238-9 Tracing Nutrient Stress to Source: Hydrogeologic and Anthropogenic Drivers of Coral Decline in Northeast Jamaica

Session: Recent Advances and New Voices in Marine and Coastal Geoscience

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Abstract:

Caribbean coral reefs are biodiversity hotspots under increasing threat from both global and local stressors. In Jamaica, the East Portland Special Fishery Conservation Area (EPSFCA) is a marine protected area historically thought to be insulated from heavy anthropogenic impacts. Our study, however, reveals that nutrient levels at EPSFCA sites periodically exceed thresholds known to stress coral reefs. Pulses of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) align with known sources of submarine groundwater discharge and land-based pollution, including untreated sewage and surface runoff.

Several sites with elevated soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) are located adjacent to recent road construction along the coastal highway corridor, suggesting that sediment mobilization and geomorphic disturbance may contribute to nutrient loading. Water quality data from 2017 through 2024, combined with benthic community surveys, show that nutrient and thermal stress have contributed to sharp declines in formerly abundant coral taxa. Corals that are susceptible to bleaching (Agaricia, branching Porites, and fire coral) have decreased substantially, while Porites astreoides, a more thermally tolerant species, has become dominant.

These results indicate that both natural and anthropogenic land-based inputs continue to affect reef health, even in relatively remote locations. By linking nutrient pulses to specific hydrological and infrastructural features, this work demonstrates the importance of integrating geologic, hydrologic, and ecological data in coastal management.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-9424

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