Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
Coral bleaching events threaten coral reef habitats globally and cause severe declines of local biodiversity and productivity.Related to high sea surface temperatures (SST), bleaching events are expected to increase as a consequenceof future global warming. However, response to climate change is still uncertain as future low-latitude climatic conditionshave no present-day analogue. Sea surface temperatures during the Eocene epoch were warmer than forecastedchanges for the coming century, and distributions of corals during the Eocene may help to inform models forecastingthe future of coral reefs. We coupled contemporary and Eocene coral occurrences with information on their respectiveclimatic conditions to model the thermal niche of coral reefs and its potential response to projected climate change.We found that under the RCP8.5 climate change scenario, the global suitability for coral reefs may increase up to 16%by 2100, mostly due to improved suitability of higher latitudes. In contrast, in its current range, coral reef suitabilitymay decrease up to 46% by 2100. Reduction in thermal suitability will be most severe in biodiversity hotspots, especiallyin the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Our results suggest that many contemporary hotspots for coral reefs,including those that have been refugia in the past, spatially mismatch with future suitable areas for coral reefs posingchallenges to conservation actions under climate change.
ISSN: 1354-1013

hal-01145464
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01145464
DOI : 10.1111/gcb.12868

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : International audience
Coral reefs are among the most species-rich and threatened ecosystems on Earth, yet the extent to which human stressors determine species occurrences, compared with biogeography or environmental conditions, remains largely unknown. With ever-increasing human-mediated disturbances on these ecosystems, an important question is not only how many species can inhabit local communities, but also which biological traits determine species that can persist (or not) above particular disturbance thresholds. Here we show that human pressure and seasonal climate variability are disproportionately and negatively associated with the occurrence of large-bodied and geographically small-ranging fishes within local coral reef communities. These species are 67% less likely to occur where human impact and temperature seasonality exceed critical thresholds, such as in the marine biodiversity hotspot: the Coral Triangle. Our results identify the most sensitive species and critical thresholds of human and climatic stressors, providing opportunity for targeted conservation intervention to prevent local extinctions.
ISSN: 2041-1723

hal-01282870
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01282870
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01282870/document
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01282870/file/ncomms10491.pdf
DOI : 10.1038/ncomms10491

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Coral reefs are increasingly being altered by a myriad of anthropogenic activities and natural disturbances. Long-term studies offer unique opportunities to understand how multiple and recurrent disturbances can influence coral reef resilience and long-term dynamics. While the long-term dynamics of coral assemblages have been extensively documented, the long-term dynamics of coral reef fish assemblages have received less attention. Here, we describe the changes in fish assemblages on Tiahura reef, Moorea, from 1979 to 2011. During this 33-yr period, Tiahura was exposed to multiple disturbances (crown-of-thorns seastar outbreaks and cyclones) that caused recurrent declines and recoveries of coral cover and changes in the dominant coral genera. These shifts in coral composition were associated with long-term cascading effects on fish assemblages. The composition and trophic structure of fish assemblages continuously shifted without returning to their initial composition, whereas fish species richness remained stable, albeit with a small increase over time. We detected nonlinear responses of fish density when corals were most degraded. When coral cover dropped below 10 % following a severe crown-of-thorns sea star outbreak, the density of most fish trophic groups sharply decreased. Our study shows that historical contingency may potentially be an important but largely underestimated factor explaining the contemporary structure of reef fish assemblages and suggests that temporal stability in their structure and function should not necessarily be the target of management strategies that aim at increasing or maintaining coral reef resilience.
ISSN: 0722-4028

hal-01282725
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01282725
DOI : 10.1007/s00338-015-1371-2

Éditeur(s) : Inter-research
Résumé : We propose a statistical approach based on multivariate analysis and general linear models to test the consequences of removal of reserve status from the Abore Reef fish assemblage of the Abore Reef reserve, New Caledonia. Consequences on fish density were examined at the level of fish assemblage, accounting for habitat. Fish counts and habitat-related information were collected before and after the removal of reserve status, both inside and outside the reserve. Species groups were constructed on the basis of additional information on behavioural characteristics and taxonomy. The impact of the removal of reserve status was assessed by using 2 habitat proxies corresponding to 2 spatial scales and by considering several criteria for grouping species. Habitat appeared to be a determining factor in explaining density variations. Significant positive effects were found for several species groups such as macrocarnivores, piscivores, herbivores, Lethrinidae and Siganidae. A counterintuitive negative effect was observed for Acanthuridae. No significant differences between the area which remained closed to fishing and the area open to fishing were found for the other species groups. The approach allows for a synoptic diagnosis of the impact of changes in reserve status at the fish assemblage level. It could be used to develop and select potential indicators for monitoring such impacts on fish assemblages in coral reef ecosystems and in other contexts.
Marine Ecology Progress Series (0171-8630) (Inter-research), 2005 , Vol. 292 , P. 271-286

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/10970/7574.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/10970/