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 language | English |
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Article number | e02666 |
Journal | Ecosphere |
Volume | 10 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 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.
Funders | Funder number |
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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 Actions | 796025 |
Southern California Academy of Sciences | |
California Academy of Sciences |
Keywords
- biodiversity
- deep reefs
- ecology
- natural history
- refuge
- stability
- technical diving