Contrasting responses of coral reef fauna and foraminiferal assemblages to human influence in La Parguera, Puerto Rico.
Coral reef biota including stony corals, sponges, gorgonians, fish, benthic macroinvertebrates and foraminifera were surveyed in coastal waters near La Parguera, in southwestern Puerto Rico. The goal was to evaluate sensitivity of coral reef biological indicators to human disturbance. Proxies for human disturbance were measured as distance to town (DTT) and rankings of a low-level sediment contamination gradient analyzed from a previous study. Contaminant rank and DTT showed that percent mud, stony coral taxa richness, reef rugosity, and numbers of invertebrates and sponges were higher at sites closer to human disturbance, but a foraminiferal assemblage index was significantly lower at sites with higher proxies for human disturbance. Fish indicators showed no significant relationships with human activity, but associations between fish community measures and certain measures of stony corals, gorgonians and sponges were found. Contrasting responses between foraminifera and reef organisms may be due to greater exposure and sensitivity of foraminifera to sediment contaminants.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Gulf Ecology Division, 1 Sabine Island Drive, Gulf Breeze, FL 32561-5299, USA. Electronic address: oliver.leah@epa.gov.
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Oliver
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Gulf Ecology Division, 1 Sabine Island Drive, Gulf Breeze, FL 32561-5299, USA.
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Fisher
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Gulf Ecology Division, 1 Sabine Island Drive, Gulf Breeze, FL 32561-5299, USA.
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Dittmar
University of South Florida, 140 7th Ave. S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA.
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Hallock
University of South Florida, 140 7th Ave. S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA.
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Campbell
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Gulf Ecology Division, 1 Sabine Island Drive, Gulf Breeze, FL 32561-5299, USA.
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Quarles
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Gulf Ecology Division, 1 Sabine Island Drive, Gulf Breeze, FL 32561-5299, USA.
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Harris
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, New York, NY 10007-1866, USA.
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LoBue
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D057894:Coral Reefs; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology*; D056908:Foraminifera / Q000502:physiology*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000502:physiology*; D011156:Population Density; D011647:Puerto Rico; D013045:Species Specificity
D004785:Environmental Pollutants
Coral reef; Human disturbance gradient; Sediment contaminants; Stressors