Caribbean reefs of the Anthropocene: Variance in ecosystem metrics indicates bright spots on coral depauperate reefs

Lester, Sarah E.; Rassweiler, Andrew; McCoy, Sophie J.; Dubel, Alexandra K.; Donovan, Mary K.; Miller, Margaret W.; Miller, Scott D.; Ruttenberg, Benjamin I.; Samhouri, Jameal F.; Hay, Mark E.

doi:10.1111/gcb.15253

Cited by 28 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…6a), a finding consistent with prior reports that coral and macroalgae compete with each other (Arnold, Steneck, and Mumby, 2010;Box and Mumby, 2007;Foster, Box, and Mumby, 2008;Jackson et al, 2014;Thurber et al, 2012). In fact, the data from Figure 6a could be superimposed on those of Figure S4 from Lester et al (2020) regressing percent macroalgae cover on percent coral cover from 328 sites across the Caribbean from AGGRA surveys. Previous studies also have reported that areas with Diadema present were associated with areas of greater coral cover (Carpenter and Edmunds, 2006;Edmunds and Carpenter, 2001;Idjadi, Haring, and Precht, 2010), and like Bodmer et al (2015) my results revealed that sea urchin density was positively correlated with percent coral cover (Fig.…”

Section: Significance Of Sea Urchinssupporting

confidence: 86%

Sea urchins, parrotfish and coral reefs in Grand Cayman, BWI: exemplar or outlier?

Sherman

2020

Preprint

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The change in state of Caribbean coral reefs over the last 40 years has been characterized by phase shifts from scleractinian coral cover to macroalgal cover, the loss of structural complexity and a decline in biodiversity. Not only do scientists want to understand these changes, but also predict the future of coral reefs and their capacity for resilience. In particular, the loss of herbivory, due to declines in parrotfish and the sea urchin Diadema antillarum, has been implicated in many studies as a proximate cause of the coral to macroalgal phase shift. However, reports of the particular role of these putative herbivores have varied, with some studies claiming a causal role for parrotfish, others for Diadema and still others suggesting no such relationships. Often these studies just examined one response measure of coral reef biodiversity. In this paper, I report the relationship between parrotfish and Diadema to many metrics of reef organization surveyed simultaneously in the same transects in reefs outside and within the Marine Protected Area (MPA) of Grand Cayman, an island that has been affected by increasing tourism over the last 30 years. The magnitudes of the various measures of reef diversity reported here are consistent with those reported elsewhere. The relationships among those measures are consistent with those reported in some prior studies and inconsistent with others, reflecting the variation in responses documented in prior studies. The presence of sea urchins was associated with survey sites having higher levels of coral cover, lower levels of macroalgae cover, and lower densities of parrotfish than survey sites without sea urchins. Moreover, parrotfish abundance was associated with a decrease in coral cover and little relationship to macroalgae cover. Neither coral cover nor macroalgae cover was different in sites within the MPA compared to sites outside the MPA. I argue that the combination of site-specific local stressors and their interaction with global stressors makes it unlikely that any one island or even regional reef system could serve as an exemplar for Caribbean-wide reef degradation. Moreover, it is difficult to assess the potential for reef resilience in the face of the ongoing assaults from increasing tourism pressures and global climate change.

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Section: Significance Of Sea Urchinssupporting

confidence: 86%

Sea urchins, parrotfish and coral reefs in Grand Cayman, BWI: exemplar or outlier?

Sherman

2020

Preprint

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“…As coral reef communities change and reorganise in response to the increasing anthropogenic and climate disturbances, approaches that detect the new species configurations and their contribution to key ecosystem processes are required (Lester et al 2020;Pombo-Ayora et al 2020). Here, we show that the use of major categories (family level or above) in studying coral reef communities fails to identify strikingly distinct regimes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…For example, decreases in structural complexity and the associated loss of habitat structure have been associated with a decline in fish biomass and therefore fisheries (Rogers et al 2014). However, as shown recently in some Caribbean reefs, not all communities with low-coral cover might display compromised ecosystem functioning (Lester et al 2020), highlighting the need to understand the composition but also functioning of different coral reef communities. The use of trait-based approaches to gain insights into the role of biodiversity in ecosystem functioning has been successfully implemented to study and detect changes in fish and scleractinian coral communities (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond coral-algal regimes: high taxonomic resolution surveys and trait-based analyses reveal multiple benthic regimes

