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Marine protected areas increase resilience among coral reef communities
Author(s) -
Mellin Camille,
Aaron MacNeil M.,
Cheal Alistair J.,
Emslie Michael J.,
Julian Caley M.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/ele.12598
Subject(s) - resilience of coral reefs , coral reef , marine protected area , reef , coral reef protection , ecology , coral bleaching , biodiversity , disturbance (geology) , acanthaster , marine reserve , coral , geography , ecosystem , coral reef organizations , bioerosion , environmental issues with coral reefs , aquaculture of coral , marine ecosystem , habitat , biology , great barrier reef , paleontology
Abstract With marine biodiversity declining globally at accelerating rates, maximising the effectiveness of conservation has become a key goal for local, national and international regulators. Marine protected areas ( MPA s) have been widely advocated for conserving and managing marine biodiversity yet, despite extensive research, their benefits for conserving non‐target species and wider ecosystem functions remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that MPA s can increase the resilience of coral reef communities to natural disturbances, including coral bleaching, coral diseases, Acanthaster planci outbreaks and storms. Using a 20‐year time series from Australia's Great Barrier Reef, we show that within MPA s, (1) reef community composition was 21–38% more stable; (2) the magnitude of disturbance impacts was 30% lower and (3) subsequent recovery was 20% faster that in adjacent unprotected habitats. Our results demonstrate that MPA s can increase the resilience of marine communities to natural disturbance possibly through herbivory, trophic cascades and portfolio effects.