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In recent years, coral populations in the western Atlantic have undergone widespread declines from climate change, anthropogenic stressors, and infectious disease outbreaks. The pillar coral, Dendrogyra cylindrus, has been one of the most affected species, prompting its listing as threatened under the United States Endangered Species Act in 2014 and critically endangered under the IUCN Red List in 2022. However, due to its natural rarity, it is particularly difficult to study using conventional long-term monitoring studies or less common paleontological investigations. Here, we document for the first time, the multi-century persistence of D. cylindrus on high-latitude nearshore reefs off southeast Florida during the late Holocene. Using high-precision uranium–thorium (U-Th) dating, we constrain the ages of well-preserved subfossil D. cylindrus colonies recovered from newly described coral death assemblages. We also describe specific morphological characteristics and taphonomic indicators reflecting their unique depositional environment. Our findings demonstrate long-term persistence of D. cylindrus in southeast Florida, despite geographical isolation and historical rarity in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate plays a central role in coral-reef development, especially in marginal environments. The high-latitude reefs of southeast Florida are currently non-accreting, relict systems with low coral cover. This region also did not support the extensive Late Pleistocene reef development observed in many other locations around the world; however, there is evidence of significant reef building in southeast Florida during the Holocene. Using 146 radiometric ages from reefs extending ~ 120 km along Florida's southeast coast, we test the hypothesis that the latitudinal extent of Holocene reef development in this region was modulated by climatic variability. We demonstrate that although sea-level changes impacted rates of reef accretion and allowed reefs to backstep inshore as new habitats were flooded, sea level was not the ultimate cause of reef demise. Instead, we conclude that climate was the primary driver of the expansion and contraction of Florida's reefs during the Holocene. Reefs grew to 26.7° N in southeast Florida during the relatively warm, stable climate at the beginning of the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM) ~ 10,000 years ago, but subsequent cooling and increased frequency of winter cold fronts were associated with the equatorward contraction of reef building. By ~ 7800 years ago, actively accreting reefs only extended to 26.1° N. Reefs further contracted to 25.8° N after 5800 years ago, and by 3000 years ago reef development had terminated throughout southern Florida (24.5–26.7° N). Modern warming is unlikely to simply reverse this trend, however, because the climate of the Anthropocene will be fundamentally different from the HTM. By increasing the frequency and intensity of both warm and cold extreme-weather events, contemporary climate change will instead amplify conditions inimical to reef development in marginal reef environments such as southern Florida, making them more likely to continue to deteriorate than to resume accretion in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) was first observed in September 2014 near Virginia Key, Florida. In roughly six years, the disease spread throughout Florida and into the greater Caribbean basin. The high prevalence of SCTLD and high resulting mortality in coral populations, and the large number of susceptible species affected, suggest that this outbreak is one of the most lethal ever recorded. The initial recognition and management response to this catastrophic disease in Florida was slow, which delayed the start of monitoring programs and prevented coordinated research programs by at least two years. The slow management response was a result of several factors that operated concurrently. First, the Port Miami dredging project was ongoing during the coral disease epidemic and dredging rather than SCTLD was blamed by some managers and local environmental groups for the extreme coral losses reported in the project's compliance monitoring program. Second, this blame was amplified in the media because dredging projects are intuitively assumed to be bad for coral reefs. Third, during this same time State of Florida policy prohibited government employees to acknowledge global warming in their work. This was problematic because ocean warming is a proximal cause of many coral diseases. As a result, the well-known links between warming and coral disease were ignored. A consequence of this policy was that the dredging project provided an easy target to blame for the coral mortality noted in the monitoring program, despite convincing data that suggested otherwise. Specifically, results from the intensive compliance monitoring program, conducted by trained scientific divers, were clear. SCTLD that was killing massive numbers of corals throughout Florida was also killing corals at the dredge site - and in the same proportions and among the same suite of species. While eradication of the disease was never a possibility, early control measures may have slowed its spread or