45. Davies, SW; Putnam, HM; Ainsworth, T; Baum, JK; Bove, CB; Crosby, SC; Côté, IM; Duplouy, A; Fulweiler, RW; Griffin, AJ; Hanley, TC; Hill, T; Humanes, A; Mangubhai, S; Metaxas, A; Parker, LM; Rivera, HE; Silbiger, NJ; Smith, NS; Spalding, AK; Traylor-Knowles, N; Weigel, BL; Wright, RM; Bates, AE. (2021) Promoting inclusive metrics of success and impact to dismantle a discriminatory reward system in science.PLoS. Biol. 19 Promoting inclusive metrics of success and impact to dismantle a discriminatory reward system in science
Success and impact metrics in science are based on a system that perpetuates sexist and racist "rewards" by prioritizing citations and impact factors. These metrics are flawed and biased against already marginalized groups and fail to accurately capture the breadth of individuals' meaningful scientific impacts. We advocate shifting this outdated value system to advance science through principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. We outline pathways for a paradigm shift in scientific values based on multidimensional mentorship and promoting mentee well-being. These actions will require collective efforts supported by academic leaders and administrators to drive essential systemic change. DOI PubMed
44. Dunic, JC; Brown, CJ; Connolly, R; Turschwell, MP; Côté, IM. (2021) Long-term declines and recovery of meadow area across the world's seagrass bioregions.Glob. Change Biol. 27: 4096-4109 Long-term declines and recovery of meadow area across the world's seagrass bioregions
attribution; coastal ecosystems; global change; meta-analysis; reconstruction; seagrass; time series
As human impacts increase in coastal regions, there is concern that critical habitats that provide the foundation of entire ecosystems are in decline. Seagrass meadows face growing threats such as poor water quality and coastal development. To determine the status of seagrass meadows over time, we reconstructed time series of meadow area from 175 studies that surveyed 547 sites around the world. We found an overall trajectory of decline in all seven bioregions with a global net loss of 5602 km(2) (19.1% of surveyed meadow area) occurring since 1880. Declines have typically been non-linear, with rapid and historical losses observed in several bioregions. The greatest net losses of area occurred in four bioregions (Tropical Atlantic, Temperate North Atlantic East, Temperate Southern Oceans and Tropical Indo-Pacific), with declining trends being the slowest and most consistent in the latter two bioregions. In some bioregions, trends have recently stabilised or reversed. Losses, however, still outweigh gains. Despite consistent global declines, meadows show high variability in trajectories, within and across bioregions, highlighting the importance of local context. Studies identified 12 different drivers of meadow area change, with coastal development and water quality as the most commonly cited. Overall, however, attributions were primarily descriptive and only 10% of studies used inferential attributions. Although ours is the most comprehensive dataset to date, it still represents only one-tenth of known global seagrass extent, with conspicuous historical and geographic biases in sampling. It therefore remains unclear whether the bioregional patterns of change documented here reflect changes in the world's unmonitored seagrass meadows. The variability in seagrass meadow trajectories, and the attribution of change to numerous drivers, suggest we urgently need to improve understanding of the causes of seagrass meadow loss if we are to improve local-scale management. DOI PubMed
43. McRae, CJ; Huang, WB; Fan, TY; Côté, IM. (2021) Effects of thermal conditioning on the performance of Pocillopora acuta adult coral colonies and their offspring.Coral Reefs 40: 1491-1503 Effects of thermal conditioning on the performance of <i>Pocillopora acuta</i> adult coral colonies and their offspring
Thermal pre-conditioning; Acclimation; Resilience; Climate change; Taiwan
Ocean warming induced by climate change is the greatest threat to the persistence of coral reefs globally. Given the current rate of ocean warming, there may not be sufficient time for natural acclimation or adaptation by corals. This urgency has led to the exploration of active management techniques aimed at enhancing thermal tolerance in corals. Here, we test the capacity for transgenerational acclimation in the reef-building coral <i>Pocillopora acuta</i> as a means of increasing offspring performance in warmer waters. We exposed coral colonies from a reef influenced by intermittent upwelling and constant warm-water effluent from a nuclear power plant to temperatures that matched (26 degrees C) or exceeded (29.5 degrees C) season-specific mean temperatures for three reproductive cycles; offspring were allowed to settle and grow at both temperatures. Heated colonies reproduced significantly earlier in the lunar cycle and produced fewer and smaller planulae. Recruitment was lower at the heated recruitment temperature regardless of parent treatment. Recruit survival did not differ based on parent or recruitment temperature. Recruits from heated parents were smaller and had lower maximum quantum yield (Fv/Fm), a measurement of symbiont photochemical performance. We found no direct evidence that thermal conditioning of adult P. acuta corals improves offspring performance in warmer water; however, chronic exposure of parent colonies to warmer temperatures at the source reef site may have limited transgenerational acclimation capacity. The extent to which coral response to this active management approach might vary across species and sites remains unclear and merits further investigation. DOI PubMed
