Caribbean Near-Shore Coral Reef Benthic Community Response to Changes on Sedimentation Dynamics and Environmental Conditions

Coral reefs are facing unprecedented global, regional and local threats that continue to degrade near-shore habitats. Water quality degradation due to unsustainable development practices at coastal watersheds is one of the greatest stressors across multiple spatial scales. The goal of this study was...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in Marine Science 2019-09, Vol.6
Main Authors: Otaño-Cruz, Abimarie, Montañez-Acuña, Alfredo A., García-Rodríguez, Noelia M., Díaz-Morales, Dakeishla M., Benson, Elizabeth, Cuevas, Elvira, Ortiz-Zayas, Jorge, Hernández-Delgado, Edwin A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abundance
Algae
Benthic communities
benthic cover
Benthos
Climate change
Coastal zone
Colonies
Community structure
coral abundance
coral diversity
coral recruit
coral reef community structure
Coral reefs
Deposition
Distance
Distribution patterns
Dynamics
Ecosystem management
Ecosystems
Environmental changes
Environmental conditions
Environmental degradation
environmental stressors
Extreme weather
Land use
Recruitment
Recruitment (fisheries)
Resuspension
Seaweeds
Sediment
Sediment distribution
Sediment texture
Sedimentation
Sedimentation & deposition
Sediments
Species diversity
Terrigenous sediments
Trends
Water quality
Watersheds
Weather
Zonation
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Summary:Coral reefs are facing unprecedented global, regional and local threats that continue to degrade near-shore habitats. Water quality degradation due to unsustainable development practices at coastal watersheds is one of the greatest stressors across multiple spatial scales. The goal of this study was to assess near-shore coral reef benthic community spatio-temporal response to sedimentation patterns, weather, and oceanographic dynamics at Bahía Tamarindo and Punta Soldado in Culebra Island, Puerto Rico. Benthic data were collected across a distance gradient from the shore through high-resolution images at marked belt transects. Environmental data were assessed and contrasted with benthic assemblages using multivariate correlations and multiple linear regression. Coral colony abundance and coral recruit assemblages showed significant variation among seasons, sites and distance zones (PERMANOVA, p
ISSN:2296-7745
2296-7745
DOI:10.3389/fmars.2019.00551