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Crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS) are a pervasive coral predator prone to population outbreaks that have damaged coral reefs across Australia and the wider Indo-Pacific. CoTS population control through predation has been suggested as a primary mechanism that suppresses their outbreaks. However, the nature and rates of predation on CoTS are poorly resolved, especially for early life-history stages where they are expected to be most vulnerable. Here, we provide results from the first investigation of predators of CoTS during their rubble-dwelling, herbivorous, juvenile phase. We assessed the capacity of 104 common species of the rubble cryptofauna found across Heron Reef, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, to consume early-stage juvenile CoTS (0.8–3.8 mm) using controlled feeding experiments with laboratory-raised juveniles. We identified 26 novel CoTS predators, but only 10 species that regularly consumed juvenile CoTS in their entirety. Most cases of predation resulted in severed bodies and missing arms (i.e. sublethal predation) but not total consumption. We highlight one crustacean predator, Schizophrys aspera, the red decorator crab, which consumed whole juvenile CoTS in 89% of feeding trials and in excess of 5 CoTS d−1 in natural rubble mesocosms with alternative prey. This work emphasises the importance of predators at the critical juvenile stage that may control the build-up of CoTS populations prior to being detectable as an outbreak population.

Structural complexity provided by the living coral reef framework is the basis of the rich and dynamic biodiversity in coral reefs. In many cases today, the reduction in habitat complexity, from live coral to dead coral and rubble, has altered the abundance and diversity of many reef species with impacts on community structure, food webs and ecosystem functioning. Yet, the complex microhabitat provided by rubble can too support a great density and diversity of reef organisms, often with explicit roles in ecosystem functioning. This literature review synthesises available knowledge on the biology and ecology of coral rubble. We highlight key methodologies used to sample rubble communities, and the biological and ecological consequences of ongoing habitat degradation from coral to rubble reefs under future scenarios. We conclude with a number of key research themes that may enhance our capacity to understand the current contribution of rubble communities to reef functioning and predict their ability to modulate future impacts as net framework erosion amplifies.

Length–weight relationships (LWRs) are a fundamental tool for the non-intrusive determination of biomass, a unit of measure that facilitates the quantification of ecosystem and fisheries productivity. LWRs have been defined and broadly applied for many marine species across a range of ecosystems, especially regarding fishes. However, LWRs are yet to be determined for the majority of marine taxa, particularly for small cryptic organisms that are difficult to census and poorly described. On coral reefs, the motile cryptofauna represent the greatest density and diversity of metazoan taxa that likely support critical steps in trophic pathways, but little empirical data exist beyond biodiversity assessments. We evaluated LWRs for 42 groups of motile cryptofauna across four microhabitats (live Acropora, live Pocillopora, dead branching coral and coral rubble) in Palau, Western Micronesia. We employed a robust methodology to determine LWRs by comparing the suitability of a series of linear, quadratic, polynomial and power models. Using the best-fit equations for each group, we provide the first documented LWRs for motile cryptofauna, namely at the level of family. LWRs were well fit (R2 > 0.90) for 45% of the groups and reasonable (R2 > 0.70) for 76%. The presence, size and weight of cryptofauna varied among microhabitats with the size distribution of 13 groups significantly influenced by habitat type. Establishment of these LWRs provides critical baseline information regarding an overlooked group on coral reefs, making population data on the cryptofauna more accessible to support future research aiming to characterise the roles of these taxa in ecosystem functioning and trophodynamics.

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is of immense biological, cultural and economic importance, but has also rapidly degraded over the last 30 years. Improved spatial information on reef geomorphic zonation and benthic cover type (including coral type) is critical to support scientific work to understand how the GBR is changing, and to support resource management decisions that enable conservation of the reef and its essential ecosystem services. Yet, no comprehensive maps exist that detail the geomorphic zonation or benthic cover for the GBR’s ~ 3000 reefs. This study presents three new types of shallow reef maps for 237 reefs in the central Cairns Management Region of the GBR Marine Park (GBRMP), explores how the detailed habitat maps created compared to current maps and posits how the new maps may support and refine current critical key science outputs and management challenges. Geomorphic Zonation, Benthic Cover and Coral Type habitat maps were created using a unique combined object-based image analysis and ecological modelling approach that incorporated satellite imagery, limited field data and key reef physical attributes (depth, slope, waves) using a previously peer-reviewed mapping approach developed for the Capricorn Bunker Group reefs, Southern GBR. The mapping approach was consistent and repeatable, suggesting applicability to mapping all 3000 reefs in the GBRMP. Compared to existing maps that only outline each reef, the increase in detail provided by these new habitat maps enabled discrete characterisation of each reef’s geomorphology and benthic composition. With the new habitat maps, areas within each reef can be identified as either coral habitat or not coral habitat. This has not been possible previously. As such, a model of coral ecological and biophysical processes that depends on bottom reflectance of sand and coral areas can be fine-tuned. Similarly, for reef restoration, nursery structures are commonly placed in non-coral habitats, and/or coral larvae are dispersed in areas of known coral habitat. The new habitat maps presented permit more accurate identification of these areas such that restoration projects can be targeted more effectively. These findings confirm the need to now apply this mapping approach to the full extent of the GBR.