42. Smith, NS; Côté, IM. (2021) Biotic resistance on coral reefs? Direct and indirect effects of native predators and competitors on invasive lionfish.Coral Reefs 40: 1127-1136 Biotic resistance on coral reefs? Direct and indirect effects of native predators and competitors on invasive lionfish
Competition; Consumptive effects; Groupers; Non-consumptive effects; Invasive species control
Biotic resistance is the ability of an ecological community to prevent or limit the establishment or success of non-indigenous species. Native species can confer resistance by outcompeting or directly consuming non-native invaders. The fear of being eaten could also limit invader success, but non-consumptive effects of native predators have rarely been documented as a source of biotic resistance. Here, we test whether native groupers on Caribbean coral reefs can promote biotic resistance to invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish through competition, consumption, and/or through non-consumptive effects. Stomach content analysis of more than 200 groupers, comprising five species, revealed no instances of predation on lionfish. To test for competitive and non-consumptive effects of groupers, we released tagged juvenile lionfish onto reef patches that varied in grouper densities and monitored lionfish behaviours over five weeks. At dawn, during peak grouper and lionfish hunting times, juvenile lionfish hid more on reefs with more grouper predators. Juvenile lionfish were also less active during the day on reefs with high grouper densities. Hiding and inactivity are incompatible with foraging and thus should result in lionfish eating fewer prey and having reduced somatic growth rates. Although there was no substantial effect of interspecific competition on lionfish behaviours, we found that lionfish swam greater distances with increasing densities of intraspecific competitors at dawn. We did not detect a cascading effect of grouper predators on smaller fishes, perhaps because the seasonal peak in prey fish recruitment masked the effects of lower lionfish predation. Fear of native predators by lionfish has the potential to reduce invader foraging success, although it might not fully mitigate the negative effects on native prey communities. Efforts to rebuild grouper populations throughout the Caribbean may still aid in controlling the lionfish invasion despite weak evidence of interspecific competition and lack of direct predation on lionfish, but further research is needed. At broader scales, our findings highlight that the global depletion of large predators can have implications beyond demographic effects on prey. DOI
41. Watkins, HV; Yan, HF; Dunic, JC; Côté, IM. (2021) Research biases create overrepresented "poster children" of marine invasion ecology.Conserv. Lett. 14 Research biases create overrepresented "poster children" of marine invasion ecology
biological invasions; biotic introductions; introduced marine animals; invasion ecology; systematic review; taxonomic bias
Nonnative marine species are increasingly recognized as a threat to the world's oceans, yet are poorly understood relative to their terrestrial and freshwater counterparts. Here, we conducted a systematic review of 2,203 research articles on nonnative marine animals to determine whether the current literature reflects the known diversity of marine invaders, how much we know about these species, and how frequently their impacts are measured. We found that only 39% of nonnative animals listed in the World Register of Introduced Marine Species appeared in the peer-reviewed English literature. Of those, fewer than half were the subject of more than one study. There is currently little focus on the consequences of marine introductions: only 9.9% of studies quantified the impact of nonnative species. Finally, our knowledge of nonnative marine species is heavily limited by strong taxonomic biases consistent across all phyla, resulting in one or two disproportionately well-studied representatives for each phylum, which we refer to as the "poster children" of invasion. These gaps in the literature make it difficult to effectively triage the most detrimental invasive species for management and illustrate the challenges in achieving the global biodiversity goals of preventing and managing the introduction and establishment of invasive species. DOI
39. Côté, IM; Mills, SC. (2020) Degrees of honesty: cleaning by the redlip cleaner wrasse Labroides rubrolabiatus.Coral Reefs 39: 1693-1701 Degrees of honesty: cleaning by the redlip cleaner wrasse <i>Labroides rubrolabiatus</i>
Cleaning symbiosis; Mutualism; Interspecific interactions; Cleanerfish; Coral reefs
