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Description:
Project Manager:
Jay Grove
Project Years:
2015
2016
2017
Project Summary:
Understanding of early life history, recruitment limitations and population enhancement of ESA listed corals are Recovery Actions in the Acropora Recovery Plan and priorities listed in the 2016 CRCP rfp. This proposal addresses this need for Caribbean listed species, build off more than a decade of experience and partnership-building by SEFSC researchers to address these needs with several spawning ESA listed corals in the Florida Keys.Basic documentation of reproductive characteristics and limitations of Florida Keys populations will be continued. Specifically, observations of genet-specific spawning behavior at two reef sites of A.palmata (~10 year record) and Orbicella faveolata (third year) will be continued. Recent results have also suggested strong influence of parental incompatibility at the fertilization stage as a limitation on larval production. This project will continue testing pairwise compatibility of extant genets of both these species, and will attempt to target testing genets of A.palmata that are under culture for restocking.Cited rules of thumb, derived from limited laboratory experience, suggest that broadcast-spawned coral larvae are competent to settle in 4-8 days. However, the developmental tendency for a larva to settle, when offered appropriate settlement cues, is a variable trait and there is no published data on this variation or the maximum duration of competency for any Caribbean species. Thus, published modelling studies of O.faveolata use arbitrary estimates for both larval survivorship and maximum duration to settlement (Holstein et al. 2014 MEPS 499:1-18, Foster et al. 2012Mol Ecol 21: 1143-1157), with no basis in empirical data. Several recent studies providing empirical data for Pacific spawning corals (Connolly &Baird (2010) Ecology 91:3572-3583; Figueiredo et al.(2013); Ecology 94:650-659) provide inspiration for this project component which will gather empirical data on the survivorship and settlement response of cohorts of larvae over time. Preliminary observations for O.faveolata suggest that surviving larvae retain settlement competence for over 60 days. Target ESA species will include O.faveoalata, A.palmata, A.cervicornis, Dendrogyra cylindrus, as available. The Acropora Critical Habitat definition focuses on recruitment habitat for the listed species, specifically, substrates that are ‘free’ of macroalgae and sediment. However, much of Caribbean reef surface (and probably a majority of Florida Keys) hosts a degree of algal turf which often binds and stabilizes sediment within it. The actual capacity of this type of reef cover to host coral settlement has not been directly tested. With academic collaborators we will test the capacity of competent ESA-listed larvae to settle in quantitative types of algal turf characterized from Florida Keys reefs. Lastly, population enhancement is another Recovery Action cited in the ARP. The development of methods to improve post-settlement survivorship of larval corals would provide an additional strategy for enhancement with different advantages than fragmentation as currently practiced. This project will continue method development to improve post-settlement survival including testing wax (nontoxic) anti-fouling coatings shown to improve post-settlement survival of Pacific Acropora (Tebben et al. 2014) and extended laboratory grow-out to a larger size prior to placement on the reef.
Expected Outcome:
Empirical data provided in this project will 1) allow the replacement of ‘guesstimates’ in current published models with more realistic inputs yielding higher confidence in connectivity estimates.2) Continue long-term observational records of genet-specific spawning performance for listed coral species in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.3) Yield further incremental progress in improving post-settlement survivorship of cultured listed coral larvae for population enhancement/restoration (via partnership with Ecozean, Ltd. and Mote Marine Lab).4) Evaluate the actual settlement habitat quality of different benthic turf communities characterized in the Florida Keys (via partnership with FIU funded by FWC/Florida Wildlife Legacy Initiative) as relates to the Critical Habitat description for listed corals.5) Elucidate the fertilization compatibilities for extant genets in the Florida Keys (including wild genets of O.faveolata and cultured genets of A.palmata and/or A.cervicornis)6) Further elucidate sub-lethal stress effects on coral larvae as measured via basic physiological processes of protein turnover and ion transportTogether, these outcomes contribute substantially to the Acropora Recovery Plan.
Project Locations:
Jursdiction Priority Sites:
Project Category:
Other Domestic or Global Project
Project Type:
Closed
Project Status:
Completed
Associated Products:
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