Assessing evidence of phase shifts from coral to macroalgal dominance on coral reefs
"Many marine scientists have concluded that coral reefs are moving toward or are locked into a seaweed-dominated state. However, because there have been no regional- or global-scale analyses of such coral reef "phase shifts," the magnitude of this phenome...
Demographics of increasing populations of the giant barrel sponge Xestospongia muta in the Florida Keys
"The structure of Caribbean coral reef communities has been altered by numerous anthropogenic and natural stressors. Demographic studies of key functional groups have furthered efforts to describe and understand these changes. Little is known, however, ab...
Density dependent settlement and mortality structure the earliest life phases of a coral population
"The local densities of heterospecifics and conspecifics are known to have profound effects on the dynamics of many benthic species, including rates of settlement and early post-settlement survivorship. We described the early life history of the Caribbean...
Coral reef recovery on Guam (Micronesia) after catastrophic predation by Acanthaster planci
"At Tanguisson Reef, Guam, in 1968-1969 a population explosion of the coral - eating sea star Acanthaster planci devastated the coral community. In the wake of this predation, coral species richness, density, and cover were drastically reduced, and the sp...
Relative roles of herbivory and nutrients in the recruitment of coral-reef seaweeds
"The relative effects of and interactions between, bottom-up and top-down processes are fundamental to population and community structure in both terrestrial and marine systems. These issues are especially critical for seaweed populations on coral reefs, ...
High-resolution characterization of the abiotic environment and disturbance regimes on the Great Barrier Reef, 1985-2017
"This data compilation synthesizes 36 static environmental and spatial variables, and temporally explicit modeled estimates of three major disturbances to coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR): (1) coral bleaching, (2) tropical cyclones, and (3) out...
Effects of sponge bleaching on ammonia-oxidizing archaea: Distribution and relative expression of ammonia monooxygenase genes associated with the barrel sponge Xestospongia muta
"Sponge-mediated nitrification is an important process in the nitrogen cycle, however, nothing is known about how nitrification and symbiotic Archaea may be affected by sponge disease and bleaching events. The giant barrel sponge Xestospongia muta is a pr...
"In Coral Reef Restoration Handbook, William Precht sets out to produce a book to hasten the learning curve? in helping the scientific, restoration, and management communities compile methods, case studies, and a conceptual framework detailing current cor...
The codevelopment of coastal fisheries monitoring methods to support local management
"Small-scale fisheries across the globe provide critical food security, livelihoods, and human well-being, but are threatened by a combination of local and global stressors, including overexploitation, pollution, and climate change. Participatory approach...
Influence of reserve size and boundary length on the initial response of exploited reef fishes in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, US
"We examine the influence of reserve size and boundary length on the relative rate of fish density change in reserves versus fished reference reefs for three exploitable-sized reef fish categories: (1) combined fish (34 species of Haemulidae, Lutjanidae, ...
Assessing evidence of phase shifts from coral to macroalgal dominance on coral reefs