Cleaning symbioses among coral reef fishes are highly variable. Cleanerfishes vary in how much they cooperate with (i.e. remove only ectoparasites) or cheat (i.e. bite healthy tissue, scales or mucus) on their fish clients. As a result, clients use various strategies to enforce cooperation by cleaners (e.g. punishment or partner choice), and cleaners use tactile stimulation to manipulate cheated client behaviour. We provide the first detailed observations of cleaning behaviour of the redlip cleaner wrasse <i>Labroides rubrolabiatus</i> and ask where interactions with this cleanerfish lie on the continuum of cleanerfish honesty, client control, and cleanerfish manipulation. Ninety per cent of redlip cleaner wrasses took jolt-inducing cheating bites from their clients, but they did so at a very low rate (similar to 2 jolts per 100 s inspection). Retaliatory chases by clients were uncommon. Three-quarters (30 of 40) of cleaner wrasses used tactile stimulation on their clients, but rarely did so to reconcile with cheated clients. Instead, the majority (70%) of tactile stimulation events targeted a passing client that then stopped for inspection. The relationship between redlip cleaner wrasses and their clients appears to be less conflictual than those documented in otherLabroidescleanerfishes. Future studies should test whether this low level of conflict is consistent across space and time and is underpinned by a preference for ectoparasites over other client-gleaned items. As an active cleaner that appears to take few cheating bites from their clients,L. rubrolabiatushas the potential to be as important a driver of fish health and community structure on coral reefs as its better-known relatives. DOI
38. Precht, WF; Aronson, RB; Gardner, TA; Gill, JA; Hawkins, JP; Hernandez-Delgado, EA; Jaap, WC; McClanahan, TR; McField, MD; Murdoch, TJT; Nugues, MM; Roberts, CM; Schelten, CK; Watkinson, AR; Côté, IM. (2020) The timing and causality of ecological shifts on Caribbean reefs.Adv. Mar. Biol. 87: 331-360 The timing and causality of ecological shifts on Caribbean reefs
Caribbean reefs have experienced unprecedented changes in the past four decades. Of great concern is the perceived widespread shift from coral to macroalgal dominance and the question of whether it represents a new, stable equilibrium for coral-reef communities. The primary causes of the shift-grazing pressure (top-down), nutrient loading (bottom-up) or direct coral mortality (side-in)-still remain somewhat controversial in the coral-reef literature. We have attempted to tease out the relative importance of each of these causes. Four insights emerge from our analysis of an early regional dataset of information on the benthic composition of Caribbean reefs spanning the years 1977-2001. First, although three-quarters of reef sites have experienced coral declines concomitant with macroalgal increases, fewer than 10% of the more than 200 sites studied were dominated by macroalgae in 2001, by even the most conservative definition of dominance. Using relative dominance as the threshold, a total of 49 coral-to-macroalgae shifts were detected. This total represents similar to 35% of all sites that were dominated by coral at the start of their monitoring periods. Four shifts (8.2%) occurred because of coral loss with no change in macroalgal cover, 15 (30.6%) occurred because of macroalgal gain without coral loss, and 30 (61.2%) occurred owing to concomitant coral decline and macroalgal increase. Second, the timing of shifts at the regional scale is most consistent with the side-in model of reef degradation, which invokes coral mortality as a precursor to macroalgal takeover, because more shifts occurred after regional coral-mortality events than expected by chance. Third, instantaneous observations taken at the start and end of the time-series for individual sites showed these reefs existed along a continuum of coral and macroalgal cover. The continuous, broadly negative relationship between coral and macroalgal cover suggests that in some cases coral-to-macroalgae phase shifts may be reversed by removing sources of perturbation or restoring critical components such as the herbivorous sea urchin Diadema antillarum to the system. The five instances in which macroalgal dominance was reversed corroborate the conclusion that macroalgal dominance is not a stable, alternative community state as has been commonly assumed. Fourth, the fact that the loss in regional coral cover and concomitant changes to the benthic community are related to punctuated, discrete events with known causes (i.e. coral disease and bleaching), lends credence to the hypothesis that coral reefs of the Caribbean have been under assault from climate-change-related maladies since the 1970s. DOI PubMed
37. Brandl, SJ; Tornabene, L; Goatley, CHR; Casey, JM; Morais, RA; Côté, IM; Baldwin, CC; Parravicini, V; Schiettekatte, NMD; Bellwood, DR. (2019) Demographic dynamics of the smallest marine vertebrates fuel coral reef ecosystem functioning.Science 364: 1189 Demographic dynamics of the smallest marine vertebrates fuel coral reef ecosystem functioning
How coral reefs survive as oases of life in low-productivity oceans has puzzled scientists for centuries. The answer may lie in internal nutrient cycling and/or input from the pelagic zone. Integrating meta-analysis, field data, and population modeling, we show that the ocean's smallest vertebrates, cryptobenthic reef fishes, promote internal reef fish biomass production through extensive larval supply from the pelagic environment. Specifically, cryptobenthics account for two-thirds of reef fish larvae in the near-reef pelagic zone despite limited adult reproductive outputs. This overwhelming abundance of cryptobenthic larvae fuels reef trophodynamics via rapid growth and extreme mortality, producing almost 60% of consumed reef fish biomass. Although cryptobenthics are often overlooked, their distinctive demographic dynamics may make them a cornerstone of ecosystem functioning on modern coral reefs. DOI PubMed
36. Bruno, JF; Côté, IM; Toth, LT. (2019) Climate Change, Coral Loss, and the Curious Case of the Parrotfish Paradigm: Why Don't Marine Protected Areas Improve Reef Resilience?Annual Review of Marine Science 11 Climate Change, Coral Loss, and the Curious Case of the Parrotfish Paradigm: Why Don't Marine Protected Areas Improve Reef Resilience?
