Bertarelli-Annual-Report-2024-FULL - Flipbook - Page 41
Marine Science 2024
Coral reef recovery in a
remote and large marine
protected area is resilient to
cascading tropic interactions
McDevitt-Irwin, J.M., Chapius, M., Carlson, R., Meekan,
M., Palmisciano, M., Roche, R., Taylor, B.M., Tietjen, K.L.,
Tillman, C., Fiorenza, M. (2024). Biological Conservation
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110771
Coral reefs are at risk, but our understanding of whether
and how large MPAs will benefit reef recovery from
disturbances remains limited. The Chagos Archipelago
provides a natural ‘ocean observatory’ with relatively
intact coral reefs, high shark abundance, and lack of
fishing pressure.
This study evaluated how fishes influence coral reef
recovery and if the number of top predators caused a
domino effect through predator and prey through the
food chain. Results from a meta-analysis, field surveys
and large-scale manipulative experiment suggest that
bottom-feeding fishes play important roles influencing
coral recruitment and reef recovery. This remote and
protected coral reef ecosystem showed environmental
responses within the fish and coral and algae community,
with the loss and decline of some species compensated
for by the growth of others. This ‘compensatory dynamic’
maintains key processes across a gradient of shark
abundance and when fish are experimentally excluded
from areas of the reef.
Results highlight that maintaining and rebuilding
herbivorous fish populations through the establishment
of MPAs is important to promote coral reef recovery,
as fishes regulate algal cover and benthic community
structure. Second, the responses within both fish and
benthic communities in a large and remote MPA suggest
that large-scale protection may indeed be critical for
supporting the resilience of coral reef ecosystems in the
face of global change.
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