Herbivorous fishes consume algae on coral reefs, and this ecological function is pivotal in helping reefs to resist and recover from disturbance. Although numerous studies have differentiated between those fishes that graze on low-profile algae and those that browse on larger fleshy macroalgae, little is known about the feeding behaviours of some herbivorous fishes (e.g. rabbitfishes, Siganidae), limiting our understanding of whether, and how, these species contribute to ecological functions on coral reefs. Here, we examine how the feeding ecology of four species of rabbitfishes that dominate the artisanal fishery in the Seychelles changed spatially and temporally. Siganus argenteus and S. sutor were generalist herbivores feeding on a range of substrata (e.g. turf algae, macroalgae, seagrass and epiphytic algae), whereas S. corallinus and S. stellatus were specialist herbivores feeding primarily on substrata covered in turf algae. Bite rates of S. argenteus and S. sutor were positively correlated with the cover of macroalgae, seagrass and epiphytic algae. By contrast, bite rates of S. corallinus and S. stellatus were not correlated with changes in the cover of turf algae. These findings illustrate possible differences in the ecological contributions among rabbitfish species on coral reefs, and emphasize the need for caution when assigning species to functional groups and assuming within-group functional equivalence. The results also support the classic niche theory that species within a community must use resources differently in order to coexist over evolutionary timescales. These results further provide valuable insights for the management of rabbitfishes in tropical fisheries because it implies that the conservation of different species might result in distinct shifts in the competitive dominance of coral and algae.

Small-scale structural complexity shapes how consumers and primary producers interact, which can influence ecosystem trajectories. Coral reefs are some of the most structurally complex ecosystems, though their complexity is threatened owing to anthropogenic influences. Some reefs shift towards macroalgal dominance following mass coral mortality, which can hinder the recovery of corals because they compete with the faster growing macroalgae for space. Using video observations, surveys and in situ experiments on a forereef in eastern Palau, we investigated the role different microhabitats play in facilitating the persistence of the macroalga Lobophora, which is one of the strongest negative interactors with corals. Collectively, our observational and experimental data show that small crevices provide a refuge to Lobophora recruits by excluding most adult herbivorous fishes. Consequently, Lobophora is disproportionately more abundant within these concealed microhabitats on the reef, which highlights the important role of microhabitats as macroalgal nurseries from which macroalgae can spread following mass coral mortality. While a large proportion of our current understanding of grazer–algae interactions is based on research using flat surfaces, our findings demonstrate that the interactions between herbivorous fishes and benthic organisms are strongly mediated by microhabitats. It is thus important to consider the influence of structural complexity in order to understand the nuances that govern benthic regimes.

The third global bleaching event caused prolonged elevated sea surface temperatures from 2014 to 2017 that heavily impacted coral reefs worldwide. This study determines changes in benthic community following this bleaching event at a remote UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Western Indian Ocean. Aldabra Atoll offers a rare opportunity to study global impacts in the absence of local anthropogenic stressors. Analysis of satellite-derived temperature data indicated that Aldabra was exposed to the highest bleaching-risk intensity of the past 20 years during this bleaching event. Bleaching-risk conditions lasted from December 2015 to June 2016 close to the 4 °C-week threshold, when bleaching is expected. Benthic cover was established pre- and post-bleaching from 21 transects across two reef locations (lagoonal reef, 2 m depth; seaward reef, 5 and 15 m depth). From a pre-bleaching benthic community in which living corals and epilithic algal matrix (EAM) predominated, Aldabra’s reefs switched to an EAM-dominated community 8 months after bleaching. Soft corals declined by 93% of their overall pre-bleaching cover to

