Macroalgae exhibit diverse responses to human disturbances on coral reefs

Sara E Cannon¹, Simon D Donner¹, Angela Liu^{1

2}, Pedro C González Espinosa^{1

3}, Andrew H Baird⁴, Julia K Baum⁵, Andrew G Bauman⁶, Maria Beger^{7

8

9}, Cassandra E Benkwitt¹⁰, Matthew J Birt¹¹, Yannick Chancerelle¹², Joshua E Cinner⁴, Nicole L Crane^{13

14}, Vianney Denis¹⁵, Martial Depczynski¹¹, Nur Fadli¹⁶, Douglas Fenner¹⁷, Christopher J Fulton¹¹, Yimnang Golbuu¹⁸, Nicholas A J Graham¹⁰, James Guest¹⁹, Hugo B Harrison^{4

20}, Jean-Paul A Hobbs²¹, Andrew S Hoey⁴, Thomas H Holmes²², Peter Houk²³, Fraser A Januchowski-Hartley²⁴, Jamaluddin Jompa²⁵, Chao-Yang Kuo^{4

26}, Gino Valentino Limmon^{27

28}, Yuting V Lin¹⁵, Timothy R McClanahan²⁹, Dominic Muenzel⁷, Michelle J Paddack^{13

30}, Serge Planes¹², Morgan S Pratchett⁴, Ben Radford^{11

31}, James Davis Reimer^{32

33}, Zoe T Richards^{34

35}, Claire L Ross^{22

31}, John Rulmal Jr^{13

36}, Brigitte Sommer^{37

38}, Gareth J Williams³⁹, Shaun K Wilson^{22

31}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
² School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
³ Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
⁴ Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Queensland, Townsville, Australia.
⁵ Department of Biology, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, Canada.
⁶ Department of Marine and Environmental Science, Nova Southeastern University, Florida, Dania Beach, USA.
⁷ School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
⁸ Department of Aquatic Resources Management, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Pattimura University, Ambon, Indonesia.
⁹ Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, University of Queensland, Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.
¹⁰ Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
¹¹ Australian Institute of Marine Science, Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
¹² CRIOBE, UAR 3278 CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, Moorea French Polynesia and the French Center for Excellence for Coral Reefs (LabEx Corail), PSL Research University, Paris, France.
¹³ One People One Reef, California, Santa Cruz, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Biology, Cabrillo College, California, Aptos, USA.
¹⁵ Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
¹⁶ Faculty of Marine and Fisheries, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
¹⁷ Coral Reef Consulting, Pago Pago, American Samoa.
¹⁸ Palau International Coral Reef Center, Koror, Palau.
¹⁹ School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
²⁰ School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
²¹ School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
²² Marine Science Program, Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions, Western Australia, Kensington, Australia.
²³ University of Guam Marine Laboratory, UOG Station, Mangilao, Guam.
²⁴ Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Swansea, UK.
²⁵ Department of Marine Science and Fisheries, Hasanuddin University, South Sulawesi, Makassar, Indonesia.
²⁶ Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
²⁷ Department of Marine Biology, Pattimura University, Ambon, Indonesia.
²⁸ Maritime and Marine Science Centre of Excellence, Pattimura University, Ambon, Indonesia.
²⁹ Wildlife Conservation Society, Global Marine Programs, New York, Bronx, USA.
³⁰ Santa Barbara City College, California, Santa Barbara, USA.
³¹ Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia, Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
³² Department of Marine Science, Chemistry and Biology, Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan.
³³ Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan.
³⁴ Coral Conservation and Research Group, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Western Australia, Bently, Australia.
³⁵ Collections and Research, Western Australian Museum, Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
³⁶ Ulithi Falalop Community Action Program, Yap, Micronesia.
³⁷ School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
³⁸ School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, 2007, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
³⁹ School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, LL59 5AB, Anglesey, UK.

