Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Nicholas P. Jones, Rob R. Ruzicka, Mike A. Colella, Morgan S. Pratchett, David S. Gilliam
Summary: Acute disturbances and chronic pressures have significant and increasing impacts on coral reef community structure. This study reveals that high disturbance frequency and chronic anthropogenic pressures have led to sustained declines in stony corals and proliferation of macroalgae on Florida's Coral Reef. Even in locations with lower chronic pressure, recovery of stony corals is severely limited.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Andreas Dietzel, Sean R. Connolly, Terry P. Hughes, Michael Bode
Summary: This study found that recent mass coral bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef have larger and more continuous spatial footprints than previous bleaching events, posing an unprecedented threat to coral species resilience. In contrast to the impacts of a severe tropical cyclone, the bleaching events isolated severely affected reefs from the nearest mildly affected reefs by greater distances, highlighting the significant threat to coral species posed by the spatial footprint of these recent bleaching events.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Li Keat Lee, Chui Pin Leaw, Li Chuen Lee, Zhen Fei Lim, Kieng Soon Hii, Albert Apollo Chan, Haifeng Gu, Po Teen Lim
Summary: This study characterized the coral-associated Symbiodiniaceae communities using high-throughput next-generation amplicon sequencing. The results showed that Cladocopium and Durusdinium were the dominant genera, providing a baseline for future studies on Symbiodiniaceae diversity.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Li Keat Lee, Chui Pin Leaw, Li Chuen Lee, Zhen Fei Lim, Kieng Soon Hii, Albert Apollo Chan, Haifeng Gu, Po Teen Lim
Summary: This study characterized the coral-associated Symbiodiniaceae communities of 14 reef sites in Malaysia using high-throughput sequencing, revealing the predominance of Cladocopium and Durusdinium genera with high diversity and richness. Additionally, it was found that different ITS2-type profiles exist across coral species. By establishing a baseline for future studies, this research provides insight into the potential adaptive roles of coral-algal associations.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Joicye Hernandez-Zulueta, Leopoldo Diaz-Perez, Cristian Moises Galvan-Villa, Manuel Ayon-Parente, Pastora Gomez-Petersen, Enrique Godinez-Dominguez, Fabian Alejandro Rodriguez-Zaragoza
Summary: Spatial variations in coral assemblage structure on the southern coast of Jalisco, Mexico were evaluated in this study, revealing significant differences in terms of species richness, coral cover, and benthic habitat structure between coral patch sites and coral community sites. Despite the dominance of branched corals of the genus Pocillopora, other species such as Pocillopora damicornis, Pocillopora capitata, and Pocillopora verrucosa also contributed to the differences between sites. Live coral cover and turf were identified as key factors favoring the differences in site conditions.
JOURNAL OF SEA RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Henry A. Bartelet, Michele L. Barnes, Graeme S. Cumming
Summary: Coral reefs are heavily impacted by climate-induced disturbances, and the loss of coral reefs has a significant effect on people who rely on the ecosystem services they provide. However, the impacts of coral loss and the ability of individuals and businesses to adapt to it are not well understood, especially in the private sector. To address this gap, a survey was conducted among Australian reef tourism operators to understand their responses to severe bleaching and cyclone impacts. The results highlight the importance of response diversity, spatial heterogeneity, and learning for social-ecological resilience.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Hillary A. Smith, Stella E. Fulton, Ian M. Mcleod, Cathie A. Page, David G. Bourne
Summary: Manual removal of macroalgae can promote the recovery of inshore coral reefs and improve the composition of benthic reef organisms.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Diane L. Brinkman, Florita Flores, Heidi M. Luter, F. Mikaela Nordborg, Maxime Brooks, Thomas F. Parkerton, Andrew P. Negri
Summary: The risks posed by petroleum spills to coral reefs are not well understood. This study aims to quantify the toxicity thresholds of aromatic hydrocarbons to reef-building corals. The results show that Acropora millepora is more sensitive to aromatic hydrocarbons compared to other corals and aquatic taxa.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Jianguo Liu, Li Cao, Weihai Xu, Gang Li, Rong Xiang, Xiang Su, Yun Luo, Jun Cheng, Xudong Xu, Zhongxian Zhao, Wen Yan
