Ecological insights from environmental disturbances in mesophotic coral ecosystems

Hudson T. Pinheiro, Gal Eyal, Bart Shepherd, Luiz A. Rocha

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) have historically been considered more stable than shallow reefs and thus suggested to provide refuge to coral reef communities against natural and anthropogenic impacts. Despite this assumption, a growing body of literature has shown that deep reefs are not immune to natural disturbance. Here, based on our in situ observations, we propose that disturbance may actually represent an important mechanism for maintaining biodiversity in MCEs, as is the case for shallow reefs. Our observations suggest that disturbances can provide microhabitat and space necessary for the recruitment and occurrence of different species, increasing overall diversity. Since bioerosion rates are lower at depth, and most well-developed coral reefs on MCEs are formed by dense aggregations of a single or a few species, intermediate levels of disturbance could represent a critical driver of community structure balancing. Therefore, instead of long-term stability, intermediate disturbances should be expected on MCEs. However, high frequency and intensity of natural disturbances, or their association with anthropogenic stressors, might have stronger negative impacts on MCEs than on shallower reefs due to slower coral growth and calcification rates.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere02666
JournalEcosphere
Volume10
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Authors.

Funding

This work was funded through the generous support of donors who endorsed the California Academy of Sciences’ Hope for Reefs Initiative. GE has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 796025. We are grateful to the two anonymous reviewers and Pim Bongaerts for their constructive comments on the earlier version of the manuscript. We thank the support from Mauritius V. Bell, the Umbra and the Alucia crew, and the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences of Eilat (IUI). We also thank the organizers and participants of the Gordon Research Conference on meso-photic coral ecosystems, held in Lewiston in June 2018, for the opportunity of network and the interesting discussions and conversations. This work was funded through the generous support of donors who endorsed the California Academy of Sciences’ Hope for Reefs Initiative. GE has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 796025. We are grateful to the two anonymous reviewers and Pim Bongaerts for their constructive comments on the earlier version of the manuscript. We thank the support from Mauritius V. Bell, the Umbra and the Alucia crew, and the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences of Eilat (IUI). We also thank the organizers and participants of the Gordon Research Conference on mesophotic coral ecosystems, held in Lewiston in June 2018, for the opportunity of network and the interesting discussions and conversations.

FundersFunder number
European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program
IUI
Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences of Eilat
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions796025
Southern California Academy of Sciences
California Academy of Sciences

    Keywords

    • biodiversity
    • deep reefs
    • ecology
    • natural history
    • refuge
    • stability
    • technical diving

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