coral reef; disturbance; parrotfish; resilience; resistance; climate change
Scientists have advocated for local interventions, such as creating marine protected areas and implementing fishery restrictions, as ways to mitigate local stressors to limit the effects of climate change on reef-building corals. However, in a literature review, we find little empirical support for the notion of managed resilience. We outline some reasons for why marine protected areas and the protection of herbivorous fish (especially parrotfish) have had little effect on coral resilience. One key explanation is that the impacts of local stressors (e.g., pollution and fishing) are often swamped by the much greater effect of ocean warming on corals. Another is the sheer complexity (including numerous context dependencies) of the five cascading links assumed by the managed-resilience hypothesis. If reefs cannot be saved by local actions alone, then it is time to face reef degradation head-on, by directly addressing anthropogenic climate change-the root cause of global coral decline. DOI PubMed
35. Smith, NS; Côté, IM. (2019) Multiple drivers of contrasting diversity-invasibility relationships at fine spatial grains.Ecology 100 Multiple drivers of contrasting diversity-invasibility relationships at fine spatial grains
biotic resistance; diversity-invasibility hypothesis; invasibility metrics; invasion paradox; invasion susceptibility; meta-analysis; spatial scale; systematic review
The diversity-invasibility hypothesis and ecological theory predict that high-diversity communities should be less easily invaded than species-poor communities, but empirical evidence does not consistently support this prediction. While fine-scale experiments tend to yield the predicted negative association between diversity and invasibility, broad-scale observational surveys generally report a positive correlation. This conflicting pattern between experiments and observational studies is referred to as the invasion paradox and is thought to arise because different processes control species composition at different spatial scales. Here, we test empirically the extent to which the strength and direction of published diversity-invasibility relationships depend on spatial scale and on the metrics used to measure invasibility. Using a meta-analytic framework, we explicitly separate the two components of spatial scale: grain and extent, by focusing on fine-grain studies that vary in extent. We find evidence of multiple drivers of the paradox. When we consider only fine-grain studies, we still observe conflicting patterns between experiments and observational studies. In contrast, when we examine studies that are conducted at both a fine grain and fine extent, there is broad overlap in effect sizes between experiments and observation, suggesting that comparing studies with similar extents resolves the paradox at local scales. However, we uncover systematic differences in the metrics used to measure invasibility between experiments, which use predominantly invader performance, and observational studies, which use mainly invader richness. When we consider studies with the same metric (i.e., invader performance), the contrasting associations between study types also disappear. It is not possible, at present, to fully disentangle the effect of spatial extent and metric on the paradox because both variables are systematically associated in different directions with study type. There is therefore an urgent need to conduct experiments and observational studies that incorporate the full range of variability in spatial extent and invasibility metric. DOI PubMed
33. D'Aloia, CC; Daigle, RM; Côté, IM; Curtis, JMR; Guichard, F; Fortin, MJ. (2017) A multiple-species framework for integrating movement processes across life stages into the design of marine protected areas.Biol. Conserv. 216: 93-100 A multiple-species framework for integrating movement processes across life stages into the design of marine protected areas
Pelagic larval duration; Home range; Marxan; MPA; Movement; Larval dispersal
A major objective of marine protected area (MPA) network design is to ensure the persistence of species with diverse life histories and functional traits. Considering how species differ in their propensity to move within and between MPAs is therefore a key consideration for multi-species MPA network design. Here, we propose a conceptual framework to incorporate ecological processes that affect movement at multiple life stages into the MPA network design process. We illustrate how our framework can be implemented using a set of hypothetical species that represent regional trait diversity in coastal British Columbia, Canada. We focused on two ecological processes: (1) dispersal during the larval phase and (2) daily home range movement during the adult phase. To identify functional connectivity patterns, we used a biophysical model to simulate larval dispersal, and then prioritized highly-connected patches using a reserve selection algorithm. To ensure that individual reserves were commensurate with home ranges, we also imposed reserve size constraints. Candidate areas for protection were identified based on multi-species connectivity patterns and home range size constraints. Collectively, this conceptual framework offers a flexible approach to multi-species, cross-life stage conservation planning, which can be further adapted to address complex life histories. As marine conservation efforts around the globe aim to design ecologically connected networks of protected areas, the integration of movement and connectivity data throughout ontogeny will be a key component of effective multi-species MPA network design. DOI
