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Cannon SE, Donner SD, Liu A, González Espinosa PC, Baird AH, Baum JK, Bauman AG, Beger M, Benkwitt CE, Birt MJ, Chancerelle Y, Cinner JE, Crane NL, Denis V, Depczynski M, Fadli N, Fenner D, Fulton CJ, Golbuu Y, Graham NAJ, Guest J, Harrison HB, Hobbs JPA, Hoey AS, Holmes TH, Houk P, Januchowski-Hartley FA, Jompa J, Kuo CY, Limmon GV, Lin YV, McClanahan TR, Muenzel D, Paddack MJ, Planes S, Pratchett MS, Radford B, Reimer JD, Richards ZT, Ross CL, Rulmal J, Sommer B, Williams GJ, Wilson SK. Macroalgae exhibit diverse responses to human disturbances on coral reefs. Glob Chang Biol 2023; 29:3318-3330. [PMID: 37020174 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2022] [Revised: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Scientists and managers rely on indicator taxa such as coral and macroalgal cover to evaluate the effects of human disturbance on coral reefs, often assuming a universally positive relationship between local human disturbance and macroalgae. Despite evidence that macroalgae respond to local stressors in diverse ways, there have been few efforts to evaluate relationships between specific macroalgae taxa and local human-driven disturbance. Using genus-level monitoring data from 1205 sites in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, we assess whether macroalgae percent cover correlates with local human disturbance while accounting for factors that could obscure or confound relationships. Assessing macroalgae at genus level revealed that no genera were positively correlated with all human disturbance metrics. Instead, we found relationships between the division or genera of algae and specific human disturbances that were not detectable when pooling taxa into a single functional category, which is common to many analyses. The convention to use percent cover of macroalgae as an indication of local human disturbance therefore likely obscures signatures of local anthropogenic threats to reefs. Our limited understanding of relationships between human disturbance, macroalgae taxa, and their responses to human disturbances impedes the ability to diagnose and respond appropriately to these threats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara E Cannon
- Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Simon D Donner
- Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Angela Liu
- Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
- School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Pedro C González Espinosa
- Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
- Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Andrew H Baird
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Queensland, Townsville, Australia
| | - Julia K Baum
- Department of Biology, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, Canada
| | - Andrew G Bauman
- Department of Marine and Environmental Science, Nova Southeastern University, Florida, Dania Beach, USA
| | - Maria Beger
- School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
- Department of Aquatic Resources Management, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Pattimura University, Ambon, Indonesia
- Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, University of Queensland, Queensland, St Lucia, Australia
| | | | - Matthew J Birt
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Yannick Chancerelle
- CRIOBE, UAR 3278 CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, Moorea French Polynesia and the French Center for Excellence for Coral Reefs (LabEx Corail), PSL Research University, Paris, France
| | - Joshua E Cinner
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Queensland, Townsville, Australia
| | - Nicole L Crane
- One People One Reef, California, Santa Cruz, USA
- Department of Biology, Cabrillo College, California, Aptos, USA
| | - Vianney Denis
- Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Martial Depczynski
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Nur Fadli
- Faculty of Marine and Fisheries, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia
| | | | | | | | | | - James Guest
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Hugo B Harrison
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Queensland, Townsville, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Jean-Paul A Hobbs
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Andrew S Hoey
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Queensland, Townsville, Australia
| | - Thomas H Holmes
- Marine Science Program, Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions, Western Australia, Kensington, Australia
| | - Peter Houk
- University of Guam Marine Laboratory, UOG Station, Mangilao, Guam
| | | | - Jamaluddin Jompa
- Department of Marine Science and Fisheries, Hasanuddin University, South Sulawesi, Makassar, Indonesia
| | - Chao-Yang Kuo
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Queensland, Townsville, Australia
- Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Gino Valentino Limmon
- Department of Marine Biology, Pattimura University, Ambon, Indonesia
- Maritime and Marine Science Centre of Excellence, Pattimura University, Ambon, Indonesia
| | - Yuting V Lin
- Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | | | - Dominic Muenzel
- School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - Michelle J Paddack
- One People One Reef, California, Santa Cruz, USA
- Santa Barbara City College, California, Santa Barbara, USA
| | - Serge Planes
- CRIOBE, UAR 3278 CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, Moorea French Polynesia and the French Center for Excellence for Coral Reefs (LabEx Corail), PSL Research University, Paris, France
| | - Morgan S Pratchett
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Queensland, Townsville, Australia
| | - Ben Radford
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Western Australia, Perth, Australia
- Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia, Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - James Davis Reimer
- Department of Marine Science, Chemistry and Biology, Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan
- Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Zoe T Richards
- Coral Conservation and Research Group, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Western Australia, Bently, Australia
- Collections and Research, Western Australian Museum, Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Claire L Ross