Summary: This study reconstructed the formation and evolution history of the coral reef in Meiji Reef, Nansha Islands, South China Sea based on various analyses. The results revealed that the coral reef developed on a volcanic basement under the influence of regional tectonic movement and long-term climatic change. Multiple exposures and erosion events were found on the island. The development of the coral reef can be explained by a phased erosion deposition model.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Sara E. Cannon, Simon D. Donner, Angela Liu, Pedro Gonzalez C. Espinosa, Andrew H. Baird, Julia K. Baum, Andrew G. Bauman, Maria Beger, Cassandra E. Benkwitt, Matthew J. Birt, Yannick Chancerelle, Joshua E. Cinner, Nicole L. Crane, Vianney Denis, Martial Depczynski, Nur Fadli, Douglas Fenner, Christopher J. Fulton, Yimnang Golbuu, Nicholas A. J. Graham, James Guest, Hugo B. Harrison, Jean-Paul A. Hobbs, Andrew S. Hoey, Thomas H. Holmes, Peter Houk, Fraser A. Januchowski-Hartley, Jamaluddin Jompa, Chao-Yang Kuo, Gino Valentino Limmon, Yuting V. Lin, Timothy R. McClanahan, Dominic Muenzel, Michelle J. Paddack, Serge Planes, Morgan S. Pratchett, Ben Radford, James Davis Reimer, Zoe T. Richards, Claire L. Ross, John Rulmal, Brigitte Sommer, Gareth J. Williams, Shaun K. Wilson
Summary: Scientists and managers often assume a positive relationship between local human disturbance and macroalgae on coral reefs, but this study finds that specific macroalgae taxa may respond differently to human disturbance. By examining genus-level monitoring data, the study reveals that no genera were positively correlated with all human disturbance metrics, highlighting the need to consider specific algae divisions or genera in assessments. The convention of using macroalgae percent cover as an indicator of local human disturbance may overlook important signatures of anthropogenic threats to reefs.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Jeanne Bloomberg, Daniel M. Holstein
Summary: As shallow coral populations decline globally, mesophotic coral ecosystems are proposed as potential refugia for coral species. The study assesses the refuge potential of mesophotic reefs in the US Virgin Islands for Montastraea cavernosa, with deeper coral experiencing slightly lower reproductive potential. Changes in coral cover and sex ratios primarily drive variations in oocyte production over depth, with mesophotic reefs playing a key role in providing oocytes despite lower proportion of females. The persistence of mesophotic reefs as reproductive refuges is questioned due to disease perturbations affecting deeper reefs.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
F. Javier Gonzalez-Barrios, Rafael A. Cabral-Tena, Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip
Summary: The study found that while coral cover in the Mexican Caribbean has shown signs of long-term recovery, the increase in physical functionality has been slower. Changes in coral-building species are crucial for reef functional dynamics, with non-framework and foliose-digitate corals playing a major role in recovery.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biology
Zhenxiong Yang, Wei Tao, Yue Liu, Wei Yu, Xiaojuan Peng, Chuqian Lu, Guangjia Jiang, Bin Chen, Wei Deng, Yihua Lv
Summary: This study investigated the ecological features and environmental factors of the Xuwen coral reef in 2020. The results showed a significant decrease in coral coverage compared to 2004, with dominant genera still being Goniopora and Porites. The coral community was characterized by low diversity. The mass coral bleaching event in the NSCS in 2020 did not cause severe coral death in the short term on the Xuwen coral reef. The growth of the coral community was greatly affected by high suspended solids and nutrient levels, related to current, mariculture, and coastal erosion. Anthropogenic activities such as coastal aquaculture and fishing were identified as the major factors leading to the reduction in coral coverage on the Xuwen coral reef in the past 10 years.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Brittany Huntington, Bernardo Vargas-Angel, Courtney S. S. Couch, Hannah C. C. Barkley, Melanie Abecassis
Summary: Past research has shown the adverse effects of human impacts and climate change on coral reefs. This study surveyed benthic reef communities on 34 Pacific islands and found that the dominance of calcifiers on uninhabited islands has decreased, with other factors such as oceanic productivity and SST variability playing a larger role in benthic cover.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Caroline Belser, Julie Poulain, Karine Labadie, Frederick Gavory, Adriana Alberti, Julie Guy, Quentin Carradec, Corinne Cruaud, Corinne Da Silva, Stefan Engelen, Paul Mielle, Aude Perdereau, Gaelle R. Samson, Shahinaz E. Gas, Christian R. Voolstra, Pierre E. Galand, J. Michel Flores, Benjamin C. C. Hume, Gabriela Perna, Maren Ziegler, Hans-Joachim Ruscheweyh, Emilie Boissin, Sarah Romac, Guillaume A. Bourdin, Guillaume Iwankow, Clementine Moulin, David A. Paz Garcia, Sylvain Agostini, Bernard Banaigs, Emmanuel Boss, Chris Bowler, Colomban de Vargas, Eric Douville, Didier Forcioli, Paola Furla, Eric Gilson, Fabien Lombard, Stephane P. Pesant, Stephanie Reynaud, Shinichi Sunagawa, Olivier Thomas, Romain Trouble, Rebecca Vega Thurber, Didier H. Zoccola, Claude Scarpelli, E' Krame Jacoby, Pedro Oliveira, Jean-Marc Aury, Denis Allemand, Serge Planes, Patrick Wincker