Benthic marine organisms rely on the dispersal and recruitment of propagules to replenish depleted populations following disturbances. Yet, ecological interactions between colonizing larvae and benthic competitors that become established following a disturbance can be a primary driver of recruitment success. On some coral reefs, local and global stressors have led to a proliferation of macroalgae that can inhibit the recruitment and recovery of corals. The brown macroalga Lobophora is considered a particularly strong inhibitor of coral recruitment, yet there is little information on how the alga affects demographic bottlenecks across early life-history stages. In the present study, we conducted a series of experiments to determine the effects of Lobophora sp. on three distinct life-history stages of the coral Acropora digitifera: larval settlement, early post-settlement survival, and survival and growth of small nubbins (1 cm) created from adult colonies. Our results demonstrate a high sensitivity of coral larvae to Lobophora, with settlement decreasing 16-fold when the alga was present on tiles compared to controls. Moreover, larvae did not settle on tiles when Lobophora cover > 50%. A negative, albeit minor, effect of Lobophora on the early post-settlement survival was evident, despite few recorded incidents of direct competition between settled corals and Lobophora because of low larval settlement in proximity to the alga. Conversely, there was no effect of Lobophora on the growth and survival of coral nubbins. Our results indicate that Lobophora most heavily impacts coral recruitment by inhibiting larval settlement, with the impact of the alga on recruitment decreasing through later life-history stages. These findings are concurrent with recent studies that demonstrate the ability of particular macroalgal species to deter coral larvae from settling on degraded reefs, likely through the release of chemical compounds, thereby impacting the recovery of coral populations following disturbances.

Climate change will homogenise the environment and generate a preponderance of mediocre reefs. Managing seascapes of mediocrity will be challenging because our science is ill prepared to deal with the ‘shades of grey’ of reef health; we tend to study natural processes in the healthiest reefs available. Yet much can be gained by examining the drivers and implications of even subtle changes in reef state. Where strong ecological interactions are discovered, even small changes in abundance can have profound impacts on coral resilience. Indeed, if we are to develop effective early warnings of critical losses of resilience, then monitoring must place greater emphasis on measuring and interpreting changes in reef recovery rates. In terms of mechanism, a more nuanced approach is needed to explore the generality of what might be considered ‘dogma’. A more nuanced approach to science will serve managers needs well and help minimise the rise of mediocrity in coral reef ecosystems.

The calcareous green alga Halimeda is a key contributor to carbonate sediment production on coral reefs. As herbivores have a direct negative effect on the abundance of Halimeda, protection from herbivory is critical for Halimeda growth. Branching corals such as Acropora are likely to provide refugia for Halimeda from grazers, yet studies are scarce. Here, we investigated the vulnerability of two Halimeda species to herbivory using fish exclusion cages and assessed the contribution of coral structural complexity to seasonal changes in Halimeda biomass and morphometrics. While up to 50 % Halimeda abundance was depleted outside cages due to herbivory and the exclusion of large herbivores resulted in an increase in net growth up to threefold, Halimeda recruitment was positively affected by herbivory, more than two times greater outside cages. However, these responses differed between species and seasons; only one species was affected in winter but not summer. Coral structural complexity facilitated an increase of total algal biomass particularly in summer. At the individual level, thalli growing inside the Acropora canopy were always significantly larger (thallus biomass, volume and height) than those growing in exposed areas. We estimated that the carbonate production of Halimeda was nearly three times greater inside refuges provided by Acropora. Because Halimeda species differ in growth rates and susceptibility to grazing, we predict that the ongoing degradation of the habitat complexity provided by branching corals will alter Halimeda community structure and its contribution to local sediment budgets.

Tropical cyclones have been a major cause of reef coral decline during recent decades, including on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). While cyclones are a natural element of the disturbance regime of coral reefs, the role of temporal clustering has previously been overlooked. Here, we examine the consequences of different types of cyclone temporal distributions (clustered, stochastic or regular) on reef ecosystems. We subdivided the GBR into 14 adjoining regions, each spanning roughly 300 km, and quantified both the rate and clustering of cyclones using dispersion statistics. To interpret the consequences of such cyclone variability for coral reef health, we used a model of observed coral population dynamics. Results showed that clustering occurs on the margins of the cyclone belt, being strongest in the southern reefs and the far northern GBR, which also has the lowest cyclone rate. In the central GBR, where rates were greatest, cyclones had a relatively regular temporal pattern. Modelled dynamics of the dominant coral genus, Acropora, suggest that the long-term average cover might be more than 13 % greater (in absolute cover units) under a clustered cyclone regime compared to stochastic or regular regimes. Thus, not only does cyclone clustering vary significantly along the GBR but such clustering is predicted to have a marked, and management-relevant, impact on the status of coral populations. Additionally, we use our regional clustering and rate results to sample from a library of over 7000 synthetic cyclone tracks for the GBR. This allowed us to provide robust reef-scale maps of annual cyclone frequency and cyclone impacts on Acropora. We conclude that assessments of coral reef vulnerability need to account for both spatial and temporal cyclone distributions.