32. Daigle, RM; Archambault, P; Halpern, BS; Lowndes, JSS; Côté, IM. (2017) Incorporating public priorities in the Ocean Health Index: Canada as a case study.PLoS One 12 Incorporating public priorities in the Ocean Health Index: Canada as a case study
The Ocean Health Index (OHI) is a framework to assess ocean health by considering many benefits (called 'goals') provided by the ocean provides to humans, such as food provision, tourism opportunities, and coastal protection. The OHI framework can be used to assess marine areas at global or regional scales, but how various OHI goals should be weighted to reflect priorities at those scales remains unclear. In this study, we adapted the framework in two ways for application to Canada as a case study. First, we customized the OHI goals to create a national Canadian Ocean Health Index (COHI). In particular, we altered the list of iconic species assessed, added methane clathrates and subsea permafrost as carbon storage habitats, and developed a new goal, 'Aboriginal Needs', to measure access of Aboriginal people to traditional marine hunting and fishing grounds. Second, we evaluated various goal weighting schemes based on preferences elicited from the general public in online surveys. We quantified these public preferences in three ways: using Likert scores, simple ranks from a best-worst choice experiment, and model coefficients from the analysis of elicited choice experiment. The latter provided the clearest statistical discrimination among goals, and we recommend their use because they can more accurately reflect both public opinion and the trade-offs faced by policy-makers. This initial iteration of the COHI can be used as a baseline against which future COHI scores can be compared, and could potentially be used as a management tool to prioritise actions on a national scale and predict public support for these actions given that the goal weights are based on public priorities. DOI
31. Sutherland, WJ; Barnard, P; Broad, S; Clout, M; Connor, B; Côté, IM; Dicks, LV; Doran, H; Entwistle, AC; Fleishman, E; Fox, M; Gaston, KJ; Gibbons, DW; Jiang, Z; Keim, B; Lickorish, FA; Markillie, P; Monk, KA; Pearce-Higgins, JW; Peck, LS; Pretty, J; Spalding, MD; Tonneijck, FH; Wintle, BC; Ockendon, N. (2017) A 2017 Horizon Scan of Emerging Issues for Global Conservation and Biological Diversity.Trends in Ecology & Evolution 32: 31-40 A 2017 Horizon Scan of Emerging Issues for Global Conservation and Biological Diversity
We present the results of our eighth annual horizon scan of emerging issues likely to affect global biological diversity, the environment, and conservation efforts in the future. The potential effects of these novel issues might not yet be fully recognized or understood by the global conservation community, and the issues can be regarded as both opportunities and risks. A diverse international team with collective expertise in horizon scanning, science communication, and conservation research, practice, and policy reviewed 100 potential issues and identified 15 that qualified as emerging, with potential substantial global effects. These issues include new developments in energy storage and fuel production, sand extraction, potential solutions to combat coral bleaching and invasive marine species, and blockchain technology. DOI
30. Begin, C; Schelten, CK; Nugues, MM; Hawkins, J; Roberts, C; Côté, IM. (2016) Effects of Protection and Sediment Stress on Coral Reefs in Saint Lucia.PLoS One 11 Effects of Protection and Sediment Stress on Coral Reefs in Saint Lucia
The extent to which Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) benefit corals is contentious. On one hand, MPAs could enhance coral growth and survival through increases in herbivory within their borders; on the other, they are unlikely to prevent disturbances, such as terrestrial runoff, that originate outside their boundaries. We examined the effect of spatial protection and terrestrial sediment on the benthic composition of coral reefs in Saint Lucia. In 2011 (10 to 16 years after MPAs were created), we resurveyed 21 reefs that had been surveyed in 2001 and analyzed current benthic assemblages as well as changes in benthic cover over that decade in relation to protection status, terrestrial sediment influence (measured as the proportion of terrigenous material in reef-associated sediment) and depth. The cover of all benthic biotic components has changed significantly over the decade, including a decline in coral and increase in macroalgae. Protection status was not a significant predictor of either current benthic composition or changes in composition, but current cover and change in cover of several components were related to terrigenous content of sediment deposited recently. Sites with a higher proportion of terrigenous sediment had lower current coral cover, higher macroalgal cover and greater coral declines. Our results suggest that terrestrial sediment is an important factor in the recent degradation of coral reefs in Saint Lucia and that the current MPA network should be complemented by measures to reduce runoff from land. DOI
29. Côté, IM; Darling, ES; Brown, CJ. (2016) Interactions among ecosystem stressors and their importance in conservation.Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 283 Interactions among ecosystem stressors and their importance in conservation
ecological surprises; non-additive effects; global change; ecological experiments
