Caught in the middle: combined impacts of shark removal and coral loss on the fish communities of coral reefs.

ABSTRACT: Due to human activities, marine and terrestrial ecosystems face a future where disturbances are predicted to occur at a frequency and severity unprecedented in the recent past. Of particular concern is the ability of systems to recover where multiple stressors act simultaneously. We examine this issue in the context of a coral reef ecosystem where increases in stressors, such as fisheries, benthic degradation, cyclones and coral bleaching, are occurring at global scales. By utilizing long-term (decadal) monitoring programs, we examined the combined effects of chronic (removal of sharks) and pulse (cyclones, bleaching) disturbances on the trophic structure of coral reef fishes at two isolated atoll systems off the coast of northwest Australia. We provide evidence consistent with the hypothe

SUBMITTER: Ruppert JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3776739 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature