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<p>Scleractinian corals are foundation organisms under continuous pressure from global and local stressors. Coral habitats in the Southwestern Atlantic are known for their highly endemic fauna that thrive under suboptimal conditions. Exploring the dynamics of demographic parameters offers crucial insights into the processes driving colony growth, fragmentation, mortality, and recovery, which cannot be captured by studying coral cover alone. Here, we monitored the dynamics of colony size, regeneration and mortality of two dominant coral species, <i>Mussismilia hispida</i> and <i>Siderastrea stellata</i>, in Southeastern Brazil. We visited the same sites on three occasions counting and measuring all colonies visible within haphazardly positioned transects. Also, we applied a standardised injury to marked colonies and checked for tissue regeneration regularly for the following 384 days. We found that the average colony size decreased in both <i>M. hispida</i> and <i>S. stellata</i>, but the underlying processes were likely different. Given the importance of larger colonies for both populations, the loss of larger adults despite maintenance of colony density led to a substantial decrease in total coral cover of <i>M. hispida</i>. On the other hand, the maintenance of larger colonies and the increment of smaller size classes increased the total cover of <i>S. stellata</i> over time. Their failure to recover from tissue damage and their high partial mortality suggest that both species have been under intense stress, but overall responses varied considerably between and within species. These species had different trajectories, with populations of the hermatypic <i>M. hispida</i> declining over the region.</p>

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Decadal snapshots of population parameters reveal divergent demographic trajectories of two coral species on Southwestern Atlantic marginal reefs

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年1月28日

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  • L. A. Carlos-Júnior,
  • C. Zilberberg,
  • J. C. Creed,
  • A. G. Garrido,
  • C. A. M. M. Cordeiro,
  • F. A. Casares,
  • S. S. Oigman-Pszczol

摘要

Scleractinian corals are foundation organisms under continuous pressure from global and local stressors. Coral habitats in the Southwestern Atlantic are known for their highly endemic fauna that thrive under suboptimal conditions. Exploring the dynamics of demographic parameters offers crucial insights into the processes driving colony growth, fragmentation, mortality, and recovery, which cannot be captured by studying coral cover alone. Here, we monitored the dynamics of colony size, regeneration and mortality of two dominant coral species, Mussismilia hispida and Siderastrea stellata, in Southeastern Brazil. We visited the same sites on three occasions counting and measuring all colonies visible within haphazardly positioned transects. Also, we applied a standardised injury to marked colonies and checked for tissue regeneration regularly for the following 384 days. We found that the average colony size decreased in both M. hispida and S. stellata, but the underlying processes were likely different. Given the importance of larger colonies for both populations, the loss of larger adults despite maintenance of colony density led to a substantial decrease in total coral cover of M. hispida. On the other hand, the maintenance of larger colonies and the increment of smaller size classes increased the total cover of S. stellata over time. Their failure to recover from tissue damage and their high partial mortality suggest that both species have been under intense stress, but overall responses varied considerably between and within species. These species had different trajectories, with populations of the hermatypic M. hispida declining over the region.