The coral reefs in the eastern tropical Pacific have been most severly degraded by climatic events. Especially after the El Nino of 1982-1983. Many of these reefs have continued to deteriorate since then because coral recruitment has been sparse and sea urchins continue to erode away the framework of the coral. Coral bleaching (loss of zooxanthellae and/or pigment) has been increasingly wide-spread and frequent. In a survey of more than 2,000 sites in the British Virign Islands, it was found that over 95% of Acropora were dead in 1993.

US Federal List: threatened

CITES: appendix ii

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: critically endangered