Tebbett Sterling B, Connolly Sean R, Bellwood David R
Research Hub for Coral Reef Ecosystem Functions, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
Nat Ecol Evol. 2023 Jan;7(1):71-81. doi: 10.1038/s41559-022-01937-2. Epub 2023 Jan 9.
Globally, ecosystems are being reconfigured by a range of intensifying human-induced stressors. Coral reefs are at the forefront of this environmental transformation, and if we are to secure their key ecosystem functions and services, it is important to understand the likely configuration of future reefs. However, the composition and trajectory of global coral reef benthic communities is currently unclear. Here our global dataset of 24,468 observations spanning 22 years (1997-2018) revealed that particularly marked declines in coral cover occurred in the Western Atlantic and Central Pacific. The data also suggest that high macroalgal cover, widely regarded as the major degraded state on coral reefs, is a phenomenon largely restricted to the Western Atlantic. At a global scale, the raw data suggest decreased average (± standard error of the mean) hard coral cover from 36 ± 1.4% to 19 ± 0.4% (during a period delineated by the first global coral bleaching event (1998) until the end of the most recent event (2017)) was largely associated with increased low-lying algal cover such as algal turfs and crustose coralline algae. Enhanced understanding of reef change, typified by decreased hard coral cover and increased cover of low-lying algal communities, will be key to managing Anthropocene coral reefs.
在全球范围内，生态系统正被一系列不断加剧的人为压力源重新塑造。珊瑚礁处于这种环境转变的前沿，如果我们要确保其关键的生态系统功能和服务，了解未来珊瑚礁可能的形态至关重要。然而，全球珊瑚礁底栖生物群落的组成和发展轨迹目前尚不清楚。在这里，我们跨度22年（1997 - 2018年）的包含24468条观测数据的全球数据集显示，西大西洋和中太平洋的珊瑚覆盖率出现了尤为显著的下降。数据还表明，被广泛视为珊瑚礁主要退化状态的大型藻类高覆盖率，在很大程度上是西大西洋特有的现象。在全球范围内，原始数据显示平均（±均值标准误差）硬珊瑚覆盖率从36 ± 1.4%降至19 ± 0.4%（在由第一次全球珊瑚白化事件（1998年）界定的时期到最近一次事件（2017年）结束期间），这在很大程度上与诸如藻席和壳状珊瑚藻等低位藻类覆盖率增加有关。加深对以硬珊瑚覆盖率下降和低位藻类群落覆盖率增加为特征的珊瑚礁变化的理解，将是管理人类世珊瑚礁的关键。
