A 238-year coral Ba/Ca record suggests increasing terrigenous influence associated with historical land-use change in northern Cuba.

Understanding the long-term effects of land-use change on coastal ecosystems is essential for effective environmental management and conservation. This study presents a high-resolution 238-year (1778-2015) reconstruction of terrigenous influence on a coral reef within the Sabana-Camagüey Ecosystem (north-central Cuba), a region of high ecological value that includes Ramsar sites and a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA). Annual Ba/Ca ratios were measured in a dated core of Orbicella faveolata and used as a proxy for variations in terrigenous input. The record reveals a long-term increase in Ba/Ca beginning around 1900 and accelerating during the twentieth century, broadly coinciding with historical deforestation, agricultural expansion, and coastal development in adjacent watersheds. Several prominent Ba/Ca peaks also correspond to periods affected by major tropical cyclones, suggesting episodic enhancement of terrestrial material delivery. Coral linear extension rates exhibited a significant long-term decline over the study period, while Ba/Ca values increased. Although a significant inverse relationship was observed between Ba/Ca and coral extension during the post-1936 interval, additional analyses using detrended series and first differences indicate that this relationship is primarily associated with shared long-term trends rather than strong year-to-year coupling. These findings suggest that coral skeletal Ba/Ca provides a valuable archive of long-term changes in terrigenous influence in the Sabana-Camagüey Ecosystem and highlight the enduring legacy of historical land-use change on coastal environments. The study underscores the importance of integrated watershed-coastal management strategies for protecting coral reef ecosystems in regions exposed to sustained terrestrial pressures.