Pattern and intensity of human impact on coral reefs depend on depth along the reef profile and on the descriptor adopted

The “resort effect”: Can tourist islands act as refuges for coral reef species?

“…In general, corals appeared to be in better condition in uninhabited islands compared to both resort and community islands in terms of per cent cover, colony size and prevalence of disease, and corals around resort islands were also better than around community islands. This is likely due to the reduced levels of pollution and physical damage associated with uninhabited areas, shown to affect corals in many ways, and which are higher in the two latter management regimes highlighted here (Brown et al., ; Bruno, Petes, Harvell, & Hettinger, ; Domroes, ; Kaczmarsky, Draud, & Williams, ; Nepote et al., ; Redding et al., ; Vega Thurber et al., ). Indeed, one of the locations where coral disease was prevalent was a community island housing a fish processing factory.…”

“…We observed less abundant fleshy algae, which are sometimes indicative of higher nutrient levels (Fabricius et al., ; McClanahan et al., ; Szmant, ), in resorts compared to both community and uninhabited islands. Algal abundance also appeared to be more abundant in the outer reefs surveyed when compared to those more inside the atoll ring (Nepote et al., ). This could be due to higher water flow, which enhances algal growth (Carpenter & Williams, ; Williams & Carpenter, ).…”

“…This suggests de facto environmental management of these islands may be offering a level of protection for important groups of reef organisms. However, this level of protection may vary between sessile and motile species and can depend on the natural ecological and environmental conditions associated with each island, with some differences depending on island location (on the inside of or on the atoll rim) and site exposure to strong currents (Nepote, Bianchi, Chiantore, Morri, & Montefalcone, ).…”

“…Interestingly, we found a gradient in abundance of small coral colonies from community (highly impacted: building and fishing activities) to resort (medium impacted: building and tourist activities) and uninhabited (not impacted: no building) islands (Table ). Despite the effect of pollution over a range of depths was recently examined (Nepote et al., ), the extent to which anthropogenic pollution can spread across connected Maldivian islands remains to be assessed.…”

Adaptable mesocosm facility to study oil spill impacts on corals

“…They also have high economic value for local communities, for instance through fishing and tourism (Spalding et al, ). Despite their ecological and economical importance, coral reefs are experiencing serious declines and impacts caused by different factors, including anthropogenic stressors, such climate change, sedimentation, and pollution (Hughes et al, ; Leite et al, ; Liu, Meng, Liu, Wang, & Leu, ; Nepote, Bianchi, Chiantore, Morri, & Montefalcone, ; Nyström, Folke, & Moberg, ; Reichelt‐Brushett & Harrison, ). These disturbances can, independently or synergistically, induce coral mortality, contribute to disease outbreaks, and affect coral reproduction and recruitment (Muthukrishnan & Fong, ; Richmond, ; Richmond, Tisthammer, & Spies, ).…”