Gravity of human impacts mediates coral reef conservation gains

Cinner, JE; Maire, E; Huchery, C; Aaron MacNeil, M; Graham, NAJ; Mora, C; McClanahan, TR; Barnes, ML; Kittinger, JN; Hicks, CC; D’Agata, S; Hoey, AS; Gurney, GG; Feary, DA; Williams, ID; Kulbicki, M; Vigliola, L; Wantiez, L; Edgar, GJ; Stuart-Smith, RD; Sandin, SA; Green, A; Hardt, MJ; Beger, M; Friedlander, AM; Wilson, SK; Brokovich, E; Brooks, AJ; Cruz-Motta, JJ; Booth, DJ; Chabanet, P; Gough, C; Tupper, M; Ferse, SCA; Rashid Sumaila, U; Pardede, S; Mouillot, D

Gravity of human impacts mediates coral reef conservation gains

Cinner, JE Maire, E Huchery, C Aaron MacNeil, M Graham, NAJ Mora, C McClanahan, TR Barnes, ML

Kittinger, JN Hicks, CC

D’Agata, S Hoey, AS Gurney, GG Feary, DA Williams, ID Kulbicki, M Vigliola, L Wantiez, L

Edgar, GJ Stuart-Smith, RD

Sandin, SA Green, A Hardt, MJ Beger, M Friedlander, AM Wilson, SK Brokovich, E Brooks, AJ Cruz-Motta, JJ Booth, DJ

Chabanet, P Gough, C Tupper, M Ferse, SCA

Rashid Sumaila, U Pardede, S Mouillot, D

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2018, 115 (27), pp. E6116 - E6125
Issue Date:: 2018-07-03

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Cinner, JE	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Maire, E	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Huchery, C	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Aaron MacNeil, M	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Graham, NAJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Mora, C	en_US
dc.contributor.author	McClanahan, TR	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Barnes, ML https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1151-4037	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Kittinger, JN	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Hicks, CC https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7399-4603	en_US
dc.contributor.author	D’Agata, S	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Hoey, AS	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Gurney, GG	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Feary, DA	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Williams, ID	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Kulbicki, M	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Vigliola, L	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Wantiez, L https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5024-2057	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Edgar, GJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Stuart-Smith, RD https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8874-0083	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Sandin, SA	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Green, A	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Hardt, MJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Beger, M	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Friedlander, AM	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Wilson, SK	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Brokovich, E	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Brooks, AJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Cruz-Motta, JJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Booth, DJ https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8256-1412	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Chabanet, P	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Gough, C	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Tupper, M	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Ferse, SCA https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0930-5356	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Rashid Sumaila, U	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Pardede, S	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Mouillot, D	en_US
dc.date.issued	2018-07-03	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2018, 115 (27), pp. E6116 - E6125	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0027-8424	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/125709
dc.description.abstract	© 2018 National Academy of Sciences. All Rights Reserved. Coral reefs provide ecosystem goods and services for millions of people in the tropics, but reef conditions are declining worldwide. Effective solutions to the crisis facing coral reefs depend in part on understanding the context under which different types of conservation benefits can be maximized. Our global analysis of nearly 1,800 tropical reefs reveals how the intensity of human impacts in the surrounding seascape, measured as a function of human population size and accessibility to reefs (“gravity”), diminishes the effectiveness of marine reserves at sustaining reef fish biomass and the presence of top predators, even where compliance with reserve rules is high. Critically, fish biomass in high-compliance marine reserves located where human impacts were intensive tended to be less than a quarter that of reserves where human impacts were low. Similarly, the probability of encountering top predators on reefs with high human impacts was close to zero, even in high-compliance marine reserves. However, we find that the relative difference between openly fished sites and reserves (what we refer to as conservation gains) are highest for fish biomass (excluding predators) where human impacts are moderate and for top predators where human impacts are low. Our results illustrate critical ecological trade-offs in meeting key conservation objectives: reserves placed where there are moderate-to-high human impacts can provide substantial conservation gains for fish biomass, yet they are unlikely to support key ecosystem functions like higher-order predation, which is more prevalent in reserve locations with low human impacts.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1073/pnas.1708001115	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Animals	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Fishes	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Humans	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Conservation of Natural Resources	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Biomass	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Food Chain	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Coral Reefs	en_US
dc.title	Gravity of human impacts mediates coral reef conservation gains	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	27	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	115	en_US
utslib.for	0502 Environmental Science and Management	en_US
utslib.for	0602 Ecology	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	27	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	115	en_US

Abstract:

© 2018 National Academy of Sciences. All Rights Reserved. Coral reefs provide ecosystem goods and services for millions of people in the tropics, but reef conditions are declining worldwide. Effective solutions to the crisis facing coral reefs depend in part on understanding the context under which different types of conservation benefits can be maximized. Our global analysis of nearly 1,800 tropical reefs reveals how the intensity of human impacts in the surrounding seascape, measured as a function of human population size and accessibility to reefs (“gravity”), diminishes the effectiveness of marine reserves at sustaining reef fish biomass and the presence of top predators, even where compliance with reserve rules is high. Critically, fish biomass in high-compliance marine reserves located where human impacts were intensive tended to be less than a quarter that of reserves where human impacts were low. Similarly, the probability of encountering top predators on reefs with high human impacts was close to zero, even in high-compliance marine reserves. However, we find that the relative difference between openly fished sites and reserves (what we refer to as conservation gains) are highest for fish biomass (excluding predators) where human impacts are moderate and for top predators where human impacts are low. Our results illustrate critical ecological trade-offs in meeting key conservation objectives: reserves placed where there are moderate-to-high human impacts can provide substantial conservation gains for fish biomass, yet they are unlikely to support key ecosystem functions like higher-order predation, which is more prevalent in reserve locations with low human impacts.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/125709