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Lookup NU author(s): Dr James Guest
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Coral cover on reefs is declining globally due to coastal development, overfishing and climate change. Reefs isolated from direct human influence can recover from natural acute disturbances, but little is known about long term recovery of reefs experiencing chronic human disturbances. Here we investigate responses to acute bleaching disturbances on turbid reefs off Singapore, at two depths over a period of 27 years. Coral cover declined and there were marked changes in coral and benthic community structure during the first decade of monitoring at both depths. At shallower reef crest sites (3–4 m), benthic community structure recovered towards pre-disturbance states within a decade. In contrast, there was a net decline in coral cover and continuing shifts in community structure at deeper reef slope sites (6–7 m). There was no evidence of phase shifts to macroalgal dominance but coral habitats at deeper sites were replaced by unstable substrata such as fine sediments and rubble. The persistence of coral dominance at chronically disturbed shallow sites is likely due to an abundance of coral taxa which are tolerant to environmental stress. In addition, high turbidity may interact antagonistically with other disturbances to reduce the impact of thermal stress and limit macroalgal growth rates.
Author(s): Guest JR, Tun K, Low J, Vergés A, Marzinelli EM, Campbell AH, Bauman AG, Feary DA, Chou LM, Steinberg PD
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Scientific Reports
Year: 2016
Volume: 6
Online publication date: 08/11/2016
Acceptance date: 12/10/2016
Date deposited: 25/08/2017
ISSN (electronic): 2045-2322
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/srep36260
DOI: 10.1038/srep36260
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