Phase shifts in coral reef communities and their ecological significance

Hydrobiologia ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 247 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 121-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Done
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Phase Shifts ◽  
Ecological Significance ◽  
Reef Communities ◽  
Coral Reef Communities

scholarly journals Re-evaluating the health of coral reef communities: baselines and evidence for human impacts across the central Pacific

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1822) ◽  
pp. 20151985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer E. Smith ◽  
Rusty Brainard ◽  
Amanda Carter ◽  
Saray Grillo ◽  
Clinton Edwards ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Phase Shifts ◽  
Coralline Algae ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Crustose Coralline Algae ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Reef Communities ◽  
Coral Reef Communities

Numerous studies have documented declines in the abundance of reef-building corals over the last several decades and in some but not all cases, phase shifts to dominance by macroalgae have occurred. These assessments, however, often ignore the remainder of the benthos and thus provide limited information on the present-day structure and function of coral reef communities. Here, using an unprecedentedly large dataset collected within the last 10 years across 56 islands spanning five archipelagos in the central Pacific, we examine how benthic reef communities differ in the presence and absence of human populations. Using islands as replicates, we examine whether benthic community structure is associated with human habitation within and among archipelagos and across latitude. While there was no evidence for coral to macroalgal phase shifts across our dataset we did find that the majority of reefs on inhabited islands were dominated by fleshy non-reef-building organisms (turf algae, fleshy macroalgae and non-calcifying invertebrates). By contrast, benthic communities from uninhabited islands were more variable but in general supported more calcifiers and active reef builders (stony corals and crustose coralline algae). Our results suggest that cumulative human impacts across the central Pacific may be causing a reduction in the abundance of reef builders resulting in island scale phase shifts to dominance by fleshy organisms.

North-south gradient of incidence, distribution and variations of coral reef communities in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Marimuthu ◽  
J. S. Yogesh Kumar ◽  
C. Raghunathan ◽  
N. V. Vinithkumar ◽  
R. Kirubagaran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Andaman And Nicobar Islands ◽  
Reef Communities ◽  
Nicobar Islands ◽  
Coral Reef Communities

Detection of changes in coral reef communities using Landsat-5 TM and Landsat-7 ETM+ data

2003 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Palandro ◽  
Serge Andréfouët ◽  
Frank E Muller-Karger ◽  
Phillip Dustan ◽  
Chuanmin Hu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Reef Communities ◽  
Landsat 7 ◽  
Landsat 5 Tm ◽  
Coral Reef Communities

A numerical model of wave- and current-driven nutrient uptake by coral reef communities

2011 ◽  
Vol 222 (8) ◽  
pp. 1456-1470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenlin Zhang ◽  
Ryan Lowe ◽  
James Falter ◽  
Greg Ivey
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Numerical Model ◽  
Nutrient Uptake ◽  
Reef Communities ◽  
Coral Reef Communities
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