[Coral-List] Recent publications about bombarded reefs and coral recruitment under climate change

Hernandez Edwin coral_giac at yahoo.com
Tue Sep 23 13:39:25 EDT 2014


Greetings,
listers:
 
This is to inform you about the recent publication of the
following two papers produced under the collaborative agreement between the
Coral Reef Research Group of the Center for Applied Tropical Ecology and
Conservation (CATEC), at the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras Campus, and
community-based NGO Sociedad Ambiente Marino (SAM). These are part of the
Project for the Conservation and Rehabilitation of Transitional Coral Reefs.
 
Hernández-Delgado, E.A., C.M. González-Ramos, & P.J.
Alejandro-Camis. 2014. Large-scale
coral recruitment patterns in Mona Island, Puerto Rico: Evidence of shifting
coral community trajectory after massive bleaching and mortality. Rev. Biol. Trop. 62 (Suppl. 3):49-64. http://www.latindex.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/15901/15254 
 
Hernández Delgado E.A., A. Montañez-Acuña, A. Otaño-Cruz,
& S.E. Suleimán-Ramos. 2014. Bomb-cratered coral reefs in Puerto
Rico, the untold story about a novel habitat: From reef destruction to
community-based ecological rehabilitation. Rev.
Biol. Trop. 62 (Suppl. 3):183-200. http://www.latindex.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/15913/15266
 
The first article describes the recent coral recruitment
patterns on remote coral reef communities of Mona Island, an oceanic island
located at 73 km off western Puerto Rico, in the Caribbean Sea. These reefs
were significantly impacted by the 2005 massive coral bleaching and
post-bleaching mass coral mortality event as a result of climate change and are
undergoing significant ecological transitions. The paper discusses the
consequences of the observed coral recruit community trajectories favoring
recruitment of ephemeral opportunist species and the lack of recovery of
massive reef-building species in the future of remote oceanic reef ecosystem
dynamics.
 
The second article describes acute impacts of military
bombardment of coral reefs in Culebra and Vieques Islands, east of Puerto Rico.
Both islands use to be US Navy and NATO naval training facilities. We analyzed
the ecological conditions of benthic and fish communities, and of coral recruit
communities within reef crater spatial scales in comparison to adjacent non-bombarded
grounds. We also addressed the ecological implications of the lack of natural
benthic community recovery more than three to four decades after the last
bombing activities. And finally, we documented some of the preliminary results
of a community-based effort led by SAM to rehabilitate formerly bombarded coral
reefs.
 
Both publications included
direct collaborations from UPR students Carmen González, Alfredo Montañez, and Abimarie
Otaño, and of SAM’s staff members Samuel E. Suleimán and Pedro Alejandro.  Both articles are “Open Access” and can be
directly accessed through the web links above.
 
Cheers and enjoy!
 
E
 
 
Edwin A. Hernández-Delgado, Ph.D. 
Affiliate Researcher 

University of Puerto Rico 
Center for Applied Tropical Ecology and Conservation 
Coral Reef Research Group
P.O. Box 23360
San Juan, Puerto Rico 00931-3360

Tel (787) 764-0000, x-2009 
Fax (787) 764-2610

e-mail:      coral_giac at yahoo.com
                edwin.hernandez13 at upr.edu

http://upr.academia.edu/EdwinHernandez

http://catec.upr.edu


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