Long-term biomass increase in orbicella species on the Florida Key reef tract - recovery?

Increases in seawater temperatures and CO2 have resulted in major coral reef decline over the past twenty years, especially on the Florida Key Reef Tract. For the past twenty years we have been collecting coral-algal data from various reefs and species in the Florida Keys, namely species of the genera Orbicella and Acropora. We pair this physiological data set with a water quality data set to determine how corals and their algal symbionts are responding to the effects of climate change. Linear models were used to test the effects of water quality and coral physiology on coral biomass, Symbiodinium cell density, and chlorophyll a per Symbiodinium (CHLSym). We found that coral biomass largely increased over time, while Symbiodinium cell density and CHLSym have not changed or decreased very little. Interestingly, the coral physiology measurements and various forms of nitrogen, from the water quality data set, explained the linear models.