The reef crests of the Jardines de la Reina National Park (JRNP) are largely formed byAcropora palmata, but colonies ofA. cervicornisand the hybridA. proliferaare 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 ofA. palmatawas measured and the health of 3,546 colonies was evaluated. The same was done to 168 colonies ofA. cervicornisand 104 colonies ofA. prolifera. The influence of the location and marine currents on a number of living colonies ofA. palmatawas 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 ofAcroporaspp. 1.4% wasA. prolifera, 3.5%A. cervicornisand 95.1%A. palmata. There were 104 thickets ofA. palmata, ranging from eight to 12 colonies, and 3,495 fragments; 0.6% wasA. cervicornisand the restA. palmata(99.4%). In the East sector, 263 colonies (3.8% of the total), six thickets (5.8%) and 32 fragments (1%) ofA. palmatewere recorded. In the same sector, there were 11 fragments (50%) ofA.cervicornisand two (2%) colonies ofA. prolifera. Health ofA. palmatawas evaluated as good and not so good in the study area. Health ofA. cervicorniswas critical and health ofA. proliferawas 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 ofA. palmatais 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 ofAcroporaspp., considering that there has been a certain recovery of the speciesA. palmataduring the last 10–16 years. Given the current status of the populations ofAcroporaspp., conservation actions focusingA. cervicornisshould be prioritized.

Resumen Una de las actividades que más se desarrolla en el Parque Nacional Jardines de la Reina (PNJR), ubicado al sur de las provincias de Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila y Camagüey, es el buceo autónomo. Sobre esta base se realizó un estudio acerca de la incidencia de dicha actividad sobre los arrecifes de esta región, específicamente, sobre los corales pétreos. Para ello se estudiaron 28 sitios, en 10 días, lo que permitió comparar zonas de alta, media, baja y sin intensidad de buceo en cuanto al porcentaje de cobertura viva de los corales, mediante 220 transectos lineales y con la observación de 51 buceadores. En los sitios con alta intensidad de buceo se identificaron 36 especies de corales, siendo las más abundantes: S. siderea, A. agaricites, P. astreoides, M. alcicornis y O. faveolata. De los 51 buceadores observados, 48 cometieron infracciones: contactos sobre los organismos, resuspensión de sedimentos, y en menor medida, daños mecánicos (rompimiento). Las gorgonias fueron los organismos más contactados, seguidas por los corales. La cantidad de toques por buceador en el PNJR fue de 5.8 toques/min. La capacidad de carga efectiva en el PNJR varió entre 15 y 35 buceadores/sitio/día. Se infiere que los sitios de buceo del PNJR, a pesar de la incidencia del buceo autónomo sobre ellos, no muestran deterioro. No obstante, se recomienda monitorear los organismos afectados para conocer con precisión su evolución ante las incidencias, así como cumplir con el número de buceadores/sitio/día que se sugiere en este estudio.

Through a nested suite of methods here we contrast the coexistence of different ecosystem states in a tropical coastal lagoon, the Laguna Larga, with increasing eutrophication stress between 2007 and 2009. Water temperature averaged 27.4°C in the lagoon and showed a slight positive trend during the study period. Salinity averaged 35.0±6.2, exhibiting high spatial and temporal variability, and also a slight positive trend in time. In contrast, dissolved oxygen showed a substantial decreasing trend (–0.83 ml L^–1 y^–1; –13.3% y^–1) over the period, while nutrients increased dramatically, particularly total phosphorus (2.6 µM y^–1), in both cases sustaining the progression of eutrophication in the lagoon during the three years we sampled. The Karydis nutrient load-based trophic index showed that the lagoon has a spatial pattern of increasing eutrophication from the sea and the outer sector (oligotrophic-mesotrophic) to the central (mesotrophic) and the inner sector (mesotrophic-eutrophic). Two ecosystem states were found within the lagoon. In the outer oligotrophic sector, the dominant primary producers were macroalgae, seagrasses and benthic diatoms, while mollusc assemblages were highly diverse. In the inner and central sectors (where trophic status increased toward the inner lagoon) a phytoplankton-dominated ecosystem was found where mollusc assemblages are less diverse. In spite of the progression of eutrophication in the lagoon, these two different ecosystems coexisted and remained unchanged during the study period. Apparently, the effect of water residence time, which increases dramatically toward the inner lagoon, dominated over that of nutrient loadings, which is relatively more homogeneously distributed along the lagoon. Therefore, we consider that actions that reduce the water residence time are likely the most effective management options for this and other similarly choked lagoons.