Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Erick M. Garcia-Troche, Julio M. Morell, Melissa Melendez, Joseph E. Salisbury
Summary: The study found that the pH and aragonite saturation state of the mangrove lagoon negatively affected calcification. Heterotrophic activity was identified as the primary driver for persistent acidification.
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Carla L. Mejias-Rivera, Roy A. Armstrong, Sawyer Balint, Erick Garcia-Troche, Richard A. Mckinney, Julio M. Morell, Autumn Oczkowski, Travis A. Courtney
Summary: Global declines in mangroves, seagrasses, and corals are endangering ecosystem services provided to coastal communities. However, the functional links between these ecosystems are not well understood. Further studies are needed to explore the potential feedback among these frequently coupled nearshore tropical ecosystems.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Juan L. Torres-Perez, Carlos E. Ramos-Scharron, William J. Hernandez, Roy A. Armstrong, Maritza Barreto-Orta, Jorge Ortiz-Zayas, Liane S. Guild, Roberto Viqueira
Summary: Land-based sediment stress poses a threat to many coral reefs in Puerto Rico, affecting water quality and benthic composition. The study characterizes two previously undescribed coral reefs on the north coast, showing a higher coral cover and more threatened reef-building species farther from the river outlet, while closer to the river outlet, the reefs are dominated by macroalgae with lower coral cover.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jaroslaw Stolarski, Ismael Coronado, Jack G. Murphy, Marcelo Kitahara, Katarzyna Janiszewska, Maciej Mazur, Anne M. Gothmann, Anne-Sophie Bouvier, Johanna Marin-Carbonne, Michelle L. Taylor, Andrea M. Quattrini, Catherine S. McFadden, John A. Higgins, Laura F. Robinson, Anders Meibom
Summary: One of the most conserved traits in the evolution of biomineralizing organisms is the taxon-specific selection of skeletal minerals. The modern asymbiotic scleractinian coral Paraconotrochus antarcticus in the Southern Ocean forms a two-component carbonate skeleton, with high-Mg calcite in the inner structure and aragonite in the outer structure, similar to the Cretaceous Coelosmilia. This highlights a close phylogenetic relationship and suggests the capability of forming bimineralic structures in scleractinian corals dates back at least 100 million years.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Oceanography
Emma Korein, Maria Vega-Rodriguez, Tania Metz
Summary: Coral diseases pose a grave threat to the health of coral reefs in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has prioritized coral disease management and conducted interviews with local experts and participatory mapping exercises to develop recommendations. This study identified 10 coral disease management recommendations and 14 priority locations for monitoring and intervention efforts, which can serve as a guide for comprehensive and localized marine ecosystem management plans in other regions.
OCEAN & COASTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
E. D. Erlanger, J. K. C. Rugenstein, A. Bufe, V Picotti, S. D. Willett
Summary: This study examines the contributions of carbonates and silicates to erosion and weathering in a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic active orogen. The findings suggest that erosion generally dominates total denudation fluxes, while weathering fluxes are systematically dominated by carbonates. The study also highlights the differences in weathering limits between the subsurface weathering zone and riverine exports in the landscape.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-EARTH SURFACE
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
I. A. Madden, A. Mariwala, M. Lindhart, S. Narayan, K. K. Arkema, M. W. Beck, J. W. Baker, J. Suckale
Summary: Ecosystems like coral reefs play a role in reducing coastal flood risks, but their conservation is underinvested compared to engineered risk-mitigation structures. This is due to the difficulty in quantifying the risk-reduction benefits of coral reefs, which requires understanding their fragility to severe stresses. In this study, the authors propose a framework for assessing the fragility of coral reefs to hurricanes, based on data collected in the Florida Keys and Puerto Rico. They establish a correlation between hurricane impacts and coral mortality rates, and develop a fragility function for comparing the cost-effectiveness of coral reefs and engineered solutions to flood risk reduction.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Xiao Du, Changbing Tian, Youjing Wang, Zhuo Liu, Guosheng Qin
Summary: This study comprehensively investigates the sequence stratigraphy, depositional history, and reservoir characteristics of the mixed siliciclastic-carbonate succession in southeastern Iraq, providing insights into the facies associations, depositional environments, and reservoir quality. The research highlights the importance of understanding the reciprocal mixed deposition in different system tracts and the controlling factors in the reservoir development, offering valuable support for oil exploration and development in the region.
