Thresholds and the resilience of Caribbean coral reefs

Nature, Journal Year: 2007, Volume and Issue: 450(7166), P. 98 - 101

Published: Oct. 31, 2007

Language: Английский

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Alternative states on coral reefs: beyond coral–macroalgal phase shifts

Marine Ecology Progress Series, Journal Year: 2008, Volume and Issue: 376, P. 295 - 306

Published: Nov. 12, 2008

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout JournalEditorsTheme Sections 376:295-306 (2009) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07815 REVIEW Alternative states on coral reefs: beyond coral–macroalgal phase shifts Albert V. Norström1,2,*, Magnus Nyström1,2, Jerker Lokrantz1,2, Carl Folke2,3 1Natural Resource Management, Department of Systems Ecology, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden 2Stockholm Resilience Centre, 3The Beijer Institute, The Royal Swedish Academy Sciences, SE-104 05 *Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT: Degradation reefs is often associated with changes in community structure where macroalgae become dominant benthic life form. These can be difficult reverse. debate reef has not focused reports becoming dominated by other forms following disturbance. A review primary and grey literature indicates that corallimorpharia, soft corals, sponges sea urchins enter an alternative state as a result shift. Shifts triggered pulse disturbances cause large-scale mortality, may stable positive feedback mechanisms. However, they differ from archetypical coral–macroalgae shift, depending factors driving shift; whereas coral–urchin seem driven loss top-down control through overfishing, corallimorpharian, sponge dominance more bottom-up dynamics. Understanding differences similarities mechanisms maintain this variety will aid management aimed at preventing reversing reefs. KEY WORDS: Phase · Coral Corallimorpharia Soft Sponge Urchin barren Full text pdf format PreviousNextCite article as: Norström AV, Nyström M, Lokrantz J, Folke C shifts. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 376:295-306. Export citation Tweet linkedIn Cited Published Vol. 376. Online publication date: February 11, 2009 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; 1616-1599 Copyright © Inter-Research.

Language: Английский

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Overfishing and nutrient pollution interact with temperature to disrupt coral reefs down to microbial scales

Nature Communications, Journal Year: 2016, Volume and Issue: 7(1)

Published: June 7, 2016

Abstract Losses of corals worldwide emphasize the need to understand what drives reef decline. Stressors such as overfishing and nutrient pollution may reduce resilience coral reefs by increasing coral–algal competition reducing recruitment, growth survivorship. Such effects themselves develop via several mechanisms, including disruption microbiomes. Here we report results a 3-year field experiment simulating pollution. These stressors increase turf macroalgal cover, destabilizing microbiomes, elevating putative pathogen loads, disease more than twofold mortality up eightfold. Above-average temperatures exacerbate these effects, further disrupting microbiomes unhealthy concentrating 80% in warmest seasons. Surprisingly, nutrients also bacterial opportunism bitten parrotfish, turning normal trophic interactions deadly for corals. Thus, impact down microbial scales, killing sensitizing them predation, above-average opportunism.

Language: Английский

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New perspectives on ecological mechanisms affecting coral recruitment on reefs

Smithsonian contributions to the marine sciences, Journal Year: 2009, Volume and Issue: 38, P. 437 - 457

Published: Jan. 1, 2009

Coral mortality has increased in recent decades, making coral recruitment more important than ever sustaining reef ecosystems and contributing to their resilience.This review summarizes existing information on ecological factors affecting scleractinian recruitment.Successful requires the survival of offspring through sequential life history stages.Larval availability, successful settlement, post-settlement growth are all necessary for addition new individuals a ultimately maintenance or recovery ecosystems.As environmental conditions continue become hostile corals global scale, further research fertilization ecology, connectivity, larval condition, positive negative cues infl uencing substrate selection, ecology will be critical our ability manage these diverse recovery.A better understanding is fundamental management.

Language: Английский

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Chemically rich seaweeds poison corals when not controlled by herbivores

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal Year: 2010, Volume and Issue: 107(21), P. 9683 - 9688

Published: May 10, 2010

Coral reefs are in dramatic global decline, with seaweeds commonly replacing corals. It is unclear, however, whether harm corals directly or colonize opportunistically following their decline and then suppress coral recruitment. In the Caribbean tropical Pacific, we show that, when protected from herbivores, ~40 to 70% of common cause bleaching death tissue direct contact. For that harmed tissues, lipid-soluble extracts also produced rapid bleaching. mortality was limited areas contact extracts. These patterns suggest allelopathic seaweed-coral interactions can be important on lacking herbivore control seaweeds, these involve metabolites transferred via Seaweeds were rapidly consumed placed a Pacific reef fishing but left intact at slower rates an adjacent fished reef, indicating herbivory will lower frequency damage if retain food webs. With continued removal herbivores reefs, becoming more common. This occurrence lead increasing contacts, suppression remaining corals, continuing

