Management of scleractinian coral assemblages in temperate non-reefal areas: insights from a long-term monitoring study in Kushimoto, Japan (33°N)

In this era of global climate change, understanding fundamental mechanisms of coral community maintenance and persistence in temperate non-reefal areas is a high marine conservation priority. To identify mechanisms of community maintenance and persistence via larval supply, we monitored coral settlement over 12 years and investigated the genetic population structure of two major acroporid species at Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan (33°N). Between 8 and 30 artificial settlement panel pairs were deployed from May or June to September, October, or November of each year. Recruits on settlement panel pairs were scarce, especially those of acroporids (0 or