Parrotfishes are an ecologically and commercially important teleost group whose grazing contributes to maintaining coral-dominated states on hermatypic reefs. However, overfishing has skewed sex ratios of Atlantic parrotfishes because fishing has disproportionate impacts on larger individuals, and males are generally larger than females. Whether protection from fishing may allow sex ratios to return to equilibrium is unknown, as fishing can induce irreversible ecological and/or evolutionary shifts. Bermuda banned trap fishing in 1990, creating a unique opportunity to analyse long-term responses of Atlantic parrotfishes to release from fishing. We found that sex ratios of four common parrotfishes were initially skewed, with male proportions ranging from 0.04 to 0.18. However, male proportions rebounded within 3–4 yr, equilibrating at values ranging from 0.36 to 0.54, similar to those reported at unfished sites in the region. Our results are encouraging for regional efforts to recover lost grazing function by restoring overfished herbivore populations.

Sea-level rise will change environmental conditions on coral reef flats, which comprise extensive habitats in shallow tropical seas and support a wealth of ecosystem services. Rapid relative sea-level rise of 0.6 m over a relatively pristine coral reef in Solomon Islands, caused by a subduction earthquake in April 2007, generated a unique opportunity to examine in situ coral reef response to relative sea-level rise of the magnitude (but not the rate) anticipated by 2100. Extent of live coral was measured from satellite imagery in 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012. Ecological data were obtained from microatolls and ecological surveys in May 2013. The reef was sampled at 12 locations where dense live hard coral remained absent, remained present or changed from absent to present following subsidence. Ecological data (substratum depth, live coral canopy depth, coral canopy height, substratum suitability, recruitment, diversity and Acropora presence) were measured at each location to identify factors associated with coral response to relative sea-level rise. Vertical and horizontal proliferation of coral occurred following subsidence. Lateral expansion of live coral, accomplished primarily by branching Acropora spp., resulted in lower diversity in regions which changed composition from pavement to dense live coral following subsidence. Of the ecological factors measured, biotic factors were more influential than abiotic factors; species identity was the most important factor in determining which regions of the reef responded to rapid sea-level rise. On relatively pristine reef flats under present climatic conditions, rapid relative sea-level rise generated an opportunity for hard coral to proliferate. However, the species assemblage of the existing reef was important in determining response to sea-level change, by providing previously bare substrate with a source of new coral colonies. Degraded reefs with altered species composition and slower coral growth rates may be less able to respond to climate change-induced sea-level changes.

Environmental conditions play an important role in post-disturbance dynamics of ecosystems by modulating recovery of surviving communities and influencing patterns of succession. Here, we document the effects of wave exposure following a catastrophic disturbance on coral reefs in driving a phase shift to macroalgal dominance. In December 2012, a Category 5 super typhoon (‘Typhoon Bopha’) passed 50 km to the south of Palau (Micronesia), causing a major loss of reef corals. Immediately post-disturbance, a rapid and extensive phase shift of the macroalgae Liagora sp. (Rhodophyta) was observed at sites exposed to chronic wave exposure. To quantify the influence of biotic and abiotic drivers in modulating the extent of post-disturbance Liagora blooms, we compared benthic substrates and herbivore assemblages at sites surveyed pre- and post-disturbance across a gradient of wave exposure. Relative changes in herbivore biomass and coral cover before and after disturbance did not significantly predict the extent of Liagora cover, indicating that changes in herbivore biomass or reductions in grazing pressure were not directly responsible for driving the Liagora blooms. By contrast, the degree of wave exposure experienced at sites post-disturbance explained >90 % of model variance (p 150 km distance), highlighting the predictive capacity of wave exposure as an explanatory variable and the deterministic nature of post-disturbance macroalgal blooms. Understanding how physical conditions modulate recovery of ecosystems after disturbance allows insight into post-disturbance dynamics and succession of communities, ultimately allowing management strategies to prioritise restoration efforts in regions that are most effective.

