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Coral performance and bioerosion in Central Mexican Pacific reef communities

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Abstract

Reef development occurs commonly under oligotrophic conditions that favor corals over competitors. In the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), coral communities develop under highly dynamic environmental conditions that may benefit organisms involved in reef bioerosion. To understand how coral performance and maintenance change with increasing urban pressure in the ETP, we evaluated coral reproductive activity, calcification, and bioerosion in two representative coral genera in three Central Mexican Pacific sites. We hypothesize that stressors associated to urban development will negatively affect coral performance while enhancing bioerosion. Despite moderate to high levels of nitrite, nitrate, and phosphate and highly variable sedimentation rates, coral performance was not hampered in any site. Coral growth in Pocillopora and Pavona corals exhibited typical growth rates (~ 6.6 gCaCO3 cm−2 year−1 and ~ 1.1 gCaCO3 cm−2 year−1, respectively) and colonies were reproductively active from March to November. However, 76.5% of all coral colonies were invaded by excavating sponges. In Pavona colonies, ~ 24.37% of total CaCO3 volume was removed by bioeroders. While coral performance is not hampered by the current nutrient levels and sedimentation regimes, these conditions may increase the abundance of bioeroders such as sponges, leading to higher bioerosion rates that compromise reef integrity and functionality.

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Acknowledgements

The present research was funded by the National Geographic Society, grants NGS-55349R-19 to APRT and EC-51496C-18 to VMC, and PROCER/CCER/DROPC/09/2016 to ALCM. VMC also received a Ph.D. scholarship from the Centro Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT) while conducting the study and writing the manuscript (ID. 332939). Also, the authors thank Jeimy D. Santiago-Valentín, Aldo A. Zavala-Benítez, Amelia Muñoz, and Mario Luna for their assistance in field and laboratory work. Sampling collection was carried out under the federal Mexican permit PPF/DGOPA-061/18. Finally, the authors also thank the two anonymous reviewers for the valuable comments that improved the manuscript.

Funding

The present research was funded by the National Geographic Society, grants NGS-55349R-19 to APRT and EC-51496C-18 to VMC, and PROCER/CCER/DROPC/09/2016 to ALCM. VMC also received a Ph.D. scholarship from the Centro Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT) while conducting the study and writing the manuscript (ID. 332939).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Ecología Marina, Centro Universitario de La Costa, Universidad de Guadalajara, Av. Universidad #203, Delegación Ixtapa, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, C.P. 48280, México

    Violeta Martínez-Castillo, Alma Paola Rodríguez-Troncoso, Eric Bautista-Guerrero & Amílcar Leví Cupul-Magaña

  2. Laboratorio de Esclerocronología de Corales Pétreos, Unidad Académica de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Prol. Av. Niños Héroes S/N, Domicilio conocido, Puerto Morelos, Q. Roo, 77580, México

    José de Jesús Adolfo Tortolero-Langarica

  3. Tecnológico Nacional de México / IT de Bahía de Banderas, Bahía de Banderas, Crucero a Punta de Mita S/N, Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, C.P. 63734, México

    José de Jesús Adolfo Tortolero-Langarica

  4. School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences, University of Washington, 11122 NE Boat St, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA

    Jacqueline Padilla-Gamiño

Authors
  1. Violeta Martínez-Castillo
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  2. Alma Paola Rodríguez-Troncoso
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  3. José de Jesús Adolfo Tortolero-Langarica
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  4. Eric Bautista-Guerrero
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  5. Jacqueline Padilla-Gamiño
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  6. Amílcar Leví Cupul-Magaña
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Contributions

All authors conceived and designed the research. VMC, APRT, JJATL, and ALCM performed field work. VMC, APRT, JJATL and EBG conducted laboratory work. VMC, JJATL, and JLPG analyzed data. VMC wrote the first draft of the manuscript and all authors commented on early versions. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alma Paola Rodríguez-Troncoso.

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Martínez-Castillo, V., Rodríguez-Troncoso, A.P., de Jesús Adolfo Tortolero-Langarica, J. et al. Coral performance and bioerosion in Central Mexican Pacific reef communities. Hydrobiologia 849, 2395–2412 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-022-04879-9

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