Resetting predator baselines in coral reef ecosystems

Resetting predator baselines in coral reef ecosystems

What did coral reef ecosystems look like before human impacts became pervasive? Early efforts to reconstruct baselines resulted in the controversial suggestion that pristine coral reefs have inverted trophic pyramids, with disproportionally large top predator biomass. The validity of the coral reef inverted trophic pyramid has been questioned, but until now, was not resolved empirically. We use...

Shark baselines and the conservation role of remote coral reef ecosystems

Scientific monitoring has recorded only a recent fraction of the oceans' alteration history. This biases our understanding of marine ecosystems. Remote coral reef ecosystems are often considered pristine because of high shark abundance. However, given the long history and global nature of fishing, sharks' vulnerability, and the ecological consequences of shark declines, these states may not be ...

Selective feeding in the hawksbill turtle, an important predator in coral reef ecosystems

We evaluated selective feeding in hawksbill turtles Eretmochelys imbricata by comparing ingested prey species with their availability at 2 sites in the SW Dominican Republic. Hawksbills fed on 6 benthic species: 5 demosponges (Chondrilla nucula, Geodia neptuni, Myriastra kalitetilla, Spirastrella coccinea, and Tethya crypta) and 1 corallimorpharian (Ricordea florida). Hawksbills showed positive...

Evolution and Function of Coral Reef Ecosystems

Experimental biology of coral reef ecosystems

Coral reef ecosystems are at the crossroads. While significant gaps still exist in our understanding of how ‘‘normal’’ reefs work, unprecedented changes in coral reef systems have forced the research community to change its focus from basic research to understand how one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world works to basic research with strong applied implications to alleviate damage, sav...