Nearshore hardbottom

Vanishing foundations: Florida Keys hardbottom communities lose sponges and corals

A quiet unraveling is underway in the Florida Keys. Between 2006 and 2023, the nearshore hardbottom communities that anchor this ecosystem lost their largest structure-forming sponges, like the loggerhead sponge, likely due to repeated cyanobacteria blooms. Stony corals held steady, yet sponge decline signals a decoupling of habitat from higher trophic levels. Understanding drives protection, and these empirical shifts set clear restoration priorities.