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Los arrecifes de coral han disminuido en gran medida en el noreste del Caribe después de los blanqueamientos y muerte masiva de coral en el 2005. El calentamiento superficial del mar relacionado con el cambio climático y brotes de enfermedades en corales como el sindrome de plaga blanca y la enfermedad de banda amarilla (YBD) han causado una disminución significativa de coral de arrecife afectando las especies constructoras de coral (es decir, el complejo de especies Orbicella annularis) que no muestran signos evidentes de recuperación a través del reclutamiento larval sexual. Nos centramos en las densidades de coral recluta en tres sitios de coral espuela y surco a lo largo de la plataforma occidental de la remota Isla de Mona, Puerto Rico: Punta Capitán (PCA), Pasa de Las Carmelitas (PLC) y Las Carmelitas-Sur (LCS). Los datos fueron recolectados durante noviembre de 2012 a lo largo de 93 transectos a través de tres zonas de profundidad (<5m, 5-10m, 10-15m). Se documentaron un total de 32 especies de corales (9 octocorales, 1 hidrocoral, 22 scleractinios) entre la comunidad coral recluta. Comunidades de coral recluta mostraron bajas densidades y predominancia por especies criadoras rápidas durante siete años después del evento del 2005. La densidad coral recluta varió entre 1.2 y 10.5/m2 en el PCA, 6.3 y 7.2/m2 en LCS, 4.5 a 9.5/m2 en el PLC. Diferencias en la estructura de la comunidad coral recluta pueden atribuirse a la ligera variación en el porcentaje de cobertura de macroalgas y composición en los sitios de estudio que tenían una heterogeneidad espacial bentónica muy similar. Tendencias en el predominio de las especies de coral efímeras fueron generalizadas. Recuperación de especies de arrecife con alta disminución como la especie O. annularis del complejo de especies fue muy limitado e incluso inexistente a través de zonas extensas de arrecife. La falta de recuperación puede ser el resultado combinado de varios mecanismos que implican cambio climático, brotes crónicos de YBD, macroalgas, pesca, erizos y conectividad limitada de los arrecifes de la isla Mona a otros sistemas de arrecife. También hay una necesidad de impulsar la rehabilitación de la estructura trófica de peces, con énfasis en la recuperación de gremios herbívoros y las poblaciones agotadas de D. antillarum. Al no reconocer la importancia de la gestión de rehabilitación y capacidad de recuperación basado en los ecosistemas se estima que la recuperación de arrecifes de coral es muy improbable.Citas
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