Bomb-cratered coral reefs in Puerto Rico, the untold story about a novel habitat: from reef destruction to community-based ecological rehabilitation
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| Natura: | Artículo científico |
| Lingua: | en |
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Universidad de Costa Rica
2014
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| _version_ | 1876465489726668800 |
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| author | Edwin A. Hernández-Delgado |
| author_facet | Edwin A. Hernández-Delgado |
| contents | Bomb-cratered coral reefs in Puerto Rico, the untold story about a novel habitat: from reef destruction to community-based ecological rehabilitation Edwin A. Hernández-Delgado Alfredo Montañez-Acuña Abimarie Otaño-Cruz Samuel E. Suleimán-Ramos Biología community coral reefs novel habitats bombing impacts military activities Ecological impacts of military bombing activities in Puerto Rico have often been described as minimal, with recurrent allegations of confounding effects by hurricanes, coral diseases and local anthropogenic stressors. Reef craters, though isolated, are associated with major colony fragmentation and framework pulverization, with a net permanent loss of reef bio-construction. In contrast, adjacent non-bombarded reef sections have significantly higher benthic spatial relief and biodiversity. We compared benthic communities on 35-50 year-old bomb-cratered coral reefs at Culebra and Vieques Islands, with adjacent non-impacted sites; 2) coral recruit density and fish community structure within and outside craters; and 3) early effects of a reha - bilitation effort using low-tech Staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis farming. Reef craters ranged in size from approximately 50 to 400m 2 and were largely dominated by heavily fragmented, flattened benthos, with coral cover usually below 2% and dominance by non-reef building taxa (i.e., filamentous algal turfs, macroalgae). Benthic spatial heterogeneity was lower within craters which also resulted in a lowered functional value as fish nursery ground. Fish species richness, abundance and biomass, and coral recruit density were lower within craters. Low-tech, community-based approaches to culture, harvest and transplant A. cervicornis into formerly bombarded grounds have proved successful in increasing percent coral cover, benthic spatial heterogeneity, and helping rehabilitate nursery ground functions. 2014 artículo científico 0034-7744 https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=44932432017 en http://www.redalyc.org/revista.oa?id=449 Revista de Biología Tropical application/pdf Universidad de Costa Rica Revista de Biología Tropical (Costa Rica) Num.3 Vol.62 |
| format | Artículo científico |
| id | redalyc_44932432017 |
| institution | Redalyc |
| language | en |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Universidad de Costa Rica |
| spellingShingle | Bomb-cratered coral reefs in Puerto Rico, the untold story about a novel habitat: from reef destruction to community-based ecological rehabilitation Edwin A. Hernández-Delgado Biología community coral reefs novel habitats bombing impacts military activities Bomb-cratered coral reefs in Puerto Rico, the untold story about a novel habitat: from reef destruction to community-based ecological rehabilitation Edwin A. Hernández-Delgado Alfredo Montañez-Acuña Abimarie Otaño-Cruz Samuel E. Suleimán-Ramos Biología community coral reefs novel habitats bombing impacts military activities Ecological impacts of military bombing activities in Puerto Rico have often been described as minimal, with recurrent allegations of confounding effects by hurricanes, coral diseases and local anthropogenic stressors. Reef craters, though isolated, are associated with major colony fragmentation and framework pulverization, with a net permanent loss of reef bio-construction. In contrast, adjacent non-bombarded reef sections have significantly higher benthic spatial relief and biodiversity. We compared benthic communities on 35-50 year-old bomb-cratered coral reefs at Culebra and Vieques Islands, with adjacent non-impacted sites; 2) coral recruit density and fish community structure within and outside craters; and 3) early effects of a reha - bilitation effort using low-tech Staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis farming. Reef craters ranged in size from approximately 50 to 400m 2 and were largely dominated by heavily fragmented, flattened benthos, with coral cover usually below 2% and dominance by non-reef building taxa (i.e., filamentous algal turfs, macroalgae). Benthic spatial heterogeneity was lower within craters which also resulted in a lowered functional value as fish nursery ground. Fish species richness, abundance and biomass, and coral recruit density were lower within craters. Low-tech, community-based approaches to culture, harvest and transplant A. cervicornis into formerly bombarded grounds have proved successful in increasing percent coral cover, benthic spatial heterogeneity, and helping rehabilitate nursery ground functions. 2014 artículo científico 0034-7744 https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=44932432017 en http://www.redalyc.org/revista.oa?id=449 Revista de Biología Tropical application/pdf Universidad de Costa Rica Revista de Biología Tropical (Costa Rica) Num.3 Vol.62 |
| title | Bomb-cratered coral reefs in Puerto Rico, the untold story about a novel habitat: from reef destruction to community-based ecological rehabilitation |
| topic | Biología community coral reefs novel habitats bombing impacts military activities |
| url | https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=44932432017 |