Assessing Ecological Resilience of Great Star Coral in Florida

Reef habitats in the Florida Keys Reef Tract (FKRT) have declined dramatically since 1970’s, to the extent that some of its formerly foundational coral species have been declared ecologically extinct. But not all coral species suffer the same fate. This project investigates one of the survivors: great star coral (Montastrea cavernosa), a large mound-forming coral found in all reef habitats throughout the FKRT. This species is a “living fossil” of the coral world with an impressive survival history: its genetic lineage dates as far back as the Cretaceous period, which means that it persisted even through the dinosaur-killing asteroid impact 65 million years ago. Today, it is one of the very few coral species that still do relatively well in Florida despite profound degradation of its coral reefs (its conservation status is “least concern”). How can it adapt so successfully? To answer that, the Matz Lab will measure how this species’ genetic composition changes across the seascape and which environmental factors drive that change. This approach, called “seascape genomics”, is as close as it gets to directly asking the coral what it cares most about in its environment. This information will be very useful in coral reef management, particularly restoration.