Language: Английский

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Marine Reserves Enhance the Recovery of Corals on Caribbean Reefs

PLoS ONE, Journal Year: 2010, Volume and Issue: 5(1), P. e8657 - e8657

Published: Jan. 9, 2010

The fisheries and biodiversity benefits of marine reserves are widely recognised but there is mounting interest in exploiting the importance herbivorous fishes as a tool to help ecosystems recover from climate change impacts. This approach might be particularly suitable for coral reefs, which acutely threatened by change, yet trophic cascades generated strong enough that they theoretically enhance rate recovery after disturbance. However, evidence facilitating has been lacking. Here we investigate whether reductions macroalgal cover, caused parrotfishes within reserve, have resulted faster than areas subject fishing. Surveys ten sites inside outside Bahamian reserve over 2.5-year period demonstrated increases including adjustments initial size-distribution corals, were significantly higher at those non-reserve sites. Furthermore, cover was negatively correlated with total time. Recovery rates individual species generally consistent small-scale manipulations on coral-macroalgal interactions, also revealed differences demonstrate difficulties translating experiments across spatial scales. Size-frequency data indicated affected high abundances macroalgae had population bottleneck restricting supply smaller corals larger size classes. Importantly, because increased heavily degraded state, such states not previously described, similar or better outcomes should expected many reefs region. Reducing herbivore exploitation part an ecosystem-based management strategy appears justified.

Language: Английский

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Capturing the cornerstones of coral reef resilience: linking theory to practice

Coral Reefs, Journal Year: 2008, Volume and Issue: 27(4), P. 795 - 809

Published: Sept. 30, 2008

Language: Английский

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Unseen players shape benthic competition on coral reefs

Trends in Microbiology, Journal Year: 2012, Volume and Issue: 20(12), P. 621 - 628

Published: Sept. 1, 2012

Language: Английский

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Macroalgal terpenes function as allelopathic agents against reef corals

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal Year: 2011, Volume and Issue: 108(43), P. 17726 - 17731

Published: Oct. 17, 2011

During recent decades, many tropical reefs have transitioned from coral to macroalgal dominance. These community shifts increase the frequency of algal–coral interactions and may suppress recovery following both anthropogenic natural disturbance. However, extent which macroalgae damage corals directly, mechanisms involved, species specificity remain uncertain. Here, we conducted field experiments demonstrating that numerous directly by transfer hydrophobic allelochemicals present on algal surfaces. compounds caused bleaching, decreased photosynthesis, occasionally death in 79% 24 assayed (three eight algae). Coral generally was limited sites contact, but algae were unaffected contact with corals. Artificial mimics for shading abrasion produced no impact corals, effects surface extracts paralleled whole algae; findings suggest local are generated allelochemical rather than physical mechanisms. Rankings most least allelopathic similar across three genera tested. varied markedly susceptibility algae, globally declining such as Acropora more strongly affected. Bioassay-guided fractionation two led identification loliolide derivatives red alga Galaxaura filamentosa acetylated diterpenes green Chlorodesmis fastigiata potent allelochemicals. Our results highlight a newly demonstrated potentially widespread competitive mechanism help explain lack present-day reefs.

Language: Английский

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Re-evaluating the health of coral reef communities: baselines and evidence for human impacts across the central Pacific

Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, Journal Year: 2016, Volume and Issue: 283(1822), P. 20151985 - 20151985

Published: Jan. 7, 2016

Numerous studies have documented declines in the abundance of reef-building corals over last several decades and some but not all cases, phase shifts to dominance by macroalgae occurred. These assessments, however, often ignore remainder benthos thus provide limited information on present-day structure function coral reef communities. Here, using an unprecedentedly large dataset collected within 10 years across 56 islands spanning five archipelagos central Pacific, we examine how benthic communities differ presence absence human populations. Using as replicates, whether community is associated with habitation among latitude. While there was no evidence for macroalgal our did find that majority reefs inhabited were dominated fleshy non-reef-building organisms (turf algae, non-calcifying invertebrates). By contrast, from uninhabited more variable general supported calcifiers active builders (stony crustose coralline algae). Our results suggest cumulative impacts Pacific may be causing a reduction resulting island scale organisms.

Language: Английский

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