TRopical Oil Pollution Investigations in Coastal Systems [TROPICS]: A synopsis of impacts and recovery.

The TRopical Oil Pollution Investigations in Coastal Systems (TROPICS) experiment, conducted on the Caribbean coast of Panama, has become one of the most comprehensive field experiments examining the long-term impacts of oil and dispersed oil exposures in nearshore tropical marine environments. From the initial experiment through more than three decades of study and data collection visits, the intertidal and subtidal communities have exhibited significantly different impact and recovery regimes, depending on whether the sites were exposed to crude oil only or crude oil treated with a chemical dispersant. This review provides a synopsis of the original experiment and a cumulative summary of the results and observations, illustrating the environmental and ecosystem trade-offs of chemical dispersant use in mangrove, seagrass, and coral reef environments.

Acute and subacute toxicity of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon 1-methylnaphthalene to the shallow-water coral Porites divaricata: Application of a novel exposure protocol.

Previous research evaluating hydrocarbon toxicity to corals and coral reefs has generally focused on community-level effects, and results often are not comparable between studies because of variability in hydrocarbon exposure characterization and evaluation of coral health and mortality during exposure. Toxicity of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon 1-methylnaphthalene to the coral Porites divaricata was assessed in a constant exposure toxicity test utilizing a novel toxicity testing protocol uniquely applicable to shallow-water corals, which considered multiple assessment metrics and evaluated the potential for post-exposure mortality and/or recovery. Acute and subacute effects (gross morphological changes, photosynthetic efficiency, mortality, and histologic cellular changes) were evaluated during pre-exposure (4 wk), exposure (48 h), and post-exposure recovery (4 wk) periods.

Growth rates of Florida corals from 1937 to 1996 and their response to climate change.

Ocean acidification causes declines in calcification rates of corals because of decreasing aragonite saturation states (Ω(arag)). Recent evidence also indicates that increasing sea surface temperatures may have already reduced growth and calcification rates because of the stenothermic threshold of localized coral populations. Density banding in coral skeletons provides a record of growth over the coral's lifespan.

Coral reefs: threats and conservation in an era of global change.

Coral reefs are iconic, threatened ecosystems that have been in existence for approximately 500 million years, yet their continued ecological persistence seems doubtful at present. Anthropogenic modification of chemical and physical atmospheric dynamics that cause coral death by bleaching and newly emergent diseases due to increased heat and irradiation, as well as decline in calcification caused by ocean acidification due to increased CO(2), are the most important large-scale threats. On more local scales, overfishing and destructive fisheries, coastal construction, nutrient enrichment, increased runoff and sedimentation, and the introduction of nonindigenous invasive species have caused phase shifts away from corals.

Assessing the accuracy of acoustic seabed classification for mapping coral reef environments in South Florida (Broward County, USA).

The Atlantic coast of Broward County, Florida (USA) is paralleled by a series of progressively deeper, shore-parallel coral reef communities. Two of these reef systems are drowned early Holocene coral reefs of 5 ky and 7 ky uncorrected radiocarbon age. Despite the case of access to these reefs, and their major contribution to the local economy, accurate benthic habitat maps of the area are not available.

Cellular reactions to sedimentation and temperature stress in the Caribbean coral Montastraea cavernosa.

We present evidence of cellular responses to increased sedimentation and temperature in Montastraea cavernosa collected off Broward County, Florida. We sampled corals from six different sites approximately, 500-1000 m off shore, 10-15m depth. Six samples were collected from four sites adjacent to areas of underwater marine dredging (project sites), while the remaining two samples were obtained far away from the influence of the marine dredging (control sites).