PMID: 37020174
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16694

Free article

Macroalgae exhibit diverse responses to human disturbances on coral reefs

Sara E Cannon et al. Glob Chang Biol. 2023 Jun.

Free article

. 2023 Jun;29(12):3318-3330.

doi: 10.1111/gcb.16694. Epub 2023 Apr 5.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
² School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
³ Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
⁴ Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Queensland, Townsville, Australia.
⁵ Department of Biology, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, Canada.
⁶ Department of Marine and Environmental Science, Nova Southeastern University, Florida, Dania Beach, USA.
⁷ School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
⁸ Department of Aquatic Resources Management, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Pattimura University, Ambon, Indonesia.
⁹ Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, University of Queensland, Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.
¹⁰ Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
¹¹ Australian Institute of Marine Science, Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
¹² CRIOBE, UAR 3278 CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, Moorea French Polynesia and the French Center for Excellence for Coral Reefs (LabEx Corail), PSL Research University, Paris, France.
¹³ One People One Reef, California, Santa Cruz, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Biology, Cabrillo College, California, Aptos, USA.
¹⁵ Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
¹⁶ Faculty of Marine and Fisheries, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
¹⁷ Coral Reef Consulting, Pago Pago, American Samoa.
¹⁸ Palau International Coral Reef Center, Koror, Palau.
¹⁹ School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
²⁰ School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
²¹ School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
²² Marine Science Program, Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions, Western Australia, Kensington, Australia.
²³ University of Guam Marine Laboratory, UOG Station, Mangilao, Guam.
²⁴ Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Swansea, UK.
²⁵ Department of Marine Science and Fisheries, Hasanuddin University, South Sulawesi, Makassar, Indonesia.
²⁶ Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
²⁷ Department of Marine Biology, Pattimura University, Ambon, Indonesia.
²⁸ Maritime and Marine Science Centre of Excellence, Pattimura University, Ambon, Indonesia.
²⁹ Wildlife Conservation Society, Global Marine Programs, New York, Bronx, USA.
³⁰ Santa Barbara City College, California, Santa Barbara, USA.
³¹ Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia, Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
³² Department of Marine Science, Chemistry and Biology, Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan.
³³ Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan.
³⁴ Coral Conservation and Research Group, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Western Australia, Bently, Australia.
³⁵ Collections and Research, Western Australian Museum, Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
³⁶ Ulithi Falalop Community Action Program, Yap, Micronesia.
³⁷ School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
³⁸ School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, 2007, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
³⁹ School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, LL59 5AB, Anglesey, UK.

PMID: 37020174
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16694

Abstract

Scientists and managers rely on indicator taxa such as coral and macroalgal cover to evaluate the effects of human disturbance on coral reefs, often assuming a universally positive relationship between local human disturbance and macroalgae. Despite evidence that macroalgae respond to local stressors in diverse ways, there have been few efforts to evaluate relationships between specific macroalgae taxa and local human-driven disturbance. Using genus-level monitoring data from 1205 sites in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, we assess whether macroalgae percent cover correlates with local human disturbance while accounting for factors that could obscure or confound relationships. Assessing macroalgae at genus level revealed that no genera were positively correlated with all human disturbance metrics. Instead, we found relationships between the division or genera of algae and specific human disturbances that were not detectable when pooling taxa into a single functional category, which is common to many analyses. The convention to use percent cover of macroalgae as an indication of local human disturbance therefore likely obscures signatures of local anthropogenic threats to reefs. Our limited understanding of relationships between human disturbance, macroalgae taxa, and their responses to human disturbances impedes the ability to diagnose and respond appropriately to these threats.

Keywords: Indian Ocean; Pacific Ocean; coral reef health; coral reefs; local human disturbance; macroalgae; multiple stressors.

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References

REFERENCES

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Macroalgae exhibit diverse responses to human disturbances on coral reefs

Affiliations

Macroalgae exhibit diverse responses to human disturbances on coral reefs

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

References

REFERENCES

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources