Cheryl Woodley

2016

2017

2018

Reproductive failure in Caribbean corals has been identified as a critical factor contributing to the threatened status of the Acropora spp. and 5 new species and preventing their recovery and delisting from ESA. This proposal is based on findings that assessed reproductive condition of A. palmata across 34 US Caribbean reefs in 2013 (CRCP-#512). An objective of CRCP-#512 was to identify ‘zombie’ populations and then to investigate those populations to determine causal factors and devise mitigation actions. Findings showed that reproductive effort ranged from 0%-100% (gonad presence) with a median of 40% (ova averages: St. John USVI 70%, Buck Is USVI, 60%, Puerto Rico 55%, St. Thomas 45%, Lower Keys 22.5%, Upper Keys 20%, and Salt River Bay USVI 7.5%.). A. palmata populations at Salt River Bay (SRB), St. Croix, were heavily impacted; 2/4 sites had 0% reproductive effort with other sites 10% and 20%. A team of environmental chemists, toxicologists, and resource managers has been assembled to conduct an integrated environmental investigation into causes of reproductive failure in at-risk populations of ESA listed Acropora palmata. The overall project goal is to determine potential causes of reproductive failure in four Acropora palmata populations at Salt River Bay (SARI), St. Croix in order to provide management options for mitigation. Reproductive failure in Caribbean corals has been identified as a critical factor contributing to the threatened status of the Acropora spp., which is preventing their recovery and delisting from ESA. This project builds on two previous studies and is a continuation of our 2017 project. The first project was a 2013 survey of A. palmata reproductive condition across the U.S. Caribbean. Salt River Bay populations were the most severely impacted. Of the four populations sampled (40 colonies total), only three colonies had signs of gonadal tissue, two weeks before spawning. The second study (2015) surveyed sediment porewater from USVI and CRCP priority sites (20) along the coast of St. Croix for toxicity. Based on this information, a team of environmental chemists, toxicologists, and resource managers conducted a survey of sediment, water and coral tissues from Salt River Bay (2017) that evaluated sediment contaminants, heavy metals, bacterial water quality, coral skeletal trace elements (proxy for water quality) and coral reproductive condition. The sediment samples taken in July 2017 provide a unique opportunity for comparisons pre- and post-hurricane conditions to determine if the excessive runoff, storm surge and sediment loading has increased contaminants in SARI and thus increased threat-levels for ESA corals. We propose to conduct a post-hurricane sampling of sediment for contaminant analysis; conduct laboratory-based assays to evaluate toxicity thresholds of targeted contaminants found in pre- and post- sediment samples, and determine whether porewater or contaminants have genotoxic effects. Objectives 1) Conduct bacterial mutation bioassays to evaluate sediment and sediment porewater genotoxicity pre- and post- hurricane. This assay is important because mutagenic chemicals can induce serious disease as well as affecting gonadal tissue precursors, which has been linked to fertility issues and negative consequences for offspring. 2) Conduct contaminant chemistry on post-hurricane sediment samples. Samples will be analyzed for persistent organic pollutants including PCBs and organochlorine pesticides using GC-MS. 3) Conduct sea urchin toxicity bioassays to determine toxicity thresholds of priority contaminants identified by contaminant chemistry contained in 2017 sediment samples. 4) Examine sediment foraminifera biodiversity as an indicator of habitat suitability for supporting coral growth. Identifying possible risk-factors to coral reproduction will help inform an ongoing epidemiological assessment of reproductive condition of A. palmata and assist recovery efforts. Results of this investigation also have relevance to other marine-life within these ecosystems. Partners: NIST-Charleston; Ecotoxicology-Charleston; NPS; Haereticus Environmental Lab; TNC.

We expect to 1) verify the depressed reproductive condition of A. palmata at Salt River Bay is the same or similar to that found in 2013; 2) conduct bioassays to determine the extent of toxicity in high and low tourist seasons from sediment porewaters; 3) evaluate the chemical constituents in coral skeleton biopsies as proxies of recent water quality parameters (turbidity/sedimentation, freshwater, heavy metals and other environmental stressors such as temperature and pH; and 4) in high and low tourist seasons, document the levels of trace and heavy metals in sediments and waters of SRB (including reference BI) and levels of contemporary endocrine disrupting chemicals using passive samplers that will integrate/concentrate these chemicals over time. Integration of biological and chemical data will be used in a diagnostic manner to identify (or exclude) risk-factors driving reproductive failure in these corals.This project has integrated resource managers and ESA specialists as part of the team who will be end-users of the information. The information derived from this work can be used not only to understand drivers of decline, but assist managers in targeted mitigation actions to recover these A. palmata populations along the coast of St. Croix.

• U.S. Virgin Islands

• St. Croix East End Marine Park

Land-based Sources of Pollution (LBSP)

Funding Ended

https://www.coris.noaa.gov/search/rest/find/document?searchText=projectNumber%3A31144%20OR%20projectTitle%3A"Investigating%20Reproductive%20Failure%20in%20Populations%20of%20ESA%20Coral%3A%20Acropora%20palmata"&start=1&max=10&f=searchPage