Sequential Storms Cause Zone-specific Damage On A Reef In The Northern Florida Reef Tract: Evidence From Hurricane Andrew And The 1993 Storm Of The Century

Lirman, Diego; Fong, Peggy

Hurricane Andrew, the most powerful storm to hit South Florida in over 50 years, passed directly over the northern portion of the Florida Reef Tract on 24 August 1992. Seven months later. a strong winter storm (The Storm of the Century, 12-13 March 1993) pounded the recovering reef communities for a period of two days. In this paper, we quantify the coral community on a reef directly affected by both storms, attempt to separate the reef into zones using several multivariate techniques, and document zone-specific damage to corals following each of the storm events. Coral cover on Elkhorn Reef in Biscayne National Park is high (43%) relative to surrounding reefs. Several ordination and classification methods were used to detect coral zonation. PCA analysis showed separation of the reef into three zones. fore-reef, reef-fiat, and rubble zone. The reef-fiat and rubble zones experienced significant damage during Hurricane Andrew, with twist of the damage sustained by the branching coral Acropora palmata. Nearly all colonies had broken branches, but < 30% were entirely shattered. Overall, damage to corals was less than expected given the strength and proximity of the storm. In contrast, the Storm of the Century had significant effects only on reel-fiat corals. This lower intensity but longer duration storm removed hurricane-generated live A. palmata fragments reducing potential rates of asexual recruitment, and greatly reduced the cover of Porites astreoides, a species largely undamaged by the hurricane. Thus, sequential storms of varying magnitude and duration caused different patterns of coral damage within a single reef system.

Sequential Storms Cause Zone-specific Damage On A Reef In The Northern Florida Reef Tract: Evidence From Hurricane Andrew And The 1993 Storm Of The Century

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