In 1983–1984, the sea urchin Diadema antillarum suffered mass mortality throughout the
Caribbean, Florida, and Bermuda. The demise of this herbivore contributed to a phase shift …

Coral reefs are iconic, threatened ecosystems that have been in existence for∼ 500 million
years, yet their continued ecological persistence seems doubtful at present. Anthropogenic …

Echinoderms play a key role in structuring many marine ecosystems and are notorious for
large population density variations in so‐called “outbreak” or “dieoff” events. In a review of …

The decline of corals on tropical reefs is usually ascribed to a combination of natural and
anthropogenic factors, but the relative importance of these causes remains unclear. In this …

Coral reefs provide a number of ecosystem services including coastal defense from storms,
the generation of building materials, and fisheries. It is increasingly clear that the …

All coral reef organisms are susceptible to diseases, as are terrestrial organisms, but
studying these diseases can be more difficult and much remains to be learned. Although …

Caribbean coral reefs have changed dramatically in the last 3 to 4 decades, with significant
loss of coral cover and increases in algae. Here we present trends in benthic cover from …

In 1983, the dominant urchin of Caribbean coral reefs (Diadema antillarum) experienced
massive disease-induced mortality and its functional extinction persists to this day …

The decline and potential recovery of Caribbean reefs has been the subject of intense
discussion and is of great interest to reef ecologists and managers. The recent return of …

Regular sea urchins may be the single most important consumer affecting shallow marine
communities worldwide. Vast sea grass beds and kelp forests have been denuded by …