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Paxton AB, Foxfoot IR, Cutshaw C, Steward DN, Poussard L, Riley TN, Swannack TM, Piercy CD, Altman S, Puckett BJ, Storlazzi CD, Viehman TS. Evidence on the ecological and physical effects of built structures in shallow, tropical coral reefs: a systematic map. ENVIRONMENTAL EVIDENCE 2024; 13:12. [PMID: 39294693 PMCID: PMC11378790 DOI: 10.1186/s13750-024-00336-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 04/21/2024] [Indexed: 09/21/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Shallow, tropical coral reefs face compounding threats from climate change, habitat degradation due to coastal development and pollution, impacts from storms and sea-level rise, and pulse disturbances like blast fishing, mining, dredging, and ship groundings that reduce reef height and complexity. One approach toward restoring coral reef physical structure from such impacts is deploying built structures of artificial, natural, or hybrid (both artificial and natural) origin. Built structures range from designed modules and repurposed materials to underwater sculptures and intentionally placed natural rocks. Restoration practitioners and coastal managers increasingly consider incorporating - and in many cases have already begun to incorporate - built structures into coral reef-related applications, yet synthesized evidence on the ecological (coral-related; e.g., coral growth, coral survival) and physical performance of built structures in coral ecosystems across a variety of contexts (e.g., restoration, coastal protection, mitigation, tourism) is not readily available to guide decisions. To help fill this gap and inform management decisions, we systematically mapped the global distribution and abundance of published evidence on the ecological (coral-related) and physical performance of built structure interventions in shallow (≤ 30 m), tropical (35°N to 35°S) coral ecosystems. METHODS To identify potentially relevant articles, we used predefined and tested strategies to search two indexing platforms, one bibliographic database, two open discovery citation indexes, one web-based search engine, one novel literature discovery tool, 19 organizational websites, and information requested from stakeholders. Discovered articles were screened according to preset eligibility criteria first by title and abstract and second by full text. Articles included during full text screening were coded to extract metadata following a predefined framework. We analyzed and visualized the evidence base to answer our primary and secondary research questions and to identify knowledge clusters and gaps. Findings are reported in a narrative synthesis. RESULTS Our search discovered > 20,000 potentially relevant unique articles, of which 258 were included in the systematic map. The evidence base spans 50 countries, and the volume of evidence increased over the past five decades. Built structures were most commonly installed for coral restoration (61%) or coastal protection (12%). Structures were predominately characterized as artificial (87%), with fewer hybrid or natural interventions. Evidence clusters existed for intentionally designed artificial structures and outcomes associated with coral-related ecological performance, including coral mortality, growth, recruitment, cover, and diversity. Pronounced evidence gaps occurred at the intersection of several ecological coral-related performance outcomes (e.g., connectivity, microbiome) across all types of built structures; gaps also existed across most ecological coral-related outcomes for artwork and repurposed artificial structures. Physical performance of built structures was most frequently evaluated for outcomes related to waves (n = 14) and sediment and morphology (n = 11) with pervasive evidence gaps across other outcomes like storm surge and water level. CONCLUSIONS While the systematic map highlighted several evidence clusters, it also revealed pronounced evidence gaps surrounding the coral-related ecological and physical performance of built structures in coral ecosystems. The compiled evidence base will help inform policy, management, and future consideration of built structures in reef-related applications, including habitat restoration, environmental mitigation, and coastal protection. Map findings also point to promising future research avenues, such as investigating seascape-scale ecological effects of and the physical performance of built structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Avery B Paxton
- National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 101 Pivers Island Road, Beaufort, NC, 28516, USA.