Symbiodinium D, a relatively rare clade of algal endosymbiont with a global distribution, has attracted interest as some of its sub-cladal types induce increased thermal tolerance and associated trade-offs, including reduced growth rate in its coral hosts. Members of Symbiodinium D are increasingly reported to comprise low-abundance ‘cryptic’ ( 30 % of corals per site found to harbour the symbiont. When the same samples were analysed using the conventional screening technique, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, Symbiodinium D1 was only detected in 12 populations and appeared to be hosted by

Factors affecting coral recruitment are critical in influencing the scope and rate of reef recovery after disturbance. In December 2012, super-typhoon Bopha caused immense damage to the eastern reefs of Palau, resulting in near complete loss of coral cover. Within weeks following the typhoon, an ephemeral monospecific bloom of the foliose red macroalga Liagora (up to 40 % cover in February 2013) was recorded at impacted reefs with moderate wave exposure. Conversely, impacted and un-impacted reefs in areas of low wave exposure remained Liagora free. To quantify the effect of this ephemeral macroalgal bloom on coral recruitment, we installed settlement tiles during the major spawning period (March–April 2013) at forereefs with and without Liagora. Reefs (n = 3) with Liagora (13–24 % cover in April) experienced an almost complete failure of settlement, with only two individual corals recorded on settlement tiles (n = 90). This settlement failure was unexpected, as tiles were situated adjacent to, and not within Liagora canopies. In contrast, settlement was significantly higher on reefs that lacked macroalgae (n = 3), ranging from an average of 0.5–2.5 and 2.7–18.9 individuals 25 cm−2 per top- and under-sided tile, respectively. Reefs with and without Liagora were in close proximity (≤8 km), and hydrodynamic models predicted that larval supply did not limit coral settlement among sites. While some differences in the community composition on the tiles were observed among sites, settlement substrate availability also did not limit coral settlement. Generalised linear mixed effects models indicated that while no settlement substrate explained more than 10 % of the variability in coral settlement, coral cover positively accounted for 26 %, and the cover of Liagora on reefs negatively accounted for more than 50 % of the observed variation. Combined, our results indicate that the typhoon induced ephemeral macroalgal bloom resulted in a reef-scale failure of coral settlement.

A process-orientated understanding of ecosystems usually starts with an exploratory analysis of empirical relationships among potential drivers and state variables. While relationships among herbivory, algal cover, and coral recruitment, have been explored in the Caribbean, the nature of such relationships in the Pacific appears to be variable or unclear. Here, we examine potential drivers structuring the benthos and herbivorous fish assemblages of outer-shelf reefs in Micronesia (Palau, Guam and Pohnpei). Surveys were stratified by wave exposure and protection from fishing. High biomass of most herbivores was favoured by high wave exposure. High abundance of large-bodied scarids was associated with low turf abundance, high coral cover, and marine reserves. The remaining herbivores were more abundant in reefs with low coral cover, possibly because space and hence food limitation occur in high-coral-cover reefs. Rugosity had no detectable effect on herbivorous fish abundance once differences in exposure and coral cover were accounted for. At identical depths, high wave exposure was associated with greater volumes (cover × canopy height) of macroalgae and algal turfs, which most likely resulted from high primary productivity driven by flow. In exposed areas, macroalgal cover declined as the acanthurid biomass increased. The volume of algal turfs was negatively associated with coral cover and herbivore biomass. In turn, high coral cover and herbivore biomass are likely to intensify grazing. The density of juvenile corals was variable where macroalgal cover was low but was confined to lower densities where macroalgal cover was high. High coral cover and density of juvenile corals were favoured in sheltered habitats. While a weak positive relationship was found between scarid biomass and juvenile coral density, we hypothesise that high scarid densities may hinder juvenile density through increased corallivory. New hypotheses emerged that will help clarify the role of acanthurids, wave exposure, and corallivory in driving the recovery of Pacific coral communities.

Investigating the functional role of herbivorous fish species is important for understanding reef resilience and developing targeted management plans. Among the most abundant fish species on Indo-Pacific coral reefs are the surgeonfishes Acanthurus nigrofuscus and Ctenochaetus striatus. A. nigrofuscus is an herbivorous grazer that crops filamentous algae from the epilithic algal matrix, while C. striatus is detritivorous and was thought to ‘brush’ detritus from the surface of filamentous algae, causing little damage to algal strands. Although the foraging mechanisms and general diet of these surgeonfishes have been established, their grazing impact on epilithic algal turfs has been unclear. This is the first study to quantify the grazing impact of A. nigrofuscus and C. striatus on algal turfs. Through aquaria trials using epilithic algal turf grown on experimental tiles, we found that both A. nigrofuscus and C. striatus consistently fed more intensively upon sparse/short algal turfs even though the yield of algae per bite was greater for dense/long algal turfs. As there was no difference in the nutritional value of sparse and dense algal turfs, we hypothesise that A. nigrofuscus avoided dense turf due to its significantly greater sediment load than sparse turf, while C. striatus likely avoided dense turf as it would become entangled in their bristle-like teeth. Unexpectedly, despite its dental morphology, C. striatus removed significantly more algal turf per hour than A. nigrofuscus, irrespective of canopy height. The capability of C. striatus to remove significant quantities of algal turf through their foraging activity implies that this abundant and widespread species may substantially affect algal turf dynamics. If this is the case, the exclusion of detritivorous Ctenochaetus species from herbivorous fish functional groups used in resilience monitoring will need to be re-evaluated.