Summary: Coral reef science aims to understand coral health and resilience to combat reef loss caused by environmental stress. The intricate symbiotic interactions within the coral holobiont play a vital role in coral resilience. The Tara Pacific project utilizes advanced sequencing technologies to study the biodiversity and complexity of coral holobionts across the Pacific Ocean, providing valuable insights for future investigations of coral reef dynamics and their future in the Anthropocene.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Ori Frid, Shahar Malamud, Antonio Di Franco, Paolo Guidetti, Ernesto Azzurro, Joachim Claudet, Fiorenza Micheli, Ruth Yahel, Enric Sala, Jonathan Belmaker
Summary: The positive effect of fully protected marine protected areas (MPAs) on marine biodiversity, and specifically on fishes, has been widely documented. The potential of MPAs to mitigate the impact of adverse climatic conditions has seldom been investigated. This study assessed the effectiveness of MPAs in increasing fish biomass across the Mediterranean Sea and found that while MPAs did increase fish biomass, higher seawater temperatures were associated with decreased fish biomass. Importantly, the rate of decrease in fish biomass with temperature was similar between protected and fished sites.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Almut Arneth, Paul Leadley, Joachim Claudet, Marta Coll, Carlo Rondinini, Mark D. A. Rounsevell, Yunne-Jai Shin, Peter Alexander, Richard Fuchs
Summary: The spatial extent of protected areas (PAs) is a highly debated issue in the decision-making process of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. Despite efforts to protect land and oceans, biodiversity loss remains a challenge. While expanding PAs to 30% may have benefits for biodiversity and climate, it is crucial to consider the effectiveness of PAs and potential trade-offs with food production.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Statistics & Probability
Edgar Santos-Fernandez, Julie Vercelloni, Aiden Price, Grace Heron, Bryce Christensen, Erin E. E. Peterson, Kerrie Mengersen
Summary: Crowdsourcing methods are used to produce scientific information by non-experts, which is becoming increasingly important in many fields. However, concerns about the validity of these data often limit their usefulness. This paper focuses on the use of citizen science data in addressing complex challenges in environmental conservation and proposes a Bayesian model to analyze and account for participants' abilities. The model improves the accuracy of the classification tasks and shows the potential of citizen science in answering challenging ecological questions.
INTERNATIONAL STATISTICAL REVIEW
(2023)
Letter
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Joachim Claudet, Cassandra M. Brooks, Robert Blasiak
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Joshua G. Smith, Christopher M. Free, Cori Lopazanski, Julien Brun, Clarissa R. Anderson, Mark H. Carr, Joachim Claudet, Jenifer E. Dugan, Jacob G. Eurich, Tessa B. Francis, Scott L. Hamilton, David Mouillot, Peter T. Raimondi, Richard M. Starr, Shelby L. Ziegler, Kerry J. Nickols, Jennifer E. Caselle
Summary: Marine protected areas (MPAs) have limited ability to enhance ecological resilience to climate change, according to a study conducted in the largest MPA network off the coast of California. While rocky intertidal habitats showed significant resistance to a marine heatwave, other habitats did not exhibit habitat-wide resistance or recovery.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Anna Cresswell, Michael Renton, Tim Langlois, Damian Thomson, Jasmine Lynn, Joachim Claudet
Summary: This study investigates the interplay between resistance and recovery on coral reefs and dependence on pre- and post-disturbance states. It also identifies a chronic decline in coral cover. The results highlight non-linearities and recovery lags in the recovery process.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Andrea Radici, Joachim Claudet, Alessandro Ligas, Isabella Bitetto, Giuseppe Lembo, Maria Teresa Spedicato, Paolo Sartor, Carlo Piccardi, Paco Melia
Summary: Sustainable management of living resources requires balancing biodiversity conservation and socioeconomic viability of human activities. In the case of fisheries, the complex interactions between fish and fisheries make sustainable management design challenging. Researchers have developed a comprehensive metapopulation framework that integrates data on species life-history traits, connectivity, and habitat distribution to identify priority areas for fishing regulation and assess the spatial distribution of management impacts.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mahery Randrianarivo, Radonirina Lebely Botosoamananto, Lucie Penin, Gildas Todinanahary, Mehdi Adjeroud
