Discovery of a rare pillar coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus) death assemblage off southeast Florida reveals multi-century persistence during the late Holocene

Abstract

In recent years, coral populations in the western Atlantic have undergone widespread declines from climate change, anthropogenic stressors, and infectious disease outbreaks. The pillar coral, Dendrogyra cylindrus, has been one of the most affected species, prompting its listing as threatened under the United States Endangered Species Act in 2014 and critically endangered under the IUCN Red List in 2022. However, due to its natural rarity, it is particularly difficult to study using conventional long-term monitoring studies or less common paleontological investigations. Here, we document for the first time, the multi-century persistence of D. cylindrus on high-latitude nearshore reefs off southeast Florida during the late Holocene. Using high-precision uranium–thorium (U-Th) dating, we constrain the ages of well-preserved subfossil D. cylindrus colonies recovered from newly described coral death assemblages. We also describe specific morphological characteristics and taphonomic indicators reflecting their unique depositional environment. Our findings demonstrate long-term persistence of D. cylindrus in southeast Florida, despite geographical isolation and historical rarity in the region.