Resilience underpins the sustainability of both ecological and social systems. Extensive loss
of reef corals following recent mass bleaching events have challenged the notion that …

This paper briefly reviews coral–algal phase shifts on coral reefs, with particular regard to
summarizing the exogenous and endogenous factors in support of a proposed conceptual …

Since the mass mortality of the urchin Diadema antillarum in 1983, parrotfishes have
become the dominant grazer on Caribbean reefs. The grazing capacity of these fishes could …

Ocean warming and acidification from increasing levels of atmospheric CO2 represent major
global threats to coral reefs, and are in many regions exacerbated by local‐scale …

Declines in coral cover are generally associated with increases in the abundance of fleshy
algae. In many cases, it remains unclear whether algae are responsible, directly or …

Macroalgae, hard corals, octocorals, and fish were surveyed on 10 to 13 inshore coral reefs
of the Great Barrier Reef, along a water quality gradient in two regions with contrasting …

Coral reefs are in dramatic global decline, with seaweeds commonly replacing corals. It is
unclear, however, whether seaweeds harm corals directly or colonize opportunistically …

Pervasive overharvesting of consumers and anthropogenic nutrient loading are changing
the strengths of top‐down and bottom‐up forces in ecosystems worldwide. Thus, identifying …

Coral reefs provide critical services to coastal communities, and these services rely on
ecosystem functions threatened by stressors. By summarizing the threats to the functioning …

Herbivory is a key process on coral reefs that can facilitate reef-building corals by excluding
algae that otherwise negatively impact coral settlement, growth, and survivorship. Over the …