Census-based approaches can provide important measures of the ecological processes controlling reef carbonate production states. Here, we describe a rapid, non-destructive approach to carbonate budget assessments, termed ReefBudget that is census-based and which focuses on quantifying the relative contributions made by different biological carbonate producer/eroder groups to net reef framework carbonate production. The methodology is presently designed only for Caribbean sites, but has potential to be adapted for use in other regions. Rates are calculated using data on organism cover and abundance, combined with annual extension or production rate measures. Set against this are estimates of the rates at which bioeroding species of fish, urchins and internal substrate borers erode reef framework. Resultant data provide a measure of net rates of biologically driven carbonate production (kg CaCO3 m−2 year−1). These data have potential to be integrated into ecological assessments of reef state, to aid monitoring of temporal (same-site) changes in rates of biological carbonate production and to provide insights into the key ecological drivers of reef growth or erosion as a function of environmental change. Individual aspects of the budget methodology can also be used alongside other census approaches if deemed appropriate for specific study aims. Furthermore, the methodology spreadsheets are user-changeable, allowing local or new process/rate data to be integrated into calculations. Application of the methodology is considered at sites around Bonaire. Highest net rates of carbonate production, +9.52 to +2.30 kg CaCO3 m−2 year−1, were calculated at leeward sites, whilst lower rates, +0.98 to −0.98 kg CaCO3 m−2 year−1, were calculated at windward sites. Data are within the ranges calculated in previous budget studies and provide confidence in the production estimates the methodology generates.

Many Caribbean coral reefs are undergoing a phase shift from coral to macroalgal dominance. Understanding the processes driving changes in algal abundance and community structure requires clarification of the relative effects of top-down (e.g., herbivory) and bottom-up processes (e.g., light, temperature, and nutrients). To date, a number of studies have examined the relative effects of grazing versus nutrification but interactions between herbivory and natural, seasonal fluctuations in temperature and light have not been investigated. This study considered the dynamics of three Caribbean macroalgal species [Lobophora variegata (Lamouroux), Dictyota pulchella (Hornig and Schnetter), and Halimeda opuntia (Linnaeus)] and algal turf. A field experiment was established to measure species-specific algal dynamics (changes in abundance) over 13 months in the presence and absence of herbivory. Both herbivory and seasonal changes were important processes controlling macroalgal and turf abundance. Water temperature and light had a key role on D. pulchella; this species’ abundance significantly increased in the summer, when water temperature and light were the highest, and decreased during winter. Surprisingly, herbivory did not seem to control D. pulchella directly. However, herbivory was the most important process controlling the abundance of L. variegata, H. opuntia, and turf. The abundance of both algal species was correlated with seasonal changes in the environment, but was depleted outside cages throughout the year. The abundance of H. opuntia was positively correlated with temperature and light, but there was no statistical interaction between drivers. The statistical interaction between temperature and light was significant for the abundance of L. variegata and turf, but algal abundance declined as both factors increased. Overall, macroalgal and turf cover were mainly controlled by herbivory, while community structure (which species contributed to the overall cover) was largely influenced by seasonal changes in temperature and light.

In the Caribbean region, forereef habitats dominated by Montastraea spp. have the highest biodiversity and support the largest number of ecosystem processes and services. Here we show that the distribution of this species-rich habitat can be explained by one environmental predictor: wave exposure. The relationship between wave exposure and the occurrence of Montastraea reefs was modelled using logistic regression for reefs throughout the Belize Barrier Reef, one of the largest and most topographically complex systems in the region. The model was able to predict correctly the occurrence of Montastraea reefs with an accuracy of 81%. Consistent with historical qualitative patterns, the distribution of Montastraea reefs is constrained in environments of high exposure. This pattern is likely to be driven by high rates of chronic sediment scour that constrain recruitment. The wide range of wave exposure conditions used to parameterize the model in Belize suggest that it should be transferable throughout much of the Caribbean region, constituting a fast and inexpensive alternative to traditional habitat mapping and complementing global efforts to map reef extent.