Interactions between multiple ecosystem stressors are expected to jeopardize biological processes, functions and biodiversity. The scientific community has declared stressor interactions-notably synergies-a key issue for conservation and management. Here, we review ecological literature over the past four decades to evaluate trends in the reporting of ecological interactions (synergies, antagonisms and additive effects) and highlight the implications and importance to conservation. Despite increasing popularity, and ever-finer terminologies, we find that synergies are (still) not the most prevalent type of interaction, and that conservation practitioners need to appreciate and manage for all interaction outcomes, including antagonistic and additive effects. However, it will not be possible to identify the effect of every interaction on every organism's physiology and every ecosystem function because the number of stressors, and their potential interactions, are growing rapidly. Predicting the type of interactions may be possible in the near-future, using meta-analyses, conservation-oriented experiments and adaptive monitoring. Pending a general framework for predicting interactions, conservation management should enact interventions that are robust to uncertainty in interaction type and that continue to bolster biological resilience in a stressful world. DOI
28. Alvarez-Filip, L; Paddack, MJ; Ben Collen; Robertson, DR; Côté, IM. (2015) Simplification of Caribbean Reef-Fish Assemblages over Decades of Coral Reef Degradation.PLoS One 10 Simplification of Caribbean Reef-Fish Assemblages over Decades of Coral Reef Degradation
Caribbean coral reefs are becoming structurally simpler, largely due to human impacts. The consequences of this trend for reef-associated communities are currently unclear, but expected to be profound. Here, we assess whether changes in fish assemblages have been non-random over several decades of declining reef structure. More specifically, we predicted that species that depend exclusively on coral reef habitat (i.e., habitat specialists) should be at a disadvantage compared to those that use a broader array of habitats (i.e., habitat generalists). Analysing 3727 abundance trends of 161 Caribbean reef-fishes, surveyed between 1980 and 2006, we found that the trends of habitat-generalists and habitat-specialists differed markedly. The abundance of specialists started to decline in the mid-1980s, reaching a low of similar to 60% of the 1980 baseline by the mid-1990s. Both the average and the variation in abundance of specialists have increased since the early 2000s, although the average is still well below the baseline level of 1980. This modest recovery occurred despite no clear evidence of a regional recovery in coral reef habitat quality in the Caribbean during the 2000s. In contrast, the abundance of generalist fishes remained relatively stable over the same three decades. Few specialist species are fished, thus their population declines are most likely linked to habitat degradation. These results mirror the observed trends of replacement of specialists by generalists, observed in terrestrial taxa across the globe. A significant challenge that arises from our findings is now to investigate if, and how, such community-level changes in fish populations affect ecosystem function. DOI PubMed
26. Tamburello, N; Côté, IM; Dulvy, NK. (2015) Energy and the Scaling of Animal Space Use.American Naturalist 186: 196-211 Energy and the Scaling of Animal Space Use
allometry; home range; metabolic theory; prey handling; prey size; spatial ecology
Daily animal movements are usually limited to a discrete home range area that scales allometrically with body size, suggesting that home-range size is shaped by metabolic rates and energy availability across species. However, there is little understanding of the relative importance of the various mechanisms proposed to influence home-range scaling (e.g., differences in realm productivity, thermoregulation, locomotion strategy, dimensionality, trophic guild, and prey size) and whether these extend beyond the commonly studied birds and mammals. We derive new home-range scaling relationships for fishes and reptiles and use a model-selection approach to evaluate the generality of home-range scaling mechanisms across 569 vertebrate species. We find no evidence that home-range allometry varies consistently between aquatic and terrestrial realms or thermoregulation strategies, but we find that locomotion strategy, foraging dimension, trophic guild, and prey size together explain 80% of the variation in home-range size across vertebrates when controlling for phylogeny and tracking method. Within carnivores, smaller relative prey size among gape-limited fishes contributes to shallower scaling relative to other predators. Our study reveals how simple morphological traits and prey-handling ability can profoundly influence individual space use, which underpins broader-scale patterns in the spatial ecology of vertebrates. DOI
25. Green, SJ; Dulvy, NK; Brooks, AML; Akins, JL; Cooper, AB; Miller, S; Côté, IM. (2014) Linking removal targets to the ecological effects of invaders: a predictive model and field test.Ecological Applications 24: 1311-1322 Linking removal targets to the ecological effects of invaders: a predictive model and field test
ecological model; eradication; exotic species; lionfish; marine management; metabolic scaling theory; population control; predation; productivity; Pterois miles; Pterois volitans; size-based analysis
