Widespread loss of Caribbean acroporid corals was underway before coral bleaching and disease outbreaks
| Autor: | Katie L. Cramer, Mary K. Donovan, Jeremy B. C. Jackson, Chelsea A. Korpanty, Benjamin J. Greenstein, John M. Pandolfi, Geoffrey M. Cook |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Conservation of Natural Resources Coral bleaching Coral Population Fisheries Oceanography 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Disease Outbreaks Acropora Dominance (ecology) Animals education Reef Research Articles education.field_of_study geography Multidisciplinary geography.geographical_feature_category Overfishing biology Ecology Coral Bleaching Coral Reefs 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology SciAdv r-articles biology.organism_classification Anthozoa Habitat Caribbean Region Research Article |
| Zdroj: | Science Advances |
| ISSN: | 2375-2548 |
| Popis: | Endangered staghorn and elkhorn corals began disappearing from Caribbean reefs decades before climate change impacts. The mass mortality of acroporid corals has transformed Caribbean reefs from coral- to macroalgal-dominated habitats since systematic monitoring began in the 1970s. Declines have been attributed to overfishing, pollution, sea urchin and coral disease, and climate change, but the mechanisms are unresolved due to the dearth of pre-1970s data. We used paleoecological, historical, and survey data to track Acropora presence and dominance throughout the Caribbean from the prehuman period to present. Declines in dominance from prehuman values first occurred in the 1950s for Acropora palmata and the 1960s for Acropora cervicornis, decades before outbreaks of acroporid disease or bleaching. We compared trends in Acropora dominance since 1950 to potential regional and local drivers. Human population negatively affected and consumption of fertilizer for agriculture positively affected A. palmata dominance, the latter likely due to lower human presence in agricultural areas. The earlier, local roots of Caribbean Acropora declines highlight the urgency of mitigating local human impacts. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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