Article
Environmental Sciences
Christopher A. Brunner, Sven Uthicke, Gerard F. Ricardo, Mia O. Hoogenboom, Andrew P. Negri
Summary: Climate change poses new challenges to coral reef replenishment, with coral recruits under future climate conditions showing reduced ability to remove sediments and higher mortality rates. Water-quality guidelines will need to be adjusted according to climate change to protect future coral recruitment.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Peter L. Harrison, Dexter W. dela Cruz, Kerry A. Cameron, Patrick C. Cabaitan
Summary: Loss of foundation reef-corals is damaging reef communities globally, leading to a decline in ecosystem function. Active intervention and effective coral restoration techniques are needed to enhance coral recruitment and density. Enhancing larval supply significantly increases settlement on reefs, facilitating rapid re-establishment of breeding coral populations and enhancing fish abundance.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Joana Figueiredo, Christopher J. Thomas, Eric Deleersnijder, Jonathan Lambrechts, Andrew H. Baird, Sean R. Connolly, Emmanuel Hanert
Summary: The study demonstrates that a 2-degree Celsius warming will reduce the dispersal distance of coral larvae and connectivity between reefs, impacting coral reef recovery and the spread of warm-adapted genes.
NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Anna Koester, Amanda K. Ford, Sebastian C. A. Ferse, Valentina Migani, Nancy Bunbury, Cheryl Sanchez, Christian Wild
Summary: By studying the changes in coral juvenile abundance and recruit abundance at Aldabra Atoll in Seychelles, it was found that coral juvenile abundance experienced rapid growth after a bleaching event, with differences in abundance across different locations and time periods. The abundance of recruits inside the lagoon was significantly higher than outside, indicating spatial variations in recruitment patterns.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ryu Lippmann, Kate B. Helmstedt, Mark B. Gibbs, Paul B. Corry
Summary: To optimize the production of cultivated resources, a mathematical programming model is formulated to determine the optimal location and sizing of growth facilities, considering the impact of growth time on resource survival rate. The method provides strategic information on facility number, location, and sizing, as well as operational decisions for optimal growth time to minimize costs. The facility location and sizing problem is solved using a two-stage algorithm and a linear mixed-integer solver in the context of large-scale coral aquaculture for reef restoration. Computational analysis explores the sensitivity of facility number, location, and sizing to changes in demand distribution and cost parameters, highlighting the importance of the relationship between growth time and survival in optimizing operational decisions.
Article
Limnology
Gemma F. Galbraith, Benjamin J. Cresswell, Mark I. McCormick, Geoffrey P. Jones
Summary: Hydrodynamic processes play a crucial role in marine environments and coral reefs, influencing patterns of habitat zonation, community structure, and biodiversity. This study focused on comparing fish communities among different reef types in Papua New Guinea, finding that submerged pinnacle reefs had higher fish biomass, abundance, and species richness compared to fringing and offshore emergent reefs. The study also highlighted the significant influence of reef-scale hydrodynamics, particularly average current speed, current speed variability, and reef area, on fish biodiversity. These findings emphasize the ecological importance of small, submerged coral reefs that are often overlooked in coral reef ecology.