allowed for the rescue of significant numbers of large colonies of iconic species. This coral disease outbreak has similarities to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and there are lessons learned from both that will improve disease response outcomes in the future, to the benefit of coral reefs and human populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant population declines in Acropora cervicornis and A. palmata began in the 1970s and now exceed over 90%. The losses were caused by a combination of coral disease and bleaching, with possible contributions from other stressors, including pollution and predation. Reproduction in the wild by fragment regeneration and sexual recruitment is inadequate to offset population declines. Starting in 2007, the Coral Restoration Foundation™ evaluated the feasibility of outplanting A. cervicornis colonies to reefs in the Florida Keys to restore populations at sites where the species was previously abundant. Reported here are the results of 20 coral outplanting projects with each project defined as a cohort of colonies outplanted at the same time and location. Photogrammetric analysis and in situ monitoring (2007 to 2015) measured survivorship, growth, and condition of 2419 colonies. Survivorship was initially high but generally decreased after two years. Survivorship among projects based on colony counts ranged from 4% to 89% for seven cohorts monitored at least five years. Weibull survival models were used to estimate survivorship beyond the duration of the projects and ranged from approximately 0% to over 35% after five years and 0% to 10% after seven years. Growth rate averaged 10 cm/year during the first two years then plateaued in subsequent years. After four years, approximately one-third of surviving colonies were ≥ 50 cm in maximum diameter. Projects used three to sixteen different genotypes and significant differences did not occur in survivorship, condition, or growth. Restoration times for three reefs were calculated based on NOAA Recovery Plan (NRP) metrics (colony abundance and size) and the findings from projects reported here. Results support NRP conclusions that reducing stressors is required before significant population growth and recovery will occur. Until then, outplanting protects against local extinction and helps to maintain genetic diversity in the wild. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To confirm previous findings that hybridization of Caribbean acroporid corals occurred in the recent geologic past, we determined the uranium-thorium (U-Th) ages of two subfossil Acropora prolifera samples collected from nearshore coral death assemblages located off the coast of southeastern Florida. Our results indicate that A, prolifera existed in southeastern Florida during the late Holocene, confirming that Caribbean acroporid hybridization occurred prior to their region-wide die off in the1970s and 1980s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A repeated-measures coral monitoring program established as part of the PortMiami expansion program provided an unparalleled opportunity to quantify the levels of coral mortality that resulted from both local dredging stress and as a result of climate-related bleaching stress and the subsequent outbreak of a white-plague-like disease (WPD) epizootic. By comparing measured rates of coral mortality at 30 sites throughout Miami-Dade County to predicted mortality levels from three different coral mortality scenarios, we were able to evaluate the most likely source of coral mortality at both the local and regional levels during the 2014–2016 coral bleaching and WPD event. These include scenarios that assume (1) local dredging increases coral disease mortality, (2) regional climate-related stress is the proximal driver of coral disease mortality, and (3) local and regional stressors are both responsible for coral disease mortality. Our results show that species-specific susceptibility to disease is the determining factor in 93.3% of coral mortality evaluated throughout Miami-Dade County, whereas local dredging stress only accurately predicted coral mortality levels 6.7% of the time. None of the monitoring locations adjacent to the PortMiami expansion had levels of coral mortality that exceeded predictions when coral community composition was taken into account. The novel result of this analysis is that climate-mediated coral disease mortality was more than an order of magnitude (14x) more deadly than even the largest marine construction project performed in the USA, and that until climate change is addressed, it is likely that local attempts to manage coral resilience will continue to fail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acropora prolifera is an ecologically distinctive western Atlantic reef-building coral that originates from hybridization and back-crossing between A. palmata and A. cervicornis. It has been suggested that A. prolifera might be a recent product of precipitous decline in the abundance of the two parent species, forcing hybridization where both it and its product might not otherwise be prevalent phenomena. We present evidence that A. prolifera has a fossil record dating back to at least the late Pleistocene, and that it was ecologically significant prior to the region-wide die-back of acroporid corals. These data, when taken collectively, reveal that hybridization in the Caribbean acroporids is historically rooted and not a recent artifact of changes in Caribbean reef ecology. It is becoming apparent that hybrid taxa likely play an important but underappreciated role in coral reef ecology and reef-building more generally. This is consistent with recent recognition that interspecific hybridization can drive evolutionary innovation and cladogenesis in animals as well as plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. B Correction to: Coral Reefs b https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-023-02387-3 The original article has been corrected: the affiliation details for Anton Oleinik were incorrectly given as 'U.S. Geological Survey St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine, Science Center, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA' but should have been 'Department of Geosciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA'. [Extracted from the article]

The 1983-1984 Caribbean-wide mass mortality of the once ubiquitous long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum Philippi, 1845, is one of several factors considered responsible for coral reef change throughout the region. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of pre-mortality event density data for D. antillarum in the Florida Keys, making it difficult to determine pre-1983 population density levels. Results from surveys conducted during 1970-1973 in the lower Florida Keys, in shallow (<12 m) fore reef habitats, yielded relatively abundant and widespread D. antillarum densities in qualitative transects at five reefs prior to the 1983-1984 die-off. In quantitative surveys at one reef, Middle Sambo Reef in 1972, up to 7.9 individuals m-2 were recorded using quadrats in high-relief spur and groove habitat. A second mortality event in the Florida Keys, beginning in April 1991, again depressed urchin densities that had begun to recover from the 1983-1984 mass mortality. By 1992, D. antillarum densities (<0.01 nr2) were two orders of magnitude lower than pre-die-off estimates (range of 0.07-0.57 m-2 from several spur and groove reefs in the lower Florida Keys) and remained so through 2009. The pre-mortality echinoid density estimates detailed in the Florida Keys provide a baseline to compare with their current population status and should help inform managers about realistic recovery or restoration targets for D. antillarum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biotic resistance, the process by which new colonists are excluded from a community by predation from and/or competition with resident species, can prevent or limit species invasions. We examined whether biotic resistance by native predators on Caribbean coral reefs has influenced the invasion success of red lionfishes (Pterois volitans and Pterois miles), piscivores from the Indo-Pacific. Specifically, we surveyed the abundance (density and biomass) of lionfish and native predatory fishes that could interact with lionfish (either through predation or competition) on 71 reefs in three biogeographic regions of the Caribbean. We recorded protection status of the reefs, and abiotic variables including depth, habitat type, and wind/wave exposure at each site. We found no relationship between the density or biomass of lionfish and that of native predators. However, lionfish densities were significantly lower on windward sites, potentially because of habitat preferences, and in marine protected areas, most likely because of ongoing removal efforts by reserve managers. Our results suggest that interactions with native predators do not influence the colonization or post-establishment population density of invasive lionfish on Caribbean reefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A strong earthquake in the western Caribbean in 2009 had a catastrophic impact on uncemented, unconsolidated coral reefs in the central sector of the shelf lagoon of the Belizean barrier reef. In a set of 21 reef sites that had been observed prior to the earthquake, the benthic assemblages of 10 were eradicated, and one was partially damaged, by avalanching of their slopes. Ecological dynamics that had played out over the previous 23 years, including the mass mortalities of two sequentially dominant coral species and a large increase in the cover of an encrusting sponge, were instantaneously rendered moot in the areas of catastrophic reef-slope failure. Because these prior dynamics also determined the benthic composition and resilience of adjacent sections of reef that remained intact, the history of disturbance prior to the earthquake will strongly influence decadal-scale recovery in the failed areas. Geological analysis of the reef framework yielded a minimum return time of 2000-4000 years for this type of high-amplitude event. Anthropogenic degradation of ecosystems must be viewed against the backdrop of long-period, natural catastrophes, such as the impact of strong earthquakes on uncemented, lagoonal reefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Coral reefs are facing increasing pressure from natural and anthropogenic stressors that have already caused