Asynchrony in coral community structure contributes to reef-scale community stability.

ABSTRACT: Many aspects of global ecosystem degradation are well known, but the ecological implications of variation in these effects over scales of kilometers and years have not been widely considered. On tropical coral reefs, kilometer-scale variation in environmental conditions promotes a spatial mosaic of coral communities in which spatial insurance effects could enhance community stability. To evaluate whether these effects are important on coral reefs, we explored variation over 2006-2019 in coral community structure and environmental conditions in Moorea, French Polynesia. We studied coral community structure at a single site with fringing, back reef, and fore reef habitats, and used this system to explore associations among community asynchrony, asynchrony of environmental conditions, and com

SUBMITTER: Srednick G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9911750 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature