Acropora

Abstract

Acropora, the staghorn coral genus, has persisted for some 60 million years and now remains in living form in the Caribbean and the Indo-Pacific, the two main reef-bearing regions of the world. It is regarded as extremely successful because it contains the greatest number of species of any coral genus, and its species typically occur in great abundance. While it plays a major role in many aspects of reef ecology, Acropora has been shown to be extremely vulnerable to major disturbances on reefs, and thus there is concern about its persistence into the future, in the face of changes due to bleaching, disease, and other factors resulting from global climate change. The fossil record tells us that this genus has persisted and diversified through time, and genetic research is indicating that rare species may have a resilience to local extinction because of the potential for hybridization with other species. Recent decadal changes in both the Caribbean and the Pacific, however, show that Acropora can undergo local extinction in certain circumstances. It is clear that thefuture of this coral genus is intimately linked with the future of the world’s coral reefs.