significant worldwide declines. In January 2010, coral reefs of Florida, United States, were impacted by an extreme coldwater anomaly that exposed corals to temperatures well below their reported thresholds (16&dig;C), causing rapid coral mortality unprecedented in spatial extent and severity. Methodology/Principal Findings: Reef surveys were conducted from Martin County to the Lower Florida Keys within weeks of the anomaly. The impacts recorded were catastrophic and exceeded those of any previous disturbances in the region. Coral mortality patterns were directly correlated to in-situ and satellite-derived cold-temperature metrics. These impacts rival, in spatial extent and intensity, the impacts of the well-publicized warm-water bleaching events around the globe. The mean percent coral mortality recorded for all species and subregions was 11.5% in the 2010 winter, compared to 0.5% recorded in the previous five summers, including years like 2005 where warm-water bleaching was prevalent. Highest mean mortality (15%-39%) was documented for inshore habitats where temperatures were <11&dig;C for prolonged periods. Increases in mortality from previous years were significant for 21 of 25 coral species, and were 1-2 orders of magnitude higher for most species. Conclusions/Significance: The cold-water anomaly of January 2010 caused the worst coral mortality on record for the Florida Reef Tract, highlighting the potential catastrophic impacts that unusual but extreme climatic events can have on the persistence of coral reefs. Moreover, habitats and species most severely affected were those found in high-coral cover, inshore, shallow reef habitats previously considered the ''oases'' of the region, having escaped declining patterns observed for more offshore habitats. Thus, the 2010 cold-water anomaly not only caused widespread coral mortality but also reversed prior resistance and resilience patterns that will take decades to recover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The threespot damselfish, Stegastes planifrons (Cuvier), is important in mediating interactions among corals, algae, and herbivores on Caribbean coral reefs. The preferred microhabitat of S. planifrons is thickets of the branching staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis. Within the past few decades, mass mortality of A. cervicornis from white-band disease and other factors has rendered this coral a minor ecological component throughout most of its range. Methodology/Principal Findings: Survey data from Jamaica (heavily fished), Florida and the Bahamas (moderately fished), the Cayman Islands (lightly to moderately fished), and Belize (lightly fished) indicate that distributional patterns of S. planifrons are positively correlated with live coral cover and topographic complexity. Our results suggest that speciesspecific microhabitat preferences and the availability of topographically complex microhabitats are more important than the abundance of predatory fish as proximal controls on S. planifrons distribution and abundance. Conclusions/Significance: The loss of the primary microhabitat of S. planifrons-A. cervicornis-has forced a shift in the distribution and recruitment of these damselfish onto remaining high-structured corals, especially the Montastraea annularis species complex, affecting coral mortality and algal dynamics throughout the Caribbean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some authors argue that overfishing is an important reason that reef corals have declined in recent decades. Their reasoning is that overfishing removes herbivores, releasing macroalgae to overgrow and kill the corals. The evidence suggests, however, that global climate change and emergent marine diseases make a far greater contribution to coral mortality, and that macroalgae generally grow on the exposed skeletal surfaces of corals that are already dead. Macroalgal dominance, therefore, is an effect rather than a cause of coral mortality. Marine protected areas (MPAs), which are usually established to protect stocks of reef fish, foster populations of herbivorous fish under at least some circumstances. Increased herbivory can reduce algal cover, potentially accelerating the recovery of coral populations inside MPAs; however, establishing MPAs will have only a limited impact on coral recovery unless policymakers confront the accelerating negative effects of the global-scale sources of coral mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses various issues related to the folly of Coral Restoration Programs following natural disturbances in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS). Coral reefs around the world have changed dramatically over the past few decades. At the present rate of destruction, reef ecosystems will likely suffer continued significant degradation, possibly to the point of irreversible decline. In FKNMS, one possible course of action is to attempt to restore all damaged and disturbed reefs to fully functional ecosystems at a rate resulting in no net loss of ecosystem value. To date, most coral reef restoration programs within the FKNMS have focused on the physical damage caused by humans, although there has also been a call for intervening and restoring reefs affected by natural disturbances.

Staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) and elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata), are important reef builders in the Caribbean. In the early to middle Holocene (10 000--6000 years ago), when sea temperatures were warmer than today, Acropora-dominated reefs were common along the east coast of Florida as far north as Palm Beach County. The fossil record shows that the northern limits of these two cold-sensitive species subsequently contracted to Biscayne Bay, south of Miami, apparently as a result of climatic cooling. This response of the Acropora species to climate provides a context for interpreting recent shifts in their geographic distribution. Despite recent disease-induced mass mortalities throughout the Caribbean and western Atlantic, the two species are now re-expanding their ranges northward along the Florida Peninsula and into the northern Gulf of Mexico, coincident with increasing sea temperatures. In the face of continued global warming, the northernmost limit of this range expansion will ultimately be determined by a combination of temperature and other physical constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Populations of the staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis, collapsed throughout the Caribbean region from the late 1970s through the 1990s. We tested the hypothesis that this recent, multidecadal interruption in coral growth was a novel event in the late Holocene. Eight cores, extracted from a lagoonal reef in Discovery Bay, Jamaica dated to 440–1260 CalBP and consisted almost entirely of A. cervicornis rubble. The A. cervicornis in the cores showed significantly less internal bioerosion than A. cervicornis from modern death assemblages in Discovery Bay, indicating generally shorter post-mortem exposure at the sediment–water interface in the past. A. cervicornis grew continuously and was buried rapidly during the millennium preceding the 1980s, with the exception of a possible hiatus in growth and burial at some point 300–600 years ago. In the 1980s, a combination of perturbations, which included overfishing and (possibly) other forms of human interference, caused an unprecedented disruption in the growth and burial of staghorn coral populations in Discovery Bay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the mechanism of the species turnover on coral reefs in Belize. Effect of high water temperatures on coral Agaricia tenuifolia; Dominance of Acropora cervicornis in the central shelf lagoon; Characteristic features of coral reefs turnover in the Caribbean region.

Focuses on the white-band disease among corals and its impact on coral reefs in Caribbean region. Relationship between coral mortality rate and white-band disease in the region; Role of decreased herbivory and increased nutrient input in coral mortality; Connection between white-band disease and increased human activity in the region.

Winnipegosis (Middle Devonian) pinnacle reefs have been a major exploration target within the southern Elk Point Basin for over 20 years. To date, ten pinnacle reefs have been drilled in North Dakota with commercial quantities of oil being conspicuously absent. Many of these pinnacle reefs have excellent reservoir potential as indicated by the recent discovery of the Home-Tableland reef in southeastern Saskatchewan. The pinnacle reefs of this study show an overall, aggradational, shallowing-upward motif which suggests development during a relative rise in sea level. The shape, morphology, and overall extent of these reefs are related to the size, density, and bathymetry of the initiating mounds. Bio- and lithofacies evidence strongly indicates that most of these reefs grew to sea level and formed wave-resistant structures. The subsequent drop in sea level produced a succession of shallow water facies. Continued restriction of the basin subaerially exposed the tops of the pinnacles resulting in extensive vadose diagenesis. Both destructive and constructive diagenetic processes have influenced the present porosity and permeability of the pinnacle reefs. Dolomitization and degree of dissolution are the two most important factors controlling porosity development and these diagenetic processes are locally controlled by the depositional environment. The best reservoir quality rocks are found associated with the higher energy reefal lithofacies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many Caribbean reefs have experienced a phase-shift in community structure, the principle features being a decline in coral cover and an increase in macroalgal biomass. However, one Jamaican reef—Dairy Bull on the north shore near Discovery Bay—is once again dominated by scleractinian corals and several key species have returned. Living coral cover at 6-8 m depth at Dairy Bull has doubled over the past 9 years and is now ∼54%. The absolute cover of Acropora cervicornis was <1% in 1995, but increased to ∼11% by January 2004. During this time the cover of macroalgae decreased by 90%, from 45 to 6%. We speculate that long-lived colonies of Montastraea annularis may have facilitated the recovery of this reef by providing structural refugia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the discovery of the exposed colonies of Siderastrea sidereal coral at Grecian Rocks within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in December 2006. Topics discussed include the growth of punctuated coral in response to intermittent storms, the measurement of the exposed corals and the resilience of the colonies.

Deals with coral bleaching in Belize. Mass mortality of scleractinian corals on lagoonal reefs; Response to high temperature and/or high incident solar radiation; Dominant space-occupier on lagoonal reefs; Degradation of coral reef ecosystems.