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Diversity
Special Issues
Ecology and Paleoecology of Atlantic and Caribbean Coral Reefs
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Ecology and Paleoecology of Atlantic and Caribbean Coral Reefs

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 2210

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Pamela Hallock

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St Petersburg, FL 33701, USA
Interests: coral reefs; bioindicators; ocean acidification; nutrition in coastal zones; foraminifera; marine ecosystems; ocean environment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Atlantic and Caribbean coral reefs have a fascinating past, a rapidly changing present, and an uncertain future. Extending from the Abrolhos Bank off the eastern region of Brazil, north to Bermuda, coral reefs are found in suitable habitats across 50° of subtropical and tropical latitudes. Originally part of the circumtropical expanse of warm, carbonate provinces, connections to the Indo-Pacific via the Tethyan Seaway were closed in the Miocene. Later, connections to the Eastern Pacific were lost with the closure of the Panama Seaway in the Plio-Pleistocene. Isolation and environmental stresses have resulted in a much diminished diversity of many reef taxa, compared with the western Pacific, though some taxa have diversified in their more isolated regions. This Special Issue provides a platform to explore the unique characteristics of Atlantic Province reefs, including reef-building taxa, the diverse and fascinating invertebrate biota, and inter-relationships between reef habitats and taxa that feed the human inhabitants throughout the region. Whether exploring genetic, ecological or environmental research on modern taxa, or modeled future, current distributions, or evolution or extinctions of fossil predecessors, the goal is to compile a set of research papers that celebrates the unique characteristics of coral reefs of the Atlantic realm.

Prof. Dr. Pamela Hallock
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biodiversity
  • biogeography
  • coral-reef ecosystem
  • reef-species distributions
  • reef community structure
  • resilient species
  • endemic species
  • vulnerable species
  • climate change
  • Neogene reefs
  • Miocene reefs
  • Pliocene reefs
  • Pleistocene reefs
  • climate change to reef ecosystem services

