by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
The authors quantitatively reviewed the literature (55 studies in total) on the recovery rates of coral reef ecosystems from acute disturbance events among 48 different reef locations (from western Indian Ocean, to eastern Pacific and the Caribbean) and assessed which...
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
This paper tests the hypothesis that corals can adapt to climate change by exchanging algal types. Data from 43 studies including 442 coral species (stony coral and octocoral) documents that only a minority of coral species are able to change symbionts. The majority...
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
This paper examined the effects of the 1998 coral bleaching event on fish assemblages by measuring fish abundance, taxonomic richness, and functional group abundances (i.e. obligate corallivores, facultative corallivores, coral dwellers, benthic invertebrate feeders,...
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
This paper is arguably the first quantitative evaluation of short and longer term responses to hurricanes throughout the Caribbean. The authors conducted meta-analyses that include 67 separate studies representing 286 Caribbean reef sites surveyed for variable periods...
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
This study installed and surveyed 30 permanent sites replicated at two depths off Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Kahoolawe, and Hawaii. These sites varied in numerous ways including depth, habitat complexity, coral cover growth forms, and degrees of marine protection....
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
The authors of this paper conducted a global assessment of coral bleaching by adapting the NOAA Coral Reef Watch bleaching predation method. The results of their model suggest that most coral reefs will be exposed to annual or biannual bleaching events and will need...
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
This study presents the case that increasing concentrations of atmospheric CO2 may be an additional process driving a shift from corals to seaweeds on reefs. The authors tested the combined effects of ocean acidification and algal–coral competition on coral...
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
Community structure in scleractinan corals and labrid reef fish are assessed in the Central Indo-Pacific Ocean by examining 100 sites along a 10,000 km transect. Since these corals and reef fish are “principal structural-formers and major consumers, respectively,”...
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
Claudet et al. evaluate how reef fish assemblages respond to a no-take reserve as compared to a non-managed site, accounting for habitat variability. This paper provides insight as to how one may want to test MPA effectiveness and identify indicator species. Indicator...
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
The social-ecological vulnerability of coral reef dependent communities to climate change impacts were examined based on different marine governance systems (government run no-take marine reserves, community-based reserves, and areas of open fishing) along the Kenyan...
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
This study addresses the lack of current scientific work focusing on the social vulnerability of fisheries-dependent communities in the context of climate change-related impacts to coral reefs. Researchers examine exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity, as...
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
This study explores the importance of herbivore functional roles and their diversity and abundance when predicting coral reef resilience to undesirable phase-shifts to algal-dominated reefs. Authors looked at reef slopes on 92 reefs through the Great Barrier Reef,...
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
Estimating larval retention at individual reefs by local scale three-dimensional flows is a concern for managers trying to understand and predict larval dispersal. This study models variation in larval retention times for a range of reef shapes and circulation...
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
In this study, the effects of different herbivore groups (roving herbivores, such as parrotfishes, surgeonfishes and rabbitfishes =”foragers” and territorial damselfish = “farmers”) were isolated by a experiment carried out on a coastal coral reef with high macroalgal...
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
The authors assessed populations of herbivorous fish in 14 reefs around New Caledonia and found that the current low fishing pressure doesn’t affect the population of macroalgae feeders. Therefore, they conclude that regulating the fishery would have a high social...
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
This study conducted two experiments over two years to evaluate how herbivore identity and species richness affected the recruitment and primary succession of algal communities and the cascading effects on coral growth. Equal densities and masses of either...
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
Useful to marine reserve designers, this paper by Botsford et al. describes four principles that address the following two questions: (1) how will the outcome of marine reserves compare to conventional fishery management through size limits and effort control, and (2)...
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
The 1998 coral bleaching event, the largest coral reef disturbance on historic record, caused dramatic habitat loss. Annual censuses that spanned both before and after the bleaching event (from 1993 to 2004) in the central Great Barrier Reef were reported here. The...
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
In this study, investigators develop and present a framework for responding to coral disease outbreaks with implications for reef ecosystem health. The framework contains four components, including an early warning system, a tiered impact assessment program, scaled...
by reefres | Apr 1, 2014
This research study seeks to explain coral resilience to heat stress by looking at differences in genes that are expressed in heat tolerant (resilient) versus heat sensitive corals (of the same species). Authors simulated bleaching stress and used DNA-sequencing to...
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