Abstract
Marine ecologists and paleoecologists are increasingly recognizing that the Pleistocene and Holocene fossil record of coral reefs is the exclusive database from which an assessment of the long-term responses of reef communities to environmental perturbations may be obtained. The apparent persistence of coral communities in the face of intense fluctuations in sea level and sea surface temperature during glacial and interglacial stages of Pleistocene time is in marked contrast to dramatic fluctuations in reef community structure documented by short-term monitoring studies. We compared the taxonomic structure of live and dead coral communities on a modern patch reef currently undergoing a community transition to late Pleistocene facies exposed in the Cockburn Town fossil coral reef. Multidimensional scaling revealed that specific taxa and colony growth forms characterize life, death, and fossil assemblages. The recent decline of thickets ofAcropora cervicornis is represented by their abundance in the death assemblage, whilePorites porites dominates the coral life assemblage. Although additional study of Pleistocene reefal facies is required, the greater similarity of the death assemblage to the fossil assemblage suggests that the present Caribbean- wide decline ofA. cervicornis is without a historical precedent.
Highlights
Community ecologists and paleoecologists are becoming increasingly aware that the fossil record is an exclusive and crucialdatabase fromwhichto interpret longterm community patterns (Jackson 1992;Ricklefsand Schluter 1993; Jackson et al 1996)
There are three alternative hypotheses that explain theapparentfailure of the Pleistoceneassemblage exposedonSanSalvadortoaccurately reflectthe life assemblage currently in place offshore, while other Pleistocene strata we have studied apparently reflect modern reef coral life assemblages muchmore closely
A comparison of the results of systematiccensuses of live, dead, and fossil coral assemblagesoccurringin and adjacent to Fernandez Bay has yielded insight into the importanceof the Pleistocene fossil record of coral reefs as an instrument with which to determine whether the presently observed changes in patch reef community structure in the Caribbean region have a historicalprecedent We have determinedthat the rapid decline of Acropora cervicornis observed on a Bahamian patch reef may bea unique perturbation that contrasts with the long-term persistence of this taxon during Pleistocene and Holocene time
Summary
Community ecologists and paleoecologists are becoming increasingly aware that the fossil record is an exclusive and crucialdatabase fromwhichto interpret longterm community patterns (Jackson 1992;Ricklefsand Schluter 1993; Jackson et al 1996). COMPARISON OF RECENTCORALLIFE/DEATH ASSEMBLAGES 10 PLEIS10CENE REEF COMMUNITIES wecomparethestructureof communities of liveanddeadreef corals presently found on Telephone Pole Reef to that preserved in late Pleistocene age (Sangamonian) facies exposednearCockbwn Townto determine theaccuracywith whichthe fossil record represents thetaxonomic structure of a once-living coralcommunity. Ourresultscontrastwith those obtained fromsimilarcompanion studies, andsuggestthatthe transition betweencoral communities currently occurring in Fernandez Bay (and throughout the Caribbean) may not have a historical precedent. On Telephone Pole Reef, the once abundant stands of A. cervicornis have been significantly replaced by Porites porites (Curran et al 1994)
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