Coral connectivity between deep and shallow sites in the Upper Florida Keys : identifying deep water refugia and assessing their importance as sources of coral replenishment following bleaching : interim report (November 1, 2009 - March 31, 2010).

Abstract

This report describes a project aimed at collecting samples from Porites astreoides, Montastrea faveolata and M. cavernosa species of coral at three depth zones (shallow, mid and deep) in reefs in the Upper Florida Keys, and applying existing genetic markers (microsatellites) to these species, with the goal of looking at patterns of connectivity among deep and shallow coral populations. Overall, this approach was expected to allow the assessment of the extent to which deep reefs might serve as sources of local recruitment for nearby shallow reefs.