Review on hard coral recruitment (Cnidaria: Scleractinia) in Colombia

Alberto Acosta,Valeria Pizarro,Luisa F Dueñas

doi:10.11144/javeriana.sc16-3.rohc

Alberto Acosta, Valeria Pizarro + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.sc16-3.rohc

Copy DOI

Abstract

AbstractRecruitment, defined and measured as the incorporation of new individuals (i.e. coral juveniles) into a population, is a fundamental process for ecologists, evolutionists and conservationists due to its direct effect on population structure and function. Because most coral populations are self-feeding, a breakdown in recruitment would lead to local extinction. Recruitment indirectly affects both renewal and maintenance of existing and future coral communities, coral reef biodiversity (bottom-up effect) and therefore coral reef resilience. This process has been used as an indirect measure of individual reproductive success (fitness) and is the final stage of larval dispersal leading to population connectivity. As a result, recruitment has been proposed as an indicator of coral-reef health in marine protected areas, as well as a central aspect of the decision-making process concerning management and conservation. The creation of management plans to promote impact mitigation, rehabilitation and conservation of the Colombian coral reefs is a necessity that requires firstly, a review and integration of existing literature on scleractinian coral recruitment in Colombia and secondly, larger scale field studies. This motivated us to summarize and analyze all existing information on coral recruitment to determine the state of knowledge, isolate patterns, identify gaps, and suggest future lines of research.Key words: Recruitment, juvenile, coral, Scleractinia, structure, reef, Colombia, density, richness, monitoring.

Highlights

Colombia has approximately 2,900 km2 of reef areas (Figure 1), of which, 1,091 km2 have extensive reef cover, this represents less than 0.4% of the world’s total reef surface [1]
Coral cover has been affected by natural disturbances such as hurricanes (e.g. Hurricane Beta, which caused mild perturbations in Providencia and Santa Catalina islands in 2005) [6], bleaching that reached its highest intensity in 2005 and 2010 [7], disease [7], and the overgrowth of macroalgae and sponges (Cliona spp.); human activities have contributed to coral damage [8]
This review reveals that knowledge on scleractinia coral recruitment in Colombia is based mainly on gray literature, mostly unpublished; the importance of preserving and compiling this scattered and unknown literature

Summary

Introduction

Colombia has approximately 2,900 km2 of reef areas (Figure 1), of which, 1,091 km2 have extensive reef cover, this represents less than 0.4% of the world’s total reef surface [1]. The results of these studies suggest that six months is not enough time to evaluate the post-recruit mortality rate and that sample size (minimum number of individuals or tiles) is crucial to successfully compare dependent variables (e.g. abundance, richness, density) between depths or species, especially if these have different reproductive strategies.

Results

Conclusion