- Marine Science Program, Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions, Western Australia, Kensington, Australia
- Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia, Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - John Rulmal
- One People One Reef, California, Santa Cruz, USA
- Ulithi Falalop Community Action Program, Yap, Micronesia
| | - Brigitte Sommer
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
- School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, 2007, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | | | - Shaun K Wilson
- Marine Science Program, Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions, Western Australia, Kensington, Australia
- Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia, Western Australia, Perth, Australia
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Cannon SE, Aram E, Beiateuea T, Kiareti A, Peter M, Donner SD. Coral reefs in the Gilbert Islands of Kiribati: Resistance, resilience, and recovery after more than a decade of multiple stressors. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0255304. [PMID: 34379665 PMCID: PMC8357116 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Coral reefs are increasingly affected by a combination of acute and chronic disturbances from climate change and local stressors. The coral reefs of the Republic of Kiribati’s Gilbert Islands are exposed to frequent heat stress caused by central-Pacific type El Niño events, and may provide a glimpse into the future of coral reefs in other parts of the world, where the frequency of heat stress events will likely increase due to climate change. Reefs in the Gilbert Islands experienced a series of acute disturbances over the past fifteen years, including mass coral bleaching in 2004–2005 and 2009–2010, and an outbreak of the corallivorous sea star Acanthaster cf solaris, or Crown-of-Thorns (CoTs), in 2014. The local chronic pressures including nutrient loading, sedimentation and fishing vary within the island chain, with highest pressures on the reefs in urbanized South Tarawa Atoll. In this study, we examine how recovery from acute disturbances differs across a gradient of human influence in neighboring Tarawa and Abaiang Atolls from 2012 through 2018. Benthic cover and size frequency data suggests that local coral communities have adjusted to the heat stress via shifts in the community composition to more temperature-tolerant taxa and individuals. In densely populated South Tarawa, we document a phase shift to the weedy and less bleaching-sensitive coral Porites rus, which accounted for 81% of all coral cover by 2018. By contrast, in less populated Abaiang, coral communities remained comparatively more diverse (with higher percentages of Pocillopora and the octocoral Heliopora) after the disturbances, but reefs had lower overall hard coral cover (18%) and were dominated by turf algae (41%). The CoTs outbreak caused a decline in the cover and mean size of massive Porites, the only taxa that was a ‘winner’ of the coral bleaching events in Abaiang. Although there are signs of recovery, the long-term trajectory of the benthic communities in Abaiang is not yet clear. We suggest three scenarios: they may remain in their current state (dominated by turf algae), undergo a phase shift to dominance by the macroalgae Halimeda, or recover to dominance by thermally tolerant hard coral genera. These findings provide a rare glimpse at the future of coral reefs around the world and the ways they may be affected by climate change, which may allow scientists to better predict how other reefs will respond to increasing heat stress events across gradients of local human disturbance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara E. Cannon
- Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- * E-mail:
| | - Erietera Aram
- Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resource Development, Coastal Fisheries Division, Bikenibeui, Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati
| | - Toaea Beiateuea
- Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resource Development, Coastal Fisheries Division, Bikenibeui, Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati
| | - Aranteiti Kiareti
- Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resource Development, Coastal Fisheries Division, Bikenibeui, Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati
| | - Max Peter
- Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resource Development, Coastal Fisheries Division, Bikenibeui, Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati
| | - Simon D. Donner
- Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Cannon SE, Donner SD, Fenner D, Beger M. The relationship between macroalgae taxa and human disturbance on central Pacific coral reefs. Mar Pollut Bull 2019; 145:161-173. [PMID: 31590773 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.05.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2018] [Revised: 05/08/2019] [Accepted: 05/12/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Climate change and human disturbance threatens coral reefs across the Pacific, yet there is little consensus on what characterizes a "healthy" reef. Benthic cover, particularly low coral cover and high macroalgae cover, are often used as an indicator of reef degradation, despite uncertainty about the typical algal community compositions associated with either near-pristine or damaged reefs. In this study, we examine differences in coral and algal community compositions and their response to human disturbance and past heat stress, by analysing 25 sites along a gradient of human disturbance in Majuro and Arno Atolls of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Our results show that total macroalgae cover indicators of reef degradation may mask the influence of local human disturbance, with different taxa responding to disturbance differently. Identifying macroalgae to a lower taxonomic level (e.g. the genus level) is critical for a more accurate measure of Pacific coral reef health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara E Cannon
- Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, 1984 West Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, Canada.
| | - Simon D Donner
- Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, 1984 West Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, Canada
| | | | - Maria Beger
- School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
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