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 1281 KiB  
Communication
From Sand to Bell: Novel Predation of Scyphozoans by the Giant Caribbean Sea Anemone Condylactis gigantea (Weinland, 1860) from the Western Atlantic
by Ramón D. Morejón-Arrojo, Natalia B. López-Figueroa, Joán I. Hernández-Albernas, Leandro Rodriguez-Viera and Elizabeth W. Stoner
Diversity 2025, 17(2), 111; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17020111 - 3 Feb 2025
Viewed by 150
Abstract
Predation is a fundamental ecological process that shapes marine ecosystem dynamics. This study reveals a novel predator–prey interaction between the giant Caribbean sea anemone Condylactis gigantea and the two jellyfish species Cassiopea sp. and Aurelia sp., challenging traditional understanding of sea anemone feeding [...] Read more.
Predation is a fundamental ecological process that shapes marine ecosystem dynamics. This study reveals a novel predator–prey interaction between the giant Caribbean sea anemone Condylactis gigantea and the two jellyfish species Cassiopea sp. and Aurelia sp., challenging traditional understanding of sea anemone feeding habits. Observations from citizen science platforms and field recordings documented C. gigantea successfully capturing and consuming these gelatinous marine organisms. The research highlights the trophic plasticity of C. gigantea, demonstrating its ability to prey on larger gelatinous organisms beyond its traditionally known diet. This predation event represents a possible benthic–pelagic coupling mechanism and underscores the value of citizen science in capturing rare ecological interactions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecology and Paleoecology of Atlantic and Caribbean Coral Reefs)
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17 pages, 3043 KiB  
Communication
Invasion of the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea by a Large Benthic Foraminifer in the Little Ice Age
by Edward Robinson and Thera Edwards
Diversity 2025, 17(2), 110; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17020110 - 2 Feb 2025
Viewed by 521
Abstract
The larger benthic foraminifera is a group of marine protists harbouring symbiotic algae, that are geographically confined to shallow tropical and subtropical waters, often associated with coral reefs. The resulting controls on availability of habitat and rates of dispersion make these foraminifers, particularly [...] Read more.
The larger benthic foraminifera is a group of marine protists harbouring symbiotic algae, that are geographically confined to shallow tropical and subtropical waters, often associated with coral reefs. The resulting controls on availability of habitat and rates of dispersion make these foraminifers, particularly the genus Amphistegina, useful proxies in the study of invasive marine biota, transported through hull fouling and ballast water contamination in modern commercial shipping. However, there is limited information on the importance of these dispersal mechanisms for foraminifers in the Pre-Industrial Era (pre-1850) for the Atlantic and Caribbean region. This paper examines possible constraints and vectors controlling the invasion of warm-water taxa from the Indo-Pacific region to the Atlantic and Caribbean region. Heterostegina depressa, first described from St. Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic, provides a test case. The paper postulates that invasions through natural range expansion or ocean currents were unlikely along the possible available routes and hypothesises that anthropogenic vectors, particularly sailing ships, were the most likely means of transport. It concludes that the invasion of the Atlantic by H. depressa was accomplished within the Little Ice Age (1350–1850 C.E.), during the period between the start of Portuguese marine trade with east Africa in 1497 and the first description of H. depressa in 1826. This hypothesis is likely applicable to other foraminifers and other biota currently resident in the Atlantic and Caribbean region. The model presented provides well-defined parameters that can be tested using methods such as isotopic dating of foraminiferal assemblages in cores and genetic indices of similarity of geographic populations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecology and Paleoecology of Atlantic and Caribbean Coral Reefs)
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21 pages, 4452 KiB  
Article
Diversity of Cryptofaunal Nematode Assemblages along the Jardines de La Reina Coral Reef, Southern Cuba
by Diana Marzo-Pérez, Jose Andrés Pérez-García, Amy Apprill and Maickel Armenteros
Diversity 2024, 16(5), 264; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16050264 - 29 Apr 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1183
Abstract
Cryptofaunal nematodes, those living on the hard substrate of the coral reefs, are largely unknown in terms of diversity and assemblage structure. We described nematode assemblages at seven sites spanning about 200 km along Jardines de La Reina, a well-preserved reef system in [...] Read more.
Cryptofaunal nematodes, those living on the hard substrate of the coral reefs, are largely unknown in terms of diversity and assemblage structure. We described nematode assemblages at seven sites spanning about 200 km along Jardines de La Reina, a well-preserved reef system in the Greater Antilles. We identified about 3000 nematodes, mostly of the families Desmodoridae and Chromadoridae; the most abundant species were Croconema cinctum, Desmodora communis, and Euchromadora vulgaris. The regional richness was moderate with 70 observed species (0.95 confidence interval: 65–75 species) and 75 extrapolated species (0.95 CI: 68–83 species). This richness was lower than in other reef biotopes, maybe reflecting evolutionary constraints due to interactions with stony corals. The local expected richness at 100 individuals was similar among sites, with a median of 26 species (0.95 CI: 20–34 species), and likely caused by diversification rate and evolutionary time acting at the same pace on populations. The taxonomic β-diversity was high and without differences among sites (median: 0.85; 0.95 CI: 0.33–1), probably due to significant substrate heterogeneity at 10-cm scale. The prevalence of replacement over richness difference suggests that local processes (e.g., environmental filtering and competition) contribute more to β-diversity than niche availability, which would be largely similar across the reef terraces. Contrary to our expectations, no gradient of assemblage structure occurred, nor significant effect of benthic cover on nematodes. However, nematode functional structure showed a conservative set of biological traits reflecting adaptations to hydrodynamic regime: armed oral cavity/intermediate colonizing capability/ornamented cuticles/conical tail. Our results provide insights about the taxonomic and functional diversity of nematodes and highlight the vast knowledge gaps about the processes ruling the meiofauna community structure in coral reefs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecology and Paleoecology of Atlantic and Caribbean Coral Reefs)
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