Reverter

Jackson

Rohde

et al. 2021

Preprint

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As coral reef communities change and reorganise in response to anthropogenic and climate disturbances, there is a growing need of detecting and understanding the different emerging species regimes and their contribution to key ecosystem processes. Using a case study on coral reefs at the epicentre of tropical marine biodiversity (North Sulawesi), we explored how application of different biodiversity approaches (i.e. use of major taxonomic categories, high taxonomic resolution categories and trait-based approaches) affects the detection of distinct fish and benthic community assemblages. Our results show that using major categories (family level or above) to study coral reef communities fails to identify distinct regimes. We also show that for detection of different benthic regimes, especially communities dominated by non-coral organisms, monitoring of only scleractinian coral communities is insufficient, and that all types of benthic organisms (e.g. sponges, ascidians, soft corals, algae etc.) need to be considered. We have implemented for the first time, the use of a trait-based approach to study the functional diversity of whole coral reef benthic assemblages, which allowed us to detect five different community regimes, only one of which was dominated by scleractinian corals. We circumvented the challenge that for some benthic groups (e.g. sponges, ascidians or some soft corals) visual identification up to the species level is not possible, by identifying and categorising traits that can be applied to groups of similar organisms instead of specific species. Furthermore, by the parallel study of benthic and fish communities we provide new insights into key processes and functions that might dominate or be compromised in the different community regimes.

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“…For example, decreases in structural complexity and the associated loss of habitat structure have been associated with a decline in fish biomass and therefore fisheries 16 . However, as shown recently in some Caribbean reefs, not all communities with low-coral cover might display compromised ecosystem functioning 42 , highlighting the need to understand the composition but also functioning of different coral reef communities. The use of trait-based approaches to gain insights into the role of biodiversity in ecosystem functioning has been successfully implemented to study and detect changes in fish and scleractinian coral communities 26 , 29 , but to date such approaches have not yet been implemented to study coral reef benthic changes beyond scleractinian corals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…As coral reef communities change and reorganise in response to increasing anthropogenic and climate disturbances, approaches that detect new species configurations and their contribution to key ecosystem processes are required 42 , 43 . Here, we selected reefs with different natural characteristics and exposed to anthropogenic factors, which we hypothesised would display different fish and/or benthic regimes, to compare the use of different biodiversity approaches.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High taxonomic resolution surveys and trait-based analyses reveal multiple benthic regimes in North Sulawesi (Indonesia)

Reverter

Jackson

Rohde

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As coral reef communities change and reorganise in response to increasing disturbances, there is a growing need for understanding species regimes and their contribution to ecosystem processes. Using a case study on coral reefs at the epicentre of tropical marine biodiversity (North Sulawesi, Indonesia), we explored how application of different biodiversity approaches (i.e., use of major taxonomic categories, high taxonomic resolution categories and trait-based approaches) affects the detection of distinct fish and benthic communities. Our results show that using major categories fails to identify distinct coral reef regimes. We also show that monitoring of only scleractinian coral communities is insufficient to detect different benthic regimes, especially communities dominated by non-coral organisms, and that all types of benthic organisms need to be considered. We have implemented the use of a trait-based approach to study the functional diversity of whole coral reef benthic assemblages, which allowed us to detect five different community regimes, only one of which was dominated by scleractinian corals. Furthermore, by the parallel study of benthic and fish communities we provide new insights into key processes and functions that might dominate or be compromised in the different community regimes.

show abstract

Caribbean reefs of the Anthropocene: Variance in ecosystem metrics indicates bright spots on coral depauperate reefs

Cited by 28 publications

References 76 publications

Sea urchins, parrotfish and coral reefs in Grand Cayman, BWI: exemplar or outlier?

Sea urchins, parrotfish and coral reefs in Grand Cayman, BWI: exemplar or outlier?

Beyond coral-algal regimes: high taxonomic resolution surveys and trait-based analyses reveal multiple benthic regimes

High taxonomic resolution surveys and trait-based analyses reveal multiple benthic regimes in North Sulawesi (Indonesia)

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