Disease has dramatically reduced populations of the herbivorous urchin Diadema antillarum Philippi on Caribbean reefs, contributing to an increased abundance of macroalgae and reduction of coral cover. Therefore, recovery of D. antillarum populations is critically important, but densities are still low on many reefs. Among the many potential factors limiting these densities, the focus of this study is on predation pressure by fishes. Marine reserves provide opportunities to examine large-scale manipulations of predator–prey interactions and, therefore, D. antillarum densities were compared inside and outside a reserve in The Bahamas (Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park; ECLSP). Urchins and their fish predators were surveyed at nine sites inside and outside the ECLSP. Because of lower fishing effort, the total biomass of urchin predators, weighted by their dietary preferences for urchins, was significantly higher inside the ECLSP. Furthermore, fish community structure was significantly different inside the Park because of the increased biomass of the majority of species. No urchins were seen inside the ECLSP and this was significantly lower than the density of 0.04 urchin m−2 outside the Park. Regression analysis indicated that the relationship between the biomass of urchin predators and the proportion of transects containing urchins was non-linear, suggesting that small increases in fish biomass dramatically reduce urchin abundances. The link between lower density of urchins and higher density of their predators inside the ECLSP is strengthened by discounting five alternative primary mechanisms (variations in macroalgal cover, larval supply, environmental setting, density of other urchin species and abundance of predators not surveyed). Caribbean marine reserves have an important conservation role, but increased fish predation appears to reduce densities of D. antillarum. Urchins currently have limited functional significance on Bahamian reefs, but any future recovery of D. antillarum is likely to be limited in reserves, with potentially important ecological consequences.

Caribbean coral reefs are widely thought to exhibit two alternate stable states with one being dominated by coral and the other by macroalgae. However, the observation of linear empirical relationships among grazing, algal cover and coral recruitment has led the existence of alternate stable states to be questioned; are reefs simply exhibiting a continuous phase shift in response to grazing or are the alternate states robust to certain changes in grazing? Here, a model of a Caribbean forereef is used to reconcile the existence of two stable community states with common empirical observations. Coral-depauperate and coral-dominated reef states are predicted to be stable on equilibrial time scales of decades to centuries and their emergence depends on the presence or absence of a bottleneck in coral recruitment, which is determined by threshold levels of grazing intensity and other process variables. Under certain physical and biological conditions, corals can be persistently depleted even while increases in grazing reduce macroalgal cover and enhance coral recruitment; only once levels of recruitment becomes sufficient to overwhelm the population bottleneck will the coral-dominated state begin to emerge. Therefore, modest increases in grazing will not necessarily allow coral populations to recover, whereas large increases, such as those associated with recovery of the urchin Diadema antillarum, are likely to exceed threshold levels of grazing intensity and set a trajectory of coral recovery. The postulated existence of alternate stable states is consistent with field observations of linear relationships between grazing, algal cover and coral recruitment when coral cover is low and algal exclusion when coral cover is high. The term ‘macroalgal dominated’ is potentially misleading because the coral-depauperate state can be associated with various levels of macroalgal cover. The term ‘coral depauperate’ is preferable to ‘macroalgal dominated’ when describing alternate states of Caribbean reefs.

With coral cover in decline on many Caribbean reefs, any process of coral mortality is of potential concern. While sparisomid parrotfishes are major grazers of Caribbean reefs and help control algal blooms, the fact that they also undertake corallivory has prompted some to question the rationale for their conservation. Here the weight of evidence for beneficial effects of parrotfishes, in terms of reducing algal cover and facilitating demographic processes in corals, and the deleterious effects of parrotfishes in terms of causing coral mortality and chronic stress, are reviewed. While elevated parrotfish density will likely increase the predation rate upon juvenile corals, the net effect appears to be positive in enhancing coral recruitment through removal of macroalgal competitors. Parrotfish corallivory can cause modest partial colony mortality in the most intensively grazed species of Montastraea but the generation and healing of bite scars appear to be in near equilibrium, even when coral cover is low. Whole colony mortality in adult corals can lead to complete exclusion of some delicate, lagoonal species of Porites from forereef environments but is only reported for one reef species (Porites astreoides), for one habitat (backreef), and with uncertain incidence (though likely <

The patch dynamics (colonisation rate, growth rate, and extinction rate) are quantified for two dominant species of macroalgae on a Caribbean forereef in Belize: Lobophora variegata (Lamouroux) and Dictyota pulchella (Hornig and Schnetter). Measurements were taken on time scales of days, weeks, months, and years during which three hurricanes occurred. All patches were followed on naturally occurring ramets of dead Montastraea annularis. The first hurricane (Mitch) caused massive coral mortality and liberated space for algal colonisation. The cover of Lobophora increased throughout the study and herbivores did not appear to limit its cover within a 4 year time frame. In contrast, the cover of D. pulchella fluctuated greatly and showed no net increase, despite an increase in parrotfish biomass and settlement space. Variation in the overall percent cover of an alga is not indicative of the underlying patch dynamics. The steady rise in the cover of Lobophora took place despite a high turnover of patches (12–60% of patches per year). The patch dynamics of Dictyota were slower (7–20%), but a greater patch density and threefold higher lateral growth rate led to greater fluctuations in total cover. The dynamics of algal patches are size-specific such that larger patches are less likely to become extinct during hurricanes.

