Abstract Summary
Over thousands of years, corals build complex geological structures that serve as the foundations for a myriad of critical ecosystem services. Ensuring that both ecological and geological reef functions are maintained is, therefore, critical to designing effective coral-reef management and restoration programs. Using the fossil record captured in reef cores collected throughout the Florida Keys reef tract, we provide a geological perspective on the management of Florida’s coral reefs with respect to processes like carbonate production and reef accretion. We show that reef growth has been negligible throughout the region for at least the last 3000 years, leaving Florida’s reefs balanced at a tipping point between reef accretion and erosion. Unfortunately, the modern declines in coral populations have pushed many reefs past that threshold, triggering reef erosion and the structural decline of Florida’s reefs. Most restoration efforts to date in the western Atlantic have focused on Acropora cervicornis, which provides valuable habitat in the short-term, but contributes minimally to carbonate production and reef building in the long-term. We show that over the last 10,000 years, two corals—Acropora palmata and Orbicella spp.—were the primary reef-building species in south Florida, accounting for ~75% of the reef structure built throughout the Florida Keys reef tract. We suggest that focusing coral-restoration on reef-building taxa like A. palmata, Orbicella spp., and other massive corals, will optimize the outcomes of coral-reef management by mitigating reef erosion and promoting the growth of lasting reef structure.