MARINE AND PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Stacey M. Williams, Jorge Garcia-Sais, Jorge Sabater-Clavell
Summary: Mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) are ecologically important habitats that serve as refuges for shallow-water corals and sponges. The Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) is a new lethal coral disease that has spread through the Caribbean, affecting primarily shallow reefs. The disease prevalence of SCTLD varies among habitats, with the highest prevalence observed at bank coral reefs (BCR).
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Environmental Studies
Matthew P. Johnson
Summary: The South Coast Irrigation Project (SCIP) in Puerto Rico brought huge profits to North American sugar interests but did not lead to sustained economic growth or improved living standards on the island. The project had unforeseen environmental consequences such as droughts, water shortages, and sediment accumulation in reservoirs, which posed a threat to the dams' efficiency.
ENVIRONMENT AND HISTORY
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Antun Husinec, Lukas A. Harvey
Summary: This study improves understanding of the climatic and sea-level fluctuations during the Late Ordovician late Katian period by analyzing a dataset from the subsurface of North Dakota. It reveals the impact of climate and sea-level regimes on depositional dynamics and sequence architecture in a tropical epicontinental basin setting.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Renee K. Takesue, Clark Sherman, Natalia Ramirez, Aaron O. Reyes, Olivia M. Cheriton, Roberto Viqueira Rios, Curt D. Storlazzi
Summary: The study highlights the impact of runoff from land on nearshore ecosystems, especially coral reefs, which is influenced by sediment supply and coastal processes. Different sources of fine sediment from various watersheds affect coral reefs differently, and changes in landscape after major storms can also affect sediment transport. Successful reduction of land-based pressures on nearshore ecosystems will require cross-jurisdictional strategies to address these complex issues.
ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Orrin Bryers, Luc Georges Bulot, Aude Duval-Arnould, Cathy Hollis, Jonathan Redfern
Summary: This study describes extensive coral-rich bodies deposited on the Moroccan northwest Atlantic shallow-marine margin during the Cretaceous. The results provide information on driving processes for coral development, temporal evolution, and environmental factors affecting coral growth. The termination of coral deposition is marked by a hardground surface, indicating slow rates of sedimentation and a transgression, leading to deterioration of the carbonate platform health.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Edwin A. Hernandez-Delgado, Maria F. Ortiz-Flores
Summary: The persistence and resilience of marginal shallow coral reefs have declined due to chronic environmental degradation and climate change. This study examined the potential for natural recovery through coral recruitment on fringing reefs in Puerto Rico. The results showed that degraded reefs and reefs affected by water quality degradation and physical impacts had lower coral recruit density and diversity, indicating less potential for recovery. It is important to implement effective environmental conservation and restoration strategies to enhance coral recruitment success and recovery processes.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
E. Tournadour, S. J. Jorry, S. Etienne, J. Collot, M. Patriat, M. K. BouDagher-Fadel, F. Fournier, B. Pelletier, P. Le Roy, G. Jouet, P. Maurizot
Summary: The Neogene and Quaternary shallow-water carbonate records around the main island of Grande Terre in New Caledonia provide valuable insights into the stratigraphic architecture of tropical mixed carbonate-siliciclastic systems. The eastern shelf of Grande Terre, tilted to the southeast, has been better preserved from erosion than the western part, leading to the development and preservation of shallow-water carbonates. The geological history of the region reveals a transition from aggrading Neogene carbonate banks to backstepping Quaternary platforms, potentially driven by changes in sea-level rise and carbonate producers.
