title: Growth dynamics of the threatened Caribbean staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis: influence of host genotype, symbiont identity, colony size, and environmental setting.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The drastic decline in the abundance of Caribbean acroporid corals (Acropora cervicornis, A. palmata) has prompted the listing of this genus as threatened as well as the development of a regional propagation and restoration program. Using in situ underwater nurseries, we documented the influence of coral genotype and symbiont identity, colony size, and propagation method on the growth and branching patterns of staghorn corals in Florida and the Dominican Republic.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Individual tracking of> 1700 nursery-grown staghorn fragments and colonies from 37 distinct genotypes (identified using microsatellites) in Florida and the Dominican Republic revealed a significant positive relationship between size and growth, but a decreasing rate of productivity with increasing size. Pruning vigor (enhanced growth after fragmentation) was documented even in colonies that lost 95% of their coral tissue/skeleton, indicating that high productivity can be maintained within nurseries by sequentially fragmenting corals. A significant effect of coral genotype was documented for corals grown in a common-garden setting, with fast-growing genotypes growing up to an order of magnitude faster than slow-growing genotypes. Algal-symbiont identity established using qPCR techniques showed that clade A (likely Symbiodinium A3) was the dominant symbiont type for all coral genotypes, except for one coral genotype in the DR and two in Florida that were dominated by clade C, with A- and C-dominated genotypes having similar growth rates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The threatened Caribbean staghorn coral is capable of extremely fast growth, with annual productivity rates exceeding 5 cm of new coral produced for every cm of existing coral. This species benefits from high fragment survivorship coupled by the pruning vigor experienced by the parent colonies after fragmentation. These life-history characteristics make A. cervicornis a successful candidate nursery species and provide optimism for the potential role that active propagation can play in the recovery of this keystone species.
authors.affiliation: Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lirman
authors.affiliation: Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schopmeyer
authors.affiliation: Punta Cana Ecological Foundation, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Galvan
authors.affiliation: Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: Crawford
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Drury
authors.affiliation: Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: Andrew C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.affiliation: Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: Iliana B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Baums
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D057894:Coral Reefs; D004141:Dinoflagellida / Q000502:physiology*; D004293:Dominican Republic; D005431:Florida; D005838:Genotype; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D058889:Molecular Typing; D013559:Symbiosis