The potential for self-seeding by the coral Pocillopora spp. in Moorea, French Polynesia

Coral reefs in Moorea, French Polynesia, suffered catastrophic coral mortality through predation by Acanthaster planci from 2006 to 2010, and Cyclone Oli in 2010, yet by 2015 some coral populations were approaching pre-disturbance sizes. Using long-term study plots, we quantified population dynamics...

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Main Authors: Georgios Tsounis, Peter J. Edmunds
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: PeerJ Inc. 2016-11-01
Series:PeerJ
Subjects:
Online Access:https://peerj.com/articles/2544.pdf
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spelling doaj-3190f2479443403e9c206d12707534ed2020-11-24T23:20:26ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592016-11-014e254410.7717/peerj.2544The potential for self-seeding by the coral Pocillopora spp. in Moorea, French PolynesiaGeorgios Tsounis0Peter J. Edmunds1Department of Biology, California State University, Northridge, CA, United StatesDepartment of Biology, California State University, Northridge, CA, United StatesCoral reefs in Moorea, French Polynesia, suffered catastrophic coral mortality through predation by Acanthaster planci from 2006 to 2010, and Cyclone Oli in 2010, yet by 2015 some coral populations were approaching pre-disturbance sizes. Using long-term study plots, we quantified population dynamics of spawning Pocillopora spp. along the north shore of Moorea between 2010 and 2014, and considered evidence that population recovery could be supported by self-seeding. Results scaled up from study plots and settlement tiles suggest that the number of Pocillopora spp. colonies on the outer reef increased 1,890-fold between 2010 and 2014/2015, and in the back reef, 8-fold between 2010 and 2014/2015. Assuming that spawning Pocillopora spp. in Moorea release similar numbers of eggs as con-generics in Hawaii, and fertilization success is similar to other spawning corals, the capacity of Pocillopora spp. to produce larvae was estimated. These estimates suggest that Pocillopora spp. in Moorea produced a large excess of larvae in 2010 and 2014 relative to the number required to produce the recruits found in the back reef and outer reef in 2010 and 2014, even assuming that ∼99.9% of the larvae do not recruit in Moorea. Less than a third of the recruits in one year would have to survive to produce the juvenile Pocillopora spp. found in the back and outer reefs in 2010 and 2014/2015. Our first order approximations reveal the potential for Pocillopora spp. on the north shore of Moorea to produce enough larvae to support local recruitment and population recovery following a catastrophic disturbance.https://peerj.com/articles/2544.pdfConnectivitySelf-seedingRecoveryLarval productionClosed populationsRecruitment limitation
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Georgios Tsounis
Peter J. Edmunds
spellingShingle Georgios Tsounis
Peter J. Edmunds
The potential for self-seeding by the coral Pocillopora spp. in Moorea, French Polynesia
PeerJ
Connectivity
Self-seeding
Recovery
Larval production
Closed populations
Recruitment limitation
author_facet Georgios Tsounis
Peter J. Edmunds
author_sort Georgios Tsounis
title The potential for self-seeding by the coral Pocillopora spp. in Moorea, French Polynesia
title_short The potential for self-seeding by the coral Pocillopora spp. in Moorea, French Polynesia
title_full The potential for self-seeding by the coral Pocillopora spp. in Moorea, French Polynesia
title_fullStr The potential for self-seeding by the coral Pocillopora spp. in Moorea, French Polynesia
title_full_unstemmed The potential for self-seeding by the coral Pocillopora spp. in Moorea, French Polynesia
title_sort potential for self-seeding by the coral pocillopora spp. in moorea, french polynesia
publisher PeerJ Inc.
series PeerJ
issn 2167-8359
publishDate 2016-11-01
description Coral reefs in Moorea, French Polynesia, suffered catastrophic coral mortality through predation by Acanthaster planci from 2006 to 2010, and Cyclone Oli in 2010, yet by 2015 some coral populations were approaching pre-disturbance sizes. Using long-term study plots, we quantified population dynamics of spawning Pocillopora spp. along the north shore of Moorea between 2010 and 2014, and considered evidence that population recovery could be supported by self-seeding. Results scaled up from study plots and settlement tiles suggest that the number of Pocillopora spp. colonies on the outer reef increased 1,890-fold between 2010 and 2014/2015, and in the back reef, 8-fold between 2010 and 2014/2015. Assuming that spawning Pocillopora spp. in Moorea release similar numbers of eggs as con-generics in Hawaii, and fertilization success is similar to other spawning corals, the capacity of Pocillopora spp. to produce larvae was estimated. These estimates suggest that Pocillopora spp. in Moorea produced a large excess of larvae in 2010 and 2014 relative to the number required to produce the recruits found in the back reef and outer reef in 2010 and 2014, even assuming that ∼99.9% of the larvae do not recruit in Moorea. Less than a third of the recruits in one year would have to survive to produce the juvenile Pocillopora spp. found in the back and outer reefs in 2010 and 2014/2015. Our first order approximations reveal the potential for Pocillopora spp. on the north shore of Moorea to produce enough larvae to support local recruitment and population recovery following a catastrophic disturbance.
topic Connectivity
Self-seeding
Recovery
Larval production
Closed populations
Recruitment limitation
url https://peerj.com/articles/2544.pdf
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