Dr. John Bruno, Marine Sciences Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Title:  Climate change and coral reef resilience: Are we expecting too much from marine reserves? 

Abstract

A variety of human activities have caused the recent global decline of reef-building corals.  The key drivers of coral mortality and loss are nearly all regional- to global-scale stressors including ocean warming and acidification and coral and predator disease outbreaks. Yet many scientists hope to mitigate these threats through local fisheries regulations, such as the implementation of Marine Protected Area (MPAs), designed to increase "reef resilience".  MPAs could in theory benefit corals by restoring coral reef food webs and more directly by preventing destructive fishing practices, anchor damage, and if they include a terrestrial component, by reducing run-off that leads to sedimentation and nutrient pollution.  The results of a series of field experiments, longitudinal studies, and meta-analyses indicate that the proximate mechanisms of reef decline are largely unaffected by fishing and food web dynamics and that MPAs can indeed reduce coral losses, but not in response to ocean warming.  Restoring corals and their role as foundation species will require a range of management actions, specifically directed at each of the known causes of coral population decline.