical 53, 105–115.Google Scholar
Gilmour, J.P. (1999) Experimental investigation into the effects of suspended sediment on fertilisation, larval survival and settlement in scleractinian coral. Marine Biology 135, 451–462.Google Scholar
Greenaway, A.M. and Gordon-Smith, D.-A. (2006) The effects of rainfall on the distribution of inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus in Discovery Bay, Jamaica. Limnology and Oceanography 51, 2206–2220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grimsditch, G.D. and Salm, R.V. (2006) Coral reef resilience and resistance to bleaching. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN/The Nature Conservancy, 52 pp.Google Scholar
Hubbard, D.K. and Scaturo, D. (1985) Growth rates of 7 species of scleractinean corals. Bulletin of Marine Science 36, 325–338.Google Scholar
Hughes, T.P. and Jackson, J.B.C. (1980) Do corals lie about their age? Some demographic consequences of partial mortality, fission and fusion. Science 209, 713–715.Google Scholar
Hughes, T.P. and Tanner, J.E. (2000) Recruitment failure, life histories and long-term decline of Caribbean corals. Ecology 81, 2250–2263.Google Scholar
Huston, M. (1985) Variation of coral growth rates with depth at Discovery Bay, Jamaica. Coral Reefs 4, 19–25.Google Scholar
Idjadi, J.A., Lee, S.C., Bruno, J.F., Precht, W.F., Allen-Requa, L. and Edmunds, P.J. (2006) Rapid phase-shift reversal on a Jamaican coral reef. Coral Reefs 25, 209–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keller, B.D., Gleason, D.F., McLeod, E., Woodley, C.M., Airamé, S., Causey, B.D., Friedlander, A.M., Grober-Dunsmore, R., Johnson, J.E., Miller, S.L. and Steneck, R.S. (2009) Climate change, coral reef ecosystems, and management options for marine protected areas. Environmental Management 44, 1069–1088.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lenihan, H.S., Adjeroud, M., Kotchen, M.J., Hench, J.L. and Nakamura, T. (2008) Reef structure regulates small-scale spatial variation in coral bleaching. Marine Ecology Progress Series 370, 127–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, A.F., van Oppen, M.J.H. and Willis, B.L. (2004) Flexibility in algal endosymbioses shapes growth in reef corals. Science 304, 1492–1494.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loya, Y. (1976) Effects of turbidity and sedimentation on the community structure of Puerto Rican corals. Bulletin of Marine Science 26, 450–466.Google Scholar
Mallela, J. and Crabbe, M.J.C. (2009) Hurricanes and coral bleaching linked to changes in coral recruitment in Tobago. Marine Environmental Research 68, 158–162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mansingh, A. and Wilson, A. (1995) Insecticide contamination of Jamaican environment III. Baseline studies on the status of insecticidal pollution of Kingston Harbour. Marine Pollution Bulletin 30, 640–645.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maxam, A.M. and Webber, D.F. (2009) Using the distribution of physicochemical variables to portray reefal bay waters. Journal of Coastal Research 25, 1210–1221.Google Scholar
Meesters, E.H., Hilterman, M., Kardinaal, E., de Vries, M. and Bak, R.P.M. (2001) Colony size–frequency distributions of scleractinian coral populations: spatial and interspecific variation. Marine Ecology Progress Series 209, 43–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendes, J.M. and Woodley, J.D. (2002) Timing of reproduction in Montastrea annularis: relationship to environmental variables. Marine Ecology Progress Series 227, 241–251.Google Scholar
Mumby, P.J. (1999) Bleaching and hurricane disturbances to populations of coral recruits in Belize. Marine Ecology Progress Series 190, 27–35.Google Scholar
Mumby, P.J. and Harborne, A.R. (2010) Marine reserves enhance the recovery of corals on Caribbean reefs. PLoS ONE 5, e8657.Google Scholar
National Environmental Protection Agency, Jamaica (2002) Final monitoring report, dredging and reclamation programme in Kingston Harbour November 29, 2002. National Environmental Protection Agency, Jamaica. Available at: http://www.nrca.org/publications/coastal/monitoring_rep/reports/MONITORING_REPORTFnl.pdf (accessed 10 May 2010).Google Scholar
Nyström, M., Graham, N.A.J., Lokrantz, J. and Norström, A.V. (2008) Capturing the cornerstones of coral reef resilience: linking theory to practice. Coral Reefs 27, 795–809.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Okubo, N., Yamamoto, H.H., Nakaya, F. and Okaji, K. (2010) Reproduction in cultured versus wild coral colonies: fertilization, larval oxygen consumption, and survival. Biological Bulletin. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole 218, 230–236.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schlacher, T.A., Stark, J. and Fischer, A.B.P. (2007) Evaluation of artificial light regimes and substrate types for aquaria propagation of the staghorn coral Acropora solitaryensis. Aquaculture 269, 278–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schutte, V.G.W., Selig, E.R. and Bruno, J.F (2010) Regional spatio-temporal trends in Caribbean coral reef benthic communities. Marine Ecology Progress Series 402, 115–122.Google Scholar
Schutter, M., Van Velthoven, B., Janse, M., Osinga, R., Janssen, M., Wijffels, R and Verreth, J. (2008) The effect of irradiance on long-term skeletal growth and net photosynthesis in Galaxea fasicularis under four light conditions. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 367, 75–80.Google Scholar
Smith, L.D., Devlin, M., Haynes, D. and Gilmour, J.P. (2005) A demographic approach to monitoring the health of coral reefs. Marine Pollution Bulletin 51, 399–407.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stat, M., Loh, W.K.W., Hoegh-Guldberg, O. and Carter, D.A. (2008) Symbiont acquisition strategy drives host–symbiont associations in the southern Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 27, 763–772.Google Scholar
Szmant, A.M. (1986) Reproductive ecology of Caribbean reef corals. Coral Reefs 5, 43–53.Google Scholar
Todd, P.A., Sidle, R.C and Lewin-Koh, N.J.I. (2004) An aquarium experiment for identifying the physical factors inducing morphological change in two massive scleractinian corals. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 299, 97–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vermeij, M.J.A., Fogarty, N.D. and Miller, M.W. (2006) Pelagic conditions affect larval behavior, survival, and settlement patterns in the Caribbean coral Montastraea faveolata. Marine Ecology Progress Series 310, 119–128.Google Scholar
Wade, B.A.Antonio, L. and Mahon, R. (1972) Increasing organic pollution in Kingston Harbour, Jamaica. Marine Pollution Bulletin 3, 106–111.Google Scholar