Species invasions have a range of negative effects on recipient ecosystems, and many occur at a scale and magnitude that preclude complete eradication. When complete extirpation is unlikely with available management resources, an effective strategy may be to suppress invasive populations below levels predicted to cause undesirable ecological change. We illustrated this approach by developing and testing targets for the control of invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans and P. miles) on Western Atlantic coral reefs. We first developed a size-structured simulation model of predation by lionfish on native fish communities, which we used to predict threshold densities of lionfish beyond which native fish biomass should decline. We then tested our predictions by experimentally manipulating lionfish densities above or below reef-specific thresholds, and monitoring the consequences for native fish populations on 24 Bahamian patch reefs over 18 months. We found that reducing lionfish below predicted threshold densities effectively protected native fish community biomass from predation-induced declines. Reductions in density of 25-92%, depending on the reef, were required to suppress lionfish below levels predicted to overconsume prey. On reefs where lionfish were kept below threshold densities, native prey fish biomass increased by 50-70%. Gains in small (<6 cm) size classes of native fishes translated into lagged increases in larger size classes over time. The biomass of larger individuals (>15 cm total length), including ecologically important grazers and economically important fisheries species, had increased by 10-65% by the end of the experiment. Crucially, similar gains in prey fish biomass were realized on reefs subjected to partial and full removal of lionfish, but partial removals took 30% less time to implement. By contrast, the biomass of small native fishes declined by >50% on all reefs with lionfish densities exceeding reef-specific thresholds. Large inter-reef variation in the biomass of prey fishes at the outset of the study, which influences the threshold density of lionfish, means that we could not identify a single rule of thumb for guiding control efforts. However, our model provides a method for setting reef-specific targets for population control using local monitoring data. Our work is the first to demonstrate that for ongoing invasions, suppressing invaders below densities that cause environmental harm can have a similar effect, in terms of protecting the native ecosystem on a local scale, to achieving complete eradication. DOI PubMed
24. Côté, IM. (2013) Inadvertent consequences of fishing: the case of the sex-changing shrimp.Journal of Animal Ecology 82: 495-497 Inadvertent consequences of fishing: the case of the sex-changing shrimp
SELECTIVE HARVEST; CONSERVATION; POPULATIONS; CASCADES; DYNAMICS; ANIMALS; GROWTH; SIZE
The Hokkai shrimp Pandalus latirostris starts life as a male, but eventually turns into a female given the right size and social conditions. The traps used in the fishery targeting this species selectively retain the larger females, leaving a severely male-biased sex ratio in nature and social conditions that bear no resemblance to those that prompted (or prevented) sex change. Photo: Susumu Chiba Chiba, S., Yoshino, K., Kanaiwa, M., Kawajiri, T. & Goshima, S. (2013) Maladaptive sex ratio adjustment by a sex-changing shrimp in selective fishing environments. Journal of Animal Ecology, 82, 631640. Fishing can have many unintended consequences. In this issue, Chiba etal. () demonstrate that size-selective harvesting of a sex-changing shrimp effectively voids their normally adaptive adjustments to population sex ratio. The shrimp's decision' to change sex depends largely on the relative abundance of mature males and females in early summer, before fishing begins. However, fishing traps selectively retain females, leading to heavily male-biased sex ratios at the onset of autumn breeding that are different from the ratios that influenced sex-change decisions. Although this phenomenon is not yet expressed in catch trends, maladaptive sex-change decisions could ultimately affect population productivity and persistence. DOI
23. Côté, IM; Green, SJ; Hixon, MA. (2013) Predatory fish invaders: Insights from Indo-Pacific lionfish in the western Atlantic and Caribbean.Biological Conservation 164: 50-61 Predatory fish invaders: Insights from Indo-Pacific lionfish in the western Atlantic and Caribbean
The invasion of western Atlantic marine habitats by two predatory Indo-Pacific lionfish, Pterois volitans and P. miles, has recently unfolded at an unprecedented rate, with ecological consequences anticipated to be largely negative. We take stock of recently accumulated knowledge about lionfish ecology and behaviour and examine how this information is contributing to our general understanding of the patterns and processes underpinning marine predator invasions, and to the specific issue of lionfish management. Lionfish were first reported off Florida in 1985. Since their establishment in The Bahamas in 2004, they have colonised 7.3 million km(2) of the western Atlantic and Caribbean region, and populations have grown exponentially at many locations. These dramatic increases potentially result from a combination of life-history characteristics of lionfish, including early maturation, early reproduction, anti-predatory defenses, unique predatory behaviour, and ecological versatility, as well as features of the recipient communities, including prey naivete, weak competitors, and native predators that are overfished and naive to lionfish. Lionfish have reduced the abundance of small native reef fishes by up to 95% at some invaded sites. Population models predict that culling can reduce lionfish abundance substantially, but removal rates must be high. Robust empirical estimates of the cost-effectiveness and effects of removal strategies are urgently needed because lionfish management will require a long-term, labour-intensive effort that may be possible only at local scales. The ultimate causes of the invasion were inadequate trade legislation and poor public awareness of the effects of exotic species on marine ecosystems. The lionfish invasion highlights the need for prevention, early detection, and rapid response to marine invaders. