Coral recruitment and successive growth are essential for post-disturbance reef recovery. As coral recruit and juvenile abundances vary across locations and under different environmental regimes, their assessment at remote, undisturbed reefs improves our understanding of early life stage dynamics of corals. Here, we first explored changes in coral juvenile abundance across three locations (lagoon, seaward west and east) at remote Aldabra Atoll (Seychelles) between 2015 and 2019, which spanned the 2015/16 global coral bleaching event. Secondly, we measured variation in coral recruit abundance on settlement tiles from two sites (lagoon, seaward reef) during August 2018–August 2019. Juvenile abundance decreased from 14.1 ± 1.2 to 7.4 ± 0.5 colonies m-2 (mean ± SE) during 2015–2016 and increased to 22.4 ± 1.2 colonies m-2 during 2016–2019. Whilst juvenile abundance increased two- to three-fold at the lagoonal and seaward western sites during 2016–2018 (from 7.7–8.3 to 17.3–24.7 colonies m-2), increases at the seaward eastern sites occurred later (2018–2019; from 5.8–6.9 to 16.6–24.1 colonies m-2). The composition of coral recruits on settlement tiles was dominated by Pocilloporidae (64–92% of all recruits), and recruit abundance was 7- to 47-fold higher inside than outside the lagoon. Recruit abundance was highest in October–December 2018 (2164 ± 453 recruits m-2) and lowest in June–August 2019 (240 ± 98 recruits m-2). As Acroporid recruit abundance corresponded to this trend, the results suggest that broadcast spawning occurred during October–December, when water temperature increased from 26 to 29°C. This study provides the first published record on coral recruit abundance in the Seychelles Outer Islands, indicates a rapid (2–3 years) increase of juvenile corals following a bleaching event, and provides crucial baseline data for future research on reef resilience and connectivity within the region.
Koester A., Ford A.K., Ferse S.C.A., Migani V., Bunbury N., Sanchez C. and Wild C. (2021) First insights into coral recruit and juvenile abundances at remote Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles. PLoS ONE 16(12): e0260516. 10.1371/journal.pone.0260516
@article{Koester2021,
Title = {First insights into coral recruit and juvenile abundances at remote Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles},
Author = {Koester, Anna and Ford, Amanda K. and Ferse, Sebastian C. A. and Migani, Valentina and Bunbury, Nancy and Sanchez, Cheryl and Wild, Christian},
Editor = {},
Journal = {PLoS ONE},
Year = {2021},
Pages = {e0260516},
Volume = {16},
Doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0260516},
Abstract = {Coral recruitment and successive growth are essential for post-disturbance reef recovery. As coral recruit and juvenile abundances vary across locations and under different environmental regimes, their assessment at remote, undisturbed reefs improves our understanding of early life stage dynamics of corals. Here, we first explored changes in coral juvenile abundance across three locations (lagoon, seaward west and east) at remote Aldabra Atoll (Seychelles) between 2015 and 2019, which spanned the 2015/16 global coral bleaching event. Secondly, we measured variation in coral recruit abundance on settlement tiles from two sites (lagoon, seaward reef) during August 2018–August 2019. Juvenile abundance decreased from 14.1 ± 1.2 to 7.4 ± 0.5 colonies m-2 (mean ± SE) during 2015–2016 and increased to 22.4 ± 1.2 colonies m-2 during 2016–2019. Whilst juvenile abundance increased two- to three-fold at the lagoonal and seaward western sites during 2016–2018 (from 7.7–8.3 to 17.3–24.7 colonies m-2), increases at the seaward eastern sites occurred later (2018–2019; from 5.8–6.9 to 16.6–24.1 colonies m-2). The composition of coral recruits on settlement tiles was dominated by Pocilloporidae (64–92% of all recruits), and recruit abundance was 7- to 47-fold higher inside than outside the lagoon. Recruit abundance was highest in October–December 2018 (2164 ± 453 recruits m-2) and lowest in June–August 2019 (240 ± 98 recruits m-2). As Acroporid recruit abundance corresponded to this trend, the results suggest that broadcast spawning occurred during October–December, when water temperature increased from 26 to 29°C. This study provides the first published record on coral recruit abundance in the Seychelles Outer Islands, indicates a rapid (2–3 years) increase of juvenile corals following a bleaching event, and provides crucial baseline data for future research on reef resilience and connectivity within the region.},
}
TY - JOUR
AU - Koester, Anna
AU - Ford, Amanda K.
AU - Ferse, Sebastian C. A.
AU - Migani, Valentina
AU - Bunbury, Nancy
AU - Sanchez, Cheryl
AU - Wild, Christian
TI - First insights into coral recruit and juvenile abundances at remote Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles
T2 - PLoS ONE
PY - 2021
SP - e0260516
VL - 16
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0260516
AB - Coral recruitment and successive growth are essential for post-disturbance reef recovery. As coral recruit and juvenile abundances vary across locations and under different environmental regimes, their assessment at remote, undisturbed reefs improves our understanding of early life stage dynamics of corals. Here, we first explored changes in coral juvenile abundance across three locations (lagoon, seaward west and east) at remote Aldabra Atoll (Seychelles) between 2015 and 2019, which spanned the 2015/16 global coral bleaching event. Secondly, we measured variation in coral recruit abundance on settlement tiles from two sites (lagoon, seaward reef) during August 2018–August 2019. Juvenile abundance decreased from 14.1 ± 1.2 to 7.4 ± 0.5 colonies m-2 (mean ± SE) during 2015–2016 and increased to 22.4 ± 1.2 colonies m-2 during 2016–2019. Whilst juvenile abundance increased two- to three-fold at the lagoonal and seaward western sites during 2016–2018 (from 7.7–8.3 to 17.3–24.7 colonies m-2), increases at the seaward eastern sites occurred later (2018–2019; from 5.8–6.9 to 16.6–24.1 colonies m-2). The composition of coral recruits on settlement tiles was dominated by Pocilloporidae (64–92% of all recruits), and recruit abundance was 7- to 47-fold higher inside than outside the lagoon. Recruit abundance was highest in October–December 2018 (2164 ± 453 recruits m-2) and lowest in June–August 2019 (240 ± 98 recruits m-2). As Acroporid recruit abundance corresponded to this trend, the results suggest that broadcast spawning occurred during October–December, when water temperature increased from 26 to 29°C. This study provides the first published record on coral recruit abundance in the Seychelles Outer Islands, indicates a rapid (2–3 years) increase of juvenile corals following a bleaching event, and provides crucial baseline data for future research on reef resilience and connectivity within the region.
ER -