Hyperspectral remote sensing has shown promise for detailed discrimination of coral reef substratum types, but, by necessity, it samples at pixel scales larger than reef substratum patch sizes. Spectral unmixing techniques have been successful in resolving subpixel areal cover in terrestrial environments. However, the application of spectral unmixing on coral reefs is fundamentally challenging, due not only to the water column, but also to the potentially large number of spectrally similar and ecologically significant end-member (substratum) classes involved. A controlled ex-situ experiment was conducted using field-spectrometer data to assess the accuracy of spectral unmixing techniques to estimate the areal cover of small-scale ( 0.64, i.e. r >0.8). The most successful analyses were based on derivatives of down-sampled data, implying that spectral unmixing benefits more from spectral smoothing and judicious choice of band locations than from high spectral resolution per se. Although these results show that changes in coral and algal cover can be determined by unmixing their spectra, the method is not yet an operational remote sensing tool. Primary empirical research is needed before taking the next step, which is to incorporate a water column, of variable depth, above the sea bed.

A large river plume generated by anomalous precipitation and oceanic circulation associated with Hurricane Mitch was detected off Honduras in October 1998 using SeaWiFS ocean color images. This event provides the background for analyzing connectivity between coral reefs and land in the Meso-American reef system. We discuss the potential implications of such short-term events for disease propagation and nutrification, and their potential significance in evolutionary processes.

The digital airborne sensor, CASI (Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager) has considerable potential for mapping marine habitats. Here we present an account of one of the first coral reef applications. The CASI was flown over reefs of the Turks and Caicos Islands (British West Indies) and set to view 1 m pixels in 8 spectral bands. In addition, reef habitats were sampled in situ by visual assessment of percent cover in 1 m quadrats. Seagrass standing crop was assessed using a calibrated visual scale. Benthic habitats were classified using hierarchical cluster and similarity percentage analyses of the field survey data. Two levels of habitat discrimination were assessed: a coarse level (corals, algae, sand, seagrass) and a fine level which included nine reef habitats. Overall accuracies of CASI-derived habitat maps were 89% and 81% for coarse and fine levels of habitat discrimination, respectively. Accuracies were greatest once CASI data had been processed to compensate for variations in depth and edited to take account of generic patterns of reef distribution. These overall accuracies were significantly (P

Trends in coral cover are widely used to indi- cate the health of coral reefs but are costly to obtain from field survey over large areas. In situ studies of reflected spectra at the coral surface show that living and recently dead colonies can be distinguished. Here, we investigate whether such spectral differences can be detected using an airborne remote sensing instrument. The Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (Itres Research Ltd, Canada) was flown in two configurations: 10 spectral bands with 1-m 2 pixels and 6 spectral bands with 0.25-m 2 pixels. First, we show that an instrument with 10 spectral bands possesses adequate spectral res- olution to distinguish living Porites, living Pocillopora spp., partially dead Porites, recently dead Porites (total colony mortality within 6 months), old dead (>6 months) Porites, Halimeda spp., and coralline red algae when there is no water column to confuse spectra. All substrata were distinguished using fourth-order spectral derivatives around 538 nm and 562 nm. Then, at a shallow site (Tivaru) at Rangiroa Atoll, Tuamotu Archipelago (French Polynesia), we show that live and dead coral can be distinguished from the air to a depth of at least 4 m using first- and fourth-order spectral derivatives between 562-580 nm. However, partially dead and recently dead Poritescolonies could not be distinguished from an airborne platform. Spectral dif- ferences among substrata are then exploited to predict the cover of reef substrata in ten 25-m 2 plots at nearby Motu Nuhi (max depth 8 m). The actual cover in these plots was determined in situ using quadrats with a 0.01- m 2 grid. Considerable disparity occurred between field and image-based measures of substrate cover within individual 25-m 2 quadrats. At this small scale, disparity, measured as the absolute difference in cover between field and remote-sensing methods, reached 25% in some substrata but was always less than 10% for living coral (99% of which consisted of Porites spp.). At the scale of the reef (all ten 25-m 2 quadrats), however, disparities in percent cover between imagery and field data were less than 10% for all substrata and extremely low for some classes (e.g.