Effect of Hurricane Hugo on the primary framework of a reef along the south shore of St. John, US Virgin Islands

Abstract

Hurricane Hugo (1989) severely damaged the framebuilding coral Montastrea annularis on the shallow reefs in Greater Lameshur Bay, St. John. Before the storm these reefs were dominated by M. annularis and a permanent study area was established at 10 m depth to monitor changes in abundance of this species. The storm destroyed, on average, > 33 % of the live cover of M. annularis in the study area. Post-hurricane reefs contained numerous detached colonies in piles or packed into cavities within the reef framework, large areas of vacant hard substratum and extensive growths of the red algae Ljagora spp. Video transects (80 m*) at the same depth and on either side of the study area showed that this damage was patchy. Although these reefs may remain dominated by M. annularis it is possible that the scleractinian fauna will change as a result of colonization by other coral species and delayed mortality of detached M. annularis colonies.