Abstract: Novel tools and methods for monitoring marine environments can improve efficiency but must not compromise long-term data records. Quantitative comparisons between new and existing methods are therefore required to assess their compatibility for monitoring. Monitoring of shallow water coral reefs is typically conducted using diver-based collection of benthic...
Abstract: Seagrasses – a group of foundation species in coastal ecosystems – provide key habitat for diverse and abundant faunal assemblages and support numerous ecosystem functions and services. However, whether the habitat role of seagrasses is influenced by seagrass diversity, by dominant species or both, remains unclear. To that...
Abstract: Owing to threats to coral reefs due to anthropogenic climate change and other factors, this study aims to clarify the effective development of coral reef management in the waters around Japan by exploring the reasons why people have not participated in coral reef management and identifying the barriers...
Abstract: Understanding ecological processes that shape contemporary and future communities facilitates knowledgebased environmental management. In marine ecosystems, one of the most important processes is the supply of new recruits into a population. Here, we investigated spatiotemporal variability in coral recruitment at 15 reefs throughout the Dampier Archipelago, north-western Australia...
Abstract: Benthic cyanobacterial mats (BCMs) are becoming increasingly common on coral reefs. In Fiji, blooms generally occur in nearshore areas during warm months but some are starting to prevail through cold months. Many fundamental knowledge gaps about BCM proliferation remain, including their composition and how they influence reef processes....
Abstract: Artificial Reefs (AR) show a wide diversity and vary in their construction materials, shape and purpose, as illustrated by the present analysis of 127 scientific papers. AR have been deployed for different purposes, including fisheries improvement, ecological restoration of marine habitats, coastal protection or purely scientific research. Statistical...
Abstract: Over the past few decades, coral reef ecosystems have been lost at accelerated rates as a result of global climate change and local stressors. Local management schemes can help improve the condition of coral reefs by enhancing their ecosystem recovery capacity. Caribbean conservation efforts include mitigation of local...
Abstract: Given the current natural and anthropogenic threats facing Qatar’s marine environment and the consequential expected decline in ecosystem services, this paper examines the potential application of the Ecosystem ServicesEBM framework developed by Granek et al. (2010) to sustainably manage Qatar’s coral reef and seagrass bed ecosystems. Using interviews...
Abstract: Tropical reefs are declining rapidly due to climate changes and local stressors such as water quality deterioration and overfishing. The so-called marginal reefs sustain significant coral cover and growth but are dominated by fewer species adapted to suboptimal conditions to most coral species. However, the dynamics of marginal...
Abstract: The Diadema antillarum population in the Florida Keys has not recovered since the Caribbean-wide mass mortality event of the early 1980s. Concomitantly, coral reefs have degraded to the point that there has been a loss of habitat complexity and thus of refuge from predation, possibly creating a bottleneck...
