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Devastation of 15-year old Community-based Coral Farming and Reef-restoration Sites in Puerto Rico by Major Hurricanes Irma and María

Carlos Toledo-Hernández^1,*, Claudia P. Ruiz-Diaz¹, Edwin A. Hernández-Delgado¹, and Samuel E. Suleimán-Ramos¹

¹Sociedad Ambiente Marino, PO Box 22158, San Juan, PR 00931-2158, USA. *Corresponding author.

Caribbean Naturalist, No. 53 (2019)

Abstract
Category-5 hurricanes Irma and María impacted the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, with waves in excess of 10 m. Herein, we provide the first assessment of hurricane damage to community-based coral farming and reef restoration at several locations from Culebra Island, Puerto Rico. Hurricanes destroyed 75 coral farms, killing 11,074 Acropora cervicornis (Staghorn Coral) fragments. Likewise, over 9000 recently out-planted colonies as well as most of the coral species adjacent to the outplants perished when they were buried by sand and rubble or were dislodged as a result of hurricane-generated waves. Liagora spp. (marine red algae) and other red algae rapidly colonized coral rubble and open-reef substrates, threatening surviving corals of multiple species at least for several weeks after hurricane impacts.

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