Genetic diversity and connectivity in the threatened staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) in Florida.

ABSTRACT: Over the past three decades, populations of the dominant shallow water Caribbean corals, Acropora cervicornis and A. palmata, have been devastated by white-band disease (WBD), resulting in the listing of both species as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. A key to conserving these threatened corals is understanding how their populations are genetically interconnected throughout the greater Caribbean. Genetic research has demonstrated that gene flow is regionally restricted across the Caribbean in both species. Yet, despite being an important site of coral reef research, little genetic data has been available for the Florida Acropora, especially for the staghorn coral, A. cervicornis. In this study, we present new mitochondrial DNA sequence data from 52 A. cervicornis individu

SUBMITTER: Hemond EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2799679 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature