Identifying coral species traits associated with resilience across Florida’s Coral Reef

Over the last three decades, coral population decline and lack of recovery along Florida’s Coral Reef (FCR) from multiple recurrent disturbances has instigated the expanding application of coral restoration and conservation efforts. However, efforts thus far have focused on taxonomic approaches. While taxonomic approaches are important, these approaches may miss crucial changes in other aspects of FCR such as ecosystem functions (e.g., herbivory, habitat provision). Trait-based approaches offer a complimentary method to evaluate coral community reassembly and changes to ecosystem functions and resilience traits under ongoing global change. To address this gap, our aim was to identify coral species traits associated with resilience (defined as the capacity for coral populations to regain their fundamental structure, processes, and functioning following disturbances) to thermal stress and disease along FCR. Specifically, we had three goals: (1) examine what the effects of recurrent acute disturbance events (i.e., thermal, disease) across time were on coral species traits, trait redundancy, and trait space along FCR, (2) assess which coral species traits are resilient to thermal stress (hot and cold) and disease (i.e., SCTLD, black band disease), and (3) determine which coral traits are predominant within source and sink reef hotspots and priority restoration sites along FCR. We used long-term monitoring data from CREMP and SECREMP to analyze coral species abundance, disease prevalence, and sea surface temperature patterns across 79 sites along FCR. Global trait datasets and literature reviews provided species-level trait information, which was combined with resilience metrics using random forest and mixed model analyses to identify traits associated with disturbance resistance. To complement this, field surveys at 23 additional reef sites measured colony-level traits (e.g., corallite width, tissue thickness, growth form, surface complexity) using photogrammetry, image analysis, and microscopy. Kruskal-Wallis tests, principal coordinate analyses, and cluster dendrograms compared trait composition and diversity across regions and restoration priority sites to guide management decisions. We also ranked coral species for restoration efforts to prioritize increasing trait diversity and resilience. Species were assigned an overall score based on individual scores of the presence of resilience traits and their contribution to increasing trait diversity and decreasing trait redundancy. We found Florida’s coral communities had low trait diversity, high trait redundancy, and little variation in trait composition. Furthermore, recurrent disturbances (i.e., heat, hurricanes) have driven declines in trait diversity and changes in trait composition. Overall, our findings highlight the need for management to support and enhance trait diversity, as it underpins multiple reef ecosystem functions. Restoration efforts should focus on coral species identified as contributing most to increased trait diversity and resilience—particularly in areas with low existing diversity. We also provide a ranking of coral species based on their contributions to trait diversity and resilience, offering a practical tool to guide species selection for restoration and monitoring efforts. Expanding coral monitoring to include species trait measurements will improve long-term management outcomes.