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Joshua S. S. Madin, Andrew H. H. Baird, Sean R. R. Connolly, Maria A. A. Dornelas, Mariana Alvarez-Noriega, Michael J. J. McWilliam, Miguel Barbosa, Shane A. A. Blowes, Paulina Cetina-Heredia, Alec P. P. Christie, Vivian R. R. Cumbo, Marcela Diaz, Madeleine A. A. Emms, Erin Graham, Dominique Hansen, Mizue Hisano, Emily Howells, Chao-Yang Kuo, Caroline Palmer, James Tan Chun Hong, Theophilus Zhi En Teo, Rachael M. M. Woods
Summary: In this study, scleractinian corals were tagged and tracked to measure their vital rates and competitive interactions. Despite being disrupted by a tropical cyclone, the data collected can still be valuable for researchers interested in coral ecology and population dynamics.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Michalis Mihalitsis, Renato A. Morais, David R. Bellwood
Summary: Quantifying ecosystem processes in complex ecosystems, such as rainforests and coral reefs, is a challenging task. Predation, one of the fundamental species interactions, plays a crucial role in shaping ecosystem processes. However, the quantification of predation, especially in aquatic systems, is often overlooked. A study on fish-fish predation in a highly diverse coral reef community reveals that the previously examined body sizes only represent a small fraction (5%) of actual predation events. The average size of fish predators on coral reefs is only 3.65 cm, while the average size of fish prey is 1.5 cm. This study highlights the importance of reevaluating our understanding of fish predation and its impact on the species composition and functional groups in coral reef fish communities. The results indicate that predation on coral reefs is primarily driven by small fish that are often unseen and unquantified.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
J. J. V. Nielsen, G. Matthews, K. R. Frith, H. B. Harrison, M. R. Marzonie, K. L. Slaughter, D. J. Suggett, L. K. Bay
Summary: Understanding the distribution and abundance of heat tolerant corals is crucial for predicting responses to climate change. We conducted experiments to explore the effects of coral fragment size, sampling time, and physiological measures on the acute heat stress response in adult corals. Our findings suggest that photosynthetic efficiency, tissue color change, and host-specific assays such as catalase activity are key physiological measures for rapidly quantifying thermal tolerance.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Oceanography
Dane Erlo Matorres, Michael Fabinyi, Kate Barclay, Peter Harrison
Summary: Most coral restoration work focuses on technical approaches, neglecting the social, economic, and political contexts. This study examines the interactions between major coastal economic sectors and coral restoration in the Philippines, highlighting the importance of these interactions for the governance and sustainability of restoration projects.
OCEAN & COASTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Chelsey M. Beese, Peter J. Mumby, Alice Rogers
Summary: The quality of coral reef habitats is declining due to heatwaves and other disturbances, resulting in reduced complexity and energy transfer to higher trophic levels. By using a size-based ecosystem model, researchers found that providing refuge for fish between 5 and 10 cm in length can significantly enhance fish biomass and fisheries productivity. The study also identifies refuge profiles that can improve ecosystem service provision by up to sixfold.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Andrew G. Bauman, Andrew S. Hoey, Glenn Dunshea, Jenny Fong, Ian Z. W. Chan, Peter A. Todd
Summary: Fear of predators influences foraging behavior of herbivorous fishes over small spatial scales, with larger group sizes further from predators. These fear effects interact with herbivore group size to shape the distribution and intensity of herbivory, impacting macroalgal removal on coral reefs.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biology
Sanaz Hazraty-Kari, Parviz Tavakoli-Kolour, Seiya Kitanobo, Takashi Nakamura, Masaya Morita
Summary: Elevated temperatures can cause coral bleaching and reef degradation. However, this study found that coral may have the ability to cope with thermal stress by producing more heat-tolerant larvae. The stressed coral fragments showed a trade-off in egg production, with an increase in egg number but a decrease in size. Additionally, larvae and recruits from the stressed colony had marginally higher survival rates in higher water temperatures, which may contribute to improving coral reef resilience.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Tiffany J. Nay, Jacob L. Johansen, Jodie L. Rummer, John F. Steffensen, Andrew S. Hoey
Summary: The study on the preferred temperature and thermal range of the black-axil chromis revealed the significant impact of species interactions on thermal ecology. Individual fish showed a greater tolerance for higher temperatures in the presence of a predator, highlighting the limited scope for thermal tolerance under different ecological conditions.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Courtney S. Couch, Thomas A. Oliver, Rhonda Suka, Mia Lamirand, Mollie Asbury, Corinne Amir, Bernardo Vargas-Angel, Morgan Winston, Brittany Huntington, Frances Lichowski, Ariel Halperin, Andrew Gray, Joao Garriques, Jennifer Samson
Summary: A study comparing in-water surveys and SfM imaging methods for assessing coral demography, bleaching, and diversity found that most metrics did not significantly differ between the two methods. While SfM offers a more rigorous approach to reducing observer errors, it also requires more investment and time to handle data effectively.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