| | - Iris R Foxfoot
- U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, 3909 Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg, MS, 39180, USA
- UIC Government Services, 6564 Loisdale Ct #900, Springfield, VA, 22150, USA
| | - Christina Cutshaw
- National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 101 Pivers Island Road, Beaufort, NC, 28516, USA
- CSS-Inc, 10301 Democracy Lane, Suite 300, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA
| | - D'amy N Steward
- CSS-Inc, 10301 Democracy Lane, Suite 300, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA
| | - Leanne Poussard
- National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 101 Pivers Island Road, Beaufort, NC, 28516, USA
| | - Trevor N Riley
- Central Library, Office of Science Support, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1315 East‑West Highway, Silver Spring, MD, 20910, USA
| | - Todd M Swannack
- U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, 3909 Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg, MS, 39180, USA
| | - Candice D Piercy
- U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, 3909 Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg, MS, 39180, USA
| | - Safra Altman
- U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, 3909 Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg, MS, 39180, USA
| | - Brandon J Puckett
- National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 101 Pivers Island Road, Beaufort, NC, 28516, USA
| | - Curt D Storlazzi
- Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, 2885 Mission Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060, USA
| | - T Shay Viehman
- National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 101 Pivers Island Road, Beaufort, NC, 28516, USA
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Paxton AB, McGonigle C, Damour M, Holly G, Caporaso A, Campbell PB, Meyer-Kaiser KS, Hamdan LJ, Mires CH, Taylor JC. Shipwreck ecology: Understanding the function and processes from microbes to megafauna. Bioscience 2024; 74:12-24. [PMID: 38313562 PMCID: PMC10831220 DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biad084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Revised: 08/28/2023] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 02/06/2024] Open
Abstract
An estimated three million shipwrecks exist worldwide and are recognized as cultural resources and foci of archaeological investigations. Shipwrecks also support ecological resources by providing underwater habitats that can be colonized by diverse organisms ranging from microbes to megafauna. In the present article, we review the emerging ecological subdiscipline of shipwreck ecology, which aims to understand ecological functions and processes that occur on shipwrecks. We synthesize how shipwrecks create habitat for biota across multiple trophic levels and then describe how fundamental ecological functions and processes, including succession, zonation, connectivity, energy flow, disturbance, and habitat degradation, manifest on shipwrecks. We highlight future directions in shipwreck ecology that are ripe for exploration, placing a particular emphasis on how shipwrecks may serve as experimental networks to address long-standing ecological questions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Avery B Paxton
- National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Beaufort, North Carolina, United States
| | - Christopher McGonigle
- School of Geography and Environmental Science, Ulster University, Coleraine, Northern Ireland
| | - Melanie Damour
- Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
| | - Georgia Holly
- Edinburgh Marine Archaeology, School of History, Classics, and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Alicia Caporaso
- Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
| | - Peter B Campbell
- Cranfield Forensic Institute, Cranfield University, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham, England, United Kingdom
| | | | - Leila J Hamdan
- School of Ocean Science and Engineering, University of Southern Mississippi, Ocean Springs, Mississippi, United States
| | - Calvin H Mires
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, United States
| | - J Christopher Taylor
- National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Beaufort, North Carolina, United States
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Contingency planning for coral reefs in the Anthropocene; The potential of reef safe havens. Emerg Top Life Sci 2022; 6:107-124. [PMID: 35225326 DOI: 10.1042/etls20210232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2021] [Revised: 01/07/2022] [Accepted: 02/09/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Reducing the global reliance on fossil fuels is essential to ensure the long-term survival of coral reefs, but until this happens, alternative tools are required to safeguard their future. One emerging tool is to locate areas where corals are surviving well despite the changing climate. Such locations include refuges, refugia, hotspots of resilience, bright spots, contemporary near-pristine reefs, and hope spots that are collectively named reef 'safe havens' in this mini-review. Safe havens have intrinsic value for reefs through services such as environmental buffering, maintaining near-pristine reef conditions, or housing corals naturally adapted to future environmental conditions. Spatial and temporal variance in physicochemical conditions and exposure to stress however preclude certainty over the ubiquitous long-term capacity of reef safe havens to maintain protective service provision. To effectively integrate reef safe havens into proactive reef management and contingency planning for climate change scenarios, thus requires an understanding of their differences, potential values, and predispositions to stress. To this purpose, I provide a high-level review on the defining characteristics of different coral reef safe havens, how they are being utilised in proactive reef management and what risk and susceptibilities they inherently have. The mini-review concludes with an outline of the potential for reef safe haven habitats to support contingency planning of coral reefs under an uncertain future from intensifying climate change.
