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- Title
RECENT TRENDS (1999-2011) IN POPULATION DENSITY AND SIZE OF THE ECHINOID DIADEMA ANTILLARUM IN THE FLORIDA KEYS.
- Authors
CHIAPPONE, M.; RUTTEN, L. M.; MILLER, S. L.; SWANSON, D. W.
- Abstract
The 1983-84 Caribbean-wide mortality of the long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum Philippi was followed by a second mortality event in the Florida Keys in 1991. The demise of this formerly ubiquitous echinoid is one of several factors attributable to coral reef change. Over a 12-year period during 1999-2011, we examined densities and test sizes of D. antillarum at 1,411 sites spanning ~250 km of the Florida Keys encompassing multiple habitats from inshore to the fore-reef slope. Underwater visual surveys along belt transects were used to enumerate numbers of individuals and test sizes in a stratified random sampling design. While pre-1983 densities were reported to be as high as ~6 individuals/m², surveys since 1999 indicate that current densities are well below 1 individual/m². Although the maximum site-level density recorded during 1999-2011 was only 0.33 individuals/m², there have been significant increases in the average size and maximum sizes of D. antillarum. The slow rate of population recovery may be due to low fertilization rates due to reduced population size, low larval survivorship, a lack of suitable recruitment sites, high early post-settlement mortality from predation or storms, and/or persistence of the pathogen. Regression analysis indicates that it could potentially take decades, if not longer, for D. antillarum to recover to pre-1983 density levels.
- Subjects
FLORIDA Keys (Fla.); CORAL reef ecology; DIADEMA antillarum; DIE-off (Zoology); SEA urchins
- Publication
Florida Scientist, 2013, Vol 76, Issue 1, p23
- ISSN
0098-4590
- Publication type
Article