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Despite the ubiquity and ecological importance of parasites, relatively few studies have assessed their response to anthropogenic environmental change. Heuristic models have predicted both increases and decreases in parasite abundance in response to human disturbance, with empirical support for both. However, most studies focus on one or a few selected parasite species. Here, we assess the abundance of parasites of seven species of coral reef fishes collected from three fished and three unfished islands of the Line Islands archipelago in the central equatorial Pacific. Because we chose fish hosts that spanned different trophic levels, taxonomic groups, and body sizes, we were able to compare parasite responses across a broad cross section of the total parasite community in the presence and absence of fishing, a major human impact on marine ecosystems. We found that overall parasite species richness was substantially depressed on fished islands, but that the response of parasite abundance varied among parasite taxa: directly transmitted parasites were significantly more abundant on fished than on unfished islands, while the reverse was true for trophically transmitted parasites. This probably arises because trophically transmitted parasites require multiple host species, some of which are the top predators most sensitive to fishing impacts. The increase in directly transmitted parasites appeared to be due to fishing-driven compensatory increases in the abundance of their hosts. Together, these results provide support for the predictions of both heuristic models, and indicate that the direction of fishing's impact on parasite abundance is mediated by parasite traits, notably parasite transmission strategies.

Islands support unique plants, animals, and human societies found nowhere else on the Earth. Local and global stressors threaten the persistence of island ecosystems, with invasive species being among the most damaging, yet solvable, stressors. While the threat of invasive terrestrial mammals on island flora and fauna is well recognized, recent studies have begun to illustrate their extended and destructive impacts on adjacent marine environments. Eradication of invasive mammals and restoration of native biota are promising tools to address both island and ocean management goals. The magnitude of the marine benefits of island restoration, however, is unlikely to be consistent across the globe. We propose a list of six environmental characteristics most likely to affect the strength of land-sea linkages: precipitation, elevation, vegetation cover, soil hydrology, oceanographic productivity, and wave energy. Global databases allow for the calculation of comparable metrics describing each environmental character across islands. Such metrics can be used today to evaluate relative potential for coupled land-sea conservation efforts and, with sustained investment in monitoring on land and sea, can be used in the future to refine science-based planning tools for integrated land-sea management. As conservation practitioners work to address the effects of climate change, ocean stressors, and biodiversity crises, it is essential that we maximize returns from our management investments. Linking efforts on land, including eradication of island invasive mammals, with marine restoration and protection should offer multiplied benefits to achieve concurrent global conservation goals.

Aim: Identification of the processes that generate and maintain species diversity within the same region can provide insight into biogeographic patterns at broader spatiotemporal scales. Hawkfishes in the genus Paracirrhites are a unique taxon to explore with respect to niche differentiation, exhibiting diagnostic differences in coloration, and an apparent center of distribution outside of the Indo–Malay–Philippine (IMP) biodiversity hotspot for coral reef fishes. Our aim is to use next‐generation sequencing methods to leverage samples of a taxon at their center of maximum diversity to explore phylogenetic relationships and a possible mechanism of coexistence. Location: Flint Island, Southern Line Islands, Republic of Kiribati. Methods: A comprehensive review of museum records, the primary literature, and unpublished field survey records was undertaken to determine ranges for four "arc‐eye" hawkfish species in the Paracirrhites species complex and a potential hybrid. Fish from four Paracirrhites species were collected from Flint Island in the Southern Line Islands, Republic of Kiribati. Hindgut contents were sequenced, and subsequent metagenomic analyses were used to assess the phylogenetic relatedness of the host fish, the microbiome community structure, and prey remains for each species. Results: Phylogenetic analyses conducted with recovered mitochondrial genomes revealed clustering of P. bicolor with P. arcatus and P. xanthus with P. nisus, which were unexpected on the basis of previous morphological work in this species complex. Differences in taxonomic composition of gut microbial communities and presumed prey remains indicate likely separation of foraging niches. Main Conclusions: Our findings point toward previously unidentified relationships in this cryptic species complex at its proposed center of distribution. The three species endemic to the Polynesian province (P. nisus, P. xanthus, and P. bicolor) cluster separately from the more broadly distributed P. arcatus on the basis of relative abundance of metazoan sequences in the gut (presumed prey remains). Discordance between gut microbial communities and phylogeny of the host fish further reinforce the hypothesis of niche separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Human impacts on ecosystems