Summary: Recruitment is crucial for coral assemblages, and the influence of pre- and post-settlement processes on spatial heterogeneity of adults needs to be determined. We examined the density of juveniles and adults among 18 stations in three regions near Madagascar and assessed the impact of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Our findings did not show a significant positive effect of MPAs on juveniles, except for Porites at the study scale. However, the MPA effect was more pronounced for adults, especially for Acropora, Montipora, Seriatopora, and Porites at the regional scale. The correlation between juvenile and adult densities suggests recruitment-limitation relationships for several coral taxa, and highlights the need for conservation measures to specifically protect recruitment processes.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Charlotte Seve, Mokrane Belharet, Paco Melia, Antonio Di Franco, Antonio Calo, Joachim Claudet
Summary: This study assesses the effects of different management policies on conservation and fisheries outcomes using a model. The results show that spatial management is more effective than nonspatial management, and conservation and fisheries outcomes increase with increasing levels of protection. Areas connected through larval dispersal between MPAs have higher fisheries outcomes, but catch increases are preceded by a short-term decrease.
CONSERVATION LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Carole Sylvie Campagne, Laurie-Anne Roy, Joseph Langridge, Joachim Claudet, Remi Mongruel, Damien Beillouin, Eric Thiebaut
Summary: This study constructed a systematic map to summarize the existing literature on how changes in marine ecosystems influence the provision of marine ecosystem services (ES). The findings showed that the most studied ecosystems were pelagic ecosystems on continental shelves and intertidal ecosystems, and food provision was the major focus of ES articles across all types of marine ecosystems.
ENVIRONMENTAL EVIDENCE
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Mairi C. Meehan, Gerald G. Singh, Natalie C. Ban, Rodolphe Devillers, Joachim Claudet
Summary: This article explores the role of Marine Protected Area Networks (MPANs) in protecting biodiversity and contributing to sustainable development, emphasizing the importance of considering ecological, economic, governance, and social dimensions in MPAN design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. The study found that most MPANs have multiple co-occurring, potentially conflicting objectives. MPANs with both biodiversity and societal objectives consider attributes across all dimensions more frequently than those with only biodiversity objectives. However, ecological attributes are always perceived as important regardless of the MPAN objective. Overlooking dimensions in MPAN evaluations can hinder achieving synergies between the multiple dimensions. Identifying important attributes considered in MPANs can enhance the practice of MPAN design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation and improve MPAN success.
CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Julie M. Reimer, Rodolphe Devillers, Brice Trouillet, Natalie C. Ban, Tundi Agardy, Joachim Claudet
Summary: Marine spatial planning (MSP) often prioritizes blue growth objectives over biodiversity conservation, but this study suggests the concept of conservation ready MSP, where plans are designed to integrate conservation in MSP to support sustained ocean use. Qualitative document analysis identified five themes, reflecting conservation in MSP from weak to strong inclusion. The analysis suggests that while some plans appear more prepared to integrate conservation, overall the prioritization of managing impacts and conservation in MSP is less apparent.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jeremy Carlot, Michalis Vousdoukas, Alessio Rovere, Theofanis Karambas, Hunter S. Lenihan, Mohsen Kayal, Mehdi Adjeroud, Gonzalo Perez-Rosales, Laetitia Hedouin, Valeriano Parravicini
Summary: Coral reefs provide natural coastal protection by reducing the energy of incoming waves. Combining coral disturbance-recovery observations with hydrodynamic models, this study quantifies how structural complexity dissipates wave energy. The findings reveal that halving the structural complexity of healthy coral reefs leads to a 50-fold increase in extreme wave run-up heights that occur once in a 100-year period, posing threats to reef-backed coastal communities in terms of increased waves, erosion, and flooding.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Julie Vercelloni, Chris Roelfsema, Eva M. Kovacs, Manuel Gonzalez-Rivero, Matthew T. Moores, Murray Logan, Kerrie Mengersen
Summary: Understanding the fine-scale heterogeneity of coral dynamics and its implications for assessing coral recovery at larger spatial scales is crucial. This study developed a spatio-temporal statistical model to estimate and predict coral recovery patterns. The results revealed that coral community recoveries were influenced by different habitats and factors at a fine scale.