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The reef crests of the Jardines de la Reina National Park (JRNP) are largely formed by  Acropora palmata , but colonies of  A. cervicornis  and the hybrid  A. prolifera  are also present. This study shows spatial distribution of colonies, thickets and live fragments of these species in the fore reefs. Snorkeling was used to perform the direct observations. The maximum diameter of 4,399 colonies of  A. palmata  was measured and the health of 3,546 colonies was evaluated. The same was done to 168 colonies of  A. cervicornis  and 104 colonies of  A. prolifera . The influence of the location and marine currents on a number of living colonies of  A. palmata  was analyzed. For such purpose, reef crests were divided into segments of 500 m. The marine park was divided into two sectors: East and West. The Caballones Channel was used as the reference dividing line. The park was also divided into five reserve zones. We counted 7,276 live colonies of  Acropora  spp. 1.4% was  A. prolifera , 3.5%  A. cervicornis  and 95.1%  A. palmata . There were 104 thickets of  A. palmata , ranging from eight to 12 colonies, and 3,495 fragments; 0.6% was  A. cervicornis  and the rest  A. palmata  (99.4%). In the East sector, 263 colonies (3.8% of the total), six thickets (5.8%) and 32 fragments (1%) of  A. palmate  were recorded. In the same sector, there were 11 fragments (50%) of  A.cervicornis  and two (2%) colonies of  A. prolifera . Health of  A. palmata  was evaluated as good and not so good in the study area. Health of  A. cervicornis  was critical and health of  A. prolifera  was good in all five reserve zones. There was a significant increase in the number of colonies from east to west (Χ2 = 11.5, gl = 3.0,  p  = 0.009). This corroborates the existence of an important abundance differences between the eastern and the western region of the JRNP. A negative relationship was observed between the number of colonies and the distance from the channel (Χ2 = 65.0, df = 3.0,  p  < 0.001). The influence of the channel, for the live colonies of  A. palmata  is greater within the first 2,000 m. It then decreases until approximately 6,000 m, and no significant increase beyond. The orientation of the reef crests significantly influenced the abundance of the colonies (Χ2 = 15.5, df = 2.9,  p  = 0.001). The results presented here provide a baseline for future research on the status of the populations of  Acropora  spp., considering that there has been a certain recovery of the species  A. palmata  during the last 10–16 years. Given the current status of the populations of  Acropora  spp., conservation actions focusing  A. cervicornis  should be prioritized.

peerj

Distribution and status of living colonies of Acropora spp. in the reef crests of a protected marine area of the Caribbean (Jardines de la Reina National Park, Cuba)