can decouple the fundamental ecological relationships that create patterns of diversity in free‐living species. Despite the abundance, ubiquity, and ecological importance of parasites, it is unknown whether the same decoupling effects occur for parasitic species. We investigated the influence of fishing on the relationship between host diversity and parasite diversity for parasites of coral reef fishes on three fished and three unfished islands in the central equatorial Pacific. Fishing was associated with a shallowing of the positive host‐diversity–parasite‐diversity relationship. This occurred primarily through negative impacts of fishing on the presence of complex life‐cycle parasites, which created a biologically impoverished parasite fauna of directly transmitted parasites resilient to changes in host biodiversity. Parasite diversity appears to be decoupled from host diversity by fishing impacts in this coral reef ecosystem, which suggests that such decoupling might also occur for parasites in other ecosystems affected by environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim There is global consensus that marine protected areas offer a plethora of benefits to the biodiversity within and around them. Nevertheless, many organisms threatened by human impacts also find shelter in unexpected or informally protected places. For coral reef organisms, refuges can be tourist resorts implementing local environment-friendly bottom-up management strategies. We used the coral reef ecosystem as a model to test whether such practices have positive effects on the biodiversity associated with de facto protected areas. Location North Ari Atoll, Maldives. Methods We modelled the effects of the environment and three human management regimes (tourist resorts, uninhabited and local community islands) on the abundance and diversity of echinoderms and commercially important fish species, the per cent cover of reef benthic organisms (corals, calcareous coralline algae, turf and macroalgae) and the proportion of coral disease. We used multivariate techniques to assess the differences between reef components among the management regimes. Results Reefs varied between the management regimes. A positive 'resort effect' was found on sessile benthic organisms, with good coral cover and significantly less algae at resort islands. Corals were larger and had fewer diseases in uninhabited islands. Minor 'resort effect' was detected on motile species represented by commercial fish and echinoderms. Main conclusions In countries where natural biodiversity strongly sustains the tourist sector and where local populations rely on natural resources, a balance between tourism development, local extraction practices and biodiversity conservation is necessary. The presence of eco-friendly managed resorts, which practices would need to be certified on the long term, is beneficial to protect certain organisms. House reefs around resorts could therefore provide areas adding to existing marine protected areas, while marine protection efforts in local community islands should focus on improving fishing management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Mixotrophy is among the most successful nutritional strategies in terrestrial and marine ecosystems. The ability of organisms to supplement primary nutritional modes along continua of autotrophy and heterotrophy fosters trophic flexibility that can sustain metabolic demands under variable or stressful conditions. Symbiotic, reef-building corals are among the most broadly distributed and ecologically important mixotrophs, yet we lack a basic understanding of how they modify their use of autotrophy and heterotrophy across gradients of food availability. Here, we evaluate how one coral species, Pocillopora meandrina , supplements autotrophic nutrition through heterotrophy within an archipelago and test whether this pattern holds across species globally. Using stable isotope analysis (δ13C) and satellite-derived estimates of nearshore primary production (chlorophyll- a , as a proxy for food availability), we show that P. meandrina incorporates a greater proportion of carbon via heterotrophy when more food is available across five central Pacific islands. We then show that this pattern is consistent globally using data from 15 coral species across 16 locations spanning the Caribbean Sea and the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Globally, surface chlorophyll- a explains 77% of the variation in coral heterotrophic nutrition, 86% for one genus across 10 islands, and 94% when controlling for coral taxonomy within archipelagos. These results demonstrate, for the first time, that satellite-derived estimates of nearshore primary production provide a globally relevant proxy for resource availability that can explain variation in coral trophic ecology. Thus, our model provides a pivotal step toward resolving the biophysical couplings between mixotrophic organisms and spatial patterns of resource availability in the coastal oceans. Highlights • Variation in primary production can reshape coral trophic ecology across scales • A common coral increased heterotrophy at shallow depths on more productive islands • Corals are more heterotrophic in regions of higher nearshore primary production • Coral persistence may be linked to patterns of oceanic primary production How mixotrophic corals balance autotrophic and heterotrophic nutrition in relation to food availability is unknown. Fox et al. demonstrate that satellite estimates of nearshore primary production predict the trophic ecology of reef-building corals at regional and global scales. In more productive regions, some corals are consistently more heterotrophic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]