Dietary resilience of coral reef fishes to habitat degradation. [PDF]
Metabarcoding of gut contents shows that two common benthic‐feeding reef fishes with different feeding stratgies—a butterflyfish (Chaetodon capistratus) and a hamlet (Hypoplectrus puella)—shift diets on degraded reefs. These shifts mirror contrasting patterns in body condition: butterflyfish showed strong individual variation, whereas condition was ...
Clever F +9 more
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Survival, rarity, and extinction in tropical stony corals. [PDF]
Abstract Many reef‐building tropical corals are becoming rare. We considered the meaning of rarity in corals and highlighted taxa that have reached low abundances in the last few decades. The difficulties of quantifying rarity in the marine environment arise from the sheer scale and 3‐dimensional nature of the biome and the inherent challenges therein ...
Wilson B, Edmunds PJ.
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Success of restoration strategies in preventing extirpation of 2 critically endangered coral species. [PDF]
Abstract An unprecedented marine heatwave in 2023 caused widespread coral bleaching and mortality throughout the Caribbean. In the Florida Keys (USA), 2 foundation species, elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) and staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis), were severely affected.
Muller EM +29 more
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Vulnerability of tropical fish communities across depth in the central Indian Ocean. [PDF]
Abstract Coral reefs and their fish communities below scuba diving depth (>30 m), in mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) (∼30–150 m), in rariphotic (150–300 m), and in upper bathyal waters (300–500 m) are often underexplored, especially in the Indian Ocean.
Stefanoudis PV +12 more
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The Nassau grouper Epinephelus striatus (Bloch, 1792): Monitoring of the spawning aggregation site 'El Blanquizal', southern Mexican Caribbean. [PDF]
Abstract ‘El Blanquizal’ was one of the most important Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) spawning aggregation sites (SAS) in the Mexican Caribbean. However, the characteristics of the population that still uses this site for reproduction remain unknown.
Salgado Cruz L +6 more
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Effects of protection on large-bodied reef fishes in the western Indian Ocean. [PDF]
Abstract Predatory and large‐bodied coral reef fishes have fundamental roles in the functioning and biodiversity of coral reef ecosystems, but their populations are declining, largely due to overexploitation in fisheries. These fishes include sharks, groupers, Humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus), and Green Humphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum).
Samoilys M +4 more
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Downscaling global reference points to assess the sustainability of local fisheries. [PDF]
Abstract Multispecies coral reef fisheries are typically managed by local communities who often lack research and monitoring capacity, which prevents estimation of well‐defined sustainable reference points to perform locally relevant fishery assessments.
Zamborain-Mason J +10 more
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Incorporating cyclone risk in the design of marine protected and conserved areas as an ecosystem-based adaptation approach. [PDF]
Abstract Marine protected and conserved areas (MPCAs) are promoted as an ecosystem‐based adaptation (EbA) approach to increase community and ecosystem resilience to climate change. However, traditional approaches to MPCA design typically do not consider climate risk or habitat condition under a climate threat.
Giffin AL +6 more
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Conservation benefits of a large marine protected area network that spans multiple ecosystems. [PDF]
Abstract Marine protected areas (MPAs) are widely implemented tools for long‐term ocean conservation and resource management. Assessments of MPA performance have largely focused on specific ecosystems individually and have rarely evaluated performance across multiple ecosystems either in an individual MPA or across an MPA network.
Smith JG +23 more
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Opportunities, research gaps, and risks in allogenic ecosystem engineer mimicry. [PDF]
Abstract In an age of anthropogenically driven species loss and increasingly novel ecosystems, ecosystem engineer restoration is a process‐based approach to supporting ecosystem function. Many ecosystem engineers have low or declining population sizes.
Goss B, Baskett ML, Lusardi R.
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