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Vega Thurber R, Mydlarz LD, Brandt M, Harvell D, Weil E, Raymundo L, Willis BL, Langevin S, Tracy AM, Littman R, Kemp KM, Dawkins P, Prager KC, Garren M, Lamb J. Deciphering Coral Disease Dynamics: Integrating Host, Microbiome, and the Changing Environment. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.575927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Diseases of tropical reef organisms is an intensive area of study, but despite significant advances in methodology and the global knowledge base, identifying the proximate causes of disease outbreaks remains difficult. The dynamics of infectious wildlife diseases are known to be influenced by shifting interactions among the host, pathogen, and other members of the microbiome, and a collective body of work clearly demonstrates that this is also the case for the main foundation species on reefs, corals. Yet, among wildlife, outbreaks of coral diseases stand out as being driven largely by a changing environment. These outbreaks contributed not only to significant losses of coral species but also to whole ecosystem regime shifts. Here we suggest that to better decipher the disease dynamics of corals, we must integrate more holistic and modern paradigms that consider multiple and variable interactions among the three major players in epizootics: the host, its associated microbiome, and the environment. In this perspective, we discuss how expanding the pathogen component of the classic host-pathogen-environment disease triad to incorporate shifts in the microbiome leading to dysbiosis provides a better model for understanding coral disease dynamics. We outline and discuss issues arising when evaluating each component of this trio and make suggestions for bridging gaps between them. We further suggest that to best tackle these challenges, researchers must adjust standard paradigms, like the classic one pathogen-one disease model, that, to date, have been ineffectual at uncovering many of the emergent properties of coral reef disease dynamics. Lastly, we make recommendations for ways forward in the fields of marine disease ecology and the future of coral reef conservation and restoration given these observations.
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van der Schyff V, du Preez M, Blom K, Kylin H, Kwet Yive NSC, Merven J, Raffin J, Bouwman H. Impacts of a shallow shipwreck on a coral reef: A case study from St. Brandon's Atoll, Mauritius, Indian Ocean. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2020; 156:104916. [PMID: 32174336 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.104916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2019] [Revised: 02/04/2020] [Accepted: 02/06/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Shallow shipwrecks, can have severe ecological and toxicological impacts on coral atolls. In 2012, a tuna longliner ran aground on the reef crest of St Brandon's Atoll, Mauritius, broke up into three pieces which was moved by currents and storms into the lagoon. In the months following the grounding, the coral around the wreck became dead and black. Down-current from the wreck, a dense bloom of filamentous algae (Ulva sp.) attached to coral occurred. To determine the ecological effects of the wreck on the system, the marine biota around the wreck, in the algal bloom, and fish reference zones were counted in 2014. Metal concentrations in reference and affected coral was determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP/MS). A pronounced difference was seen in the metal concentration pattern between coral from the wreck- and algal zones, and the coral reference zone. While the wreck zone contained the highest abundance of fish, the fish reference zone had the highest species diversity but with fewer fish. We also counted eleven Critically Endangered hawksbill sea turtles Eretmochelys imbricata and significantly more sea cucumbers in the algal zone than the reference zones. The effects of shipwrecks on coral reefs must be considered a threat over periods of years and should be studied further.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronica van der Schyff
- Research Unit: Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
| | - Marinus du Preez
- Research Unit: Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
| | - Karin Blom
- Research Unit: Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
| | - Henrik Kylin
- Research Unit: Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa; Department of Thematic Studies - Environmental Change, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | | | | | - Jovani Raffin
- Shoals Rodrigues, Marine Non-governmental Organisation, Rodrigues Island, Mauritius
| | - Hindrik Bouwman
- Research Unit: Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
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