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. DOI
22. Darling, ES; McClanahan, TR; Côté, IM. (2013) Life histories predict coral community disassembly under multiple stressors.Global Change Biology 19: 1930-1940 Life histories predict coral community disassembly under multiple stressors
MARINE PROTECTED AREAS; WESTERN INDIAN-OCEAN; REGION-WIDE DECLINES; CLIMATE-CHANGE; REEF CORALS; TEMPERATURE-VARIATION; GLOBAL ANALYSIS; KENYAN REEFS; COLONY SIZE; ECOSYSTEMS
Climate change is reshaping biological communities against a background of existing human pressure. Evaluating the impacts of multiple stressors on community dynamics can be particularly challenging in species-rich ecosystems, such as coral reefs. Here, we investigate whether life-history strategies and cotolerance to different stressors can predict community responses to fishing and temperature-driven bleaching using a 20-year time series of coral assemblages in Kenya. We found that the initial life-history composition of coral taxa largely determined the impacts of bleaching and coral loss. Prior to the 1998 bleaching event, coral assemblages within no-take marine reserves were composed of three distinct life histories competitive, stress-tolerant and weedy and exhibited strong declines following bleaching with limited subsequent recovery. In contrast, fished reefs had lower coral cover, fewer genera and were composed of stress-tolerant and weedy corals that were less affected by bleaching over the long term. Despite these general patterns, we found limited evidence for cotolerance as coral genera and life histories were variable in their sensitivities to fishing and bleaching. Overall, fishing and bleaching have reduced coral diversity and led to altered coral communities of survivor' species with stress-tolerant and weedy life histories. Our findings are consistent with expectations that climate change interacting with existing human pressure will result in the loss of coral diversity and critical reef habitat. DOI
21. Green, SJ; Tamburello, N; Miller, SE; Akins, JL; Côté, IM. (2013) Habitat complexity and fish size affect the detection of Indo-Pacific lionfish on invaded coral reefs.Coral Reefs 32: 413-421 Habitat complexity and fish size affect the detection of Indo-Pacific lionfish on invaded coral reefs
UNDERWATER VISUAL-CENSUS; ABUNDANCE; INVASION; DENSITY; ASSEMBLAGES; POPULATIONS; ATLANTIC; BEHAVIOR
A standard approach to improving the accuracy of reef fish population estimates derived from underwater visual censuses (UVCs) is the application of species-specific correction factors, which assumes that a species' detectability is constant under all conditions. To test this assumption, we quantified detection rates for invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans and P. miles), which are now a primary threat to coral reef conservation throughout the Caribbean. Estimates of lionfish population density and distribution, which are essential for managing the invasion, are currently obtained through standard UVCs. Using two conventional UVC methods, the belt transect and stationary visual census (SVC), we assessed how lionfish detection rates vary with lionfish body size and habitat complexity (measured as rugosity) on invaded continuous and patch reefs off Cape Eleuthera, the Bahamas. Belt transect and SVC surveys performed equally poorly, with both methods failing to detect the presence of lionfish in > 50 % of surveys where thorough, lionfish-focussed searches yielded one or more individuals. Conventional methods underestimated lionfish biomass by similar to 200 %. Crucially, detection rate varied significantly with both lionfish size and reef rugosity, indicating that the application of a single correction factor across habitats and stages of invasion is unlikely to accurately characterize local populations. Applying variable correction factors that account for site-specific lionfish size and rugosity to conventional survey data increased estimates of lionfish biomass, but these remained significantly lower than actual biomass. To increase the accuracy and reliability of estimates of lionfish density and distribution, monitoring programs should use detailed area searches rather than standard visual survey methods. Our study highlights the importance of accounting for sources of spatial and temporal variation in detection to increase the accuracy of survey data from coral reef systems. DOI
20. Hackerott, S; Valdivia, A; Green, SJ; Côté, IM; Cox, CE; Akins, L; Layman, CA; Precht, WF; Bruno, JF. (2013) Native Predators Do Not Influence Invasion Success of Pacific Lionfish on Caribbean Reefs.PLOS One 8 Native Predators Do Not Influence Invasion Success of Pacific Lionfish on Caribbean Reefs
EXOTIC PLANT INVASIONS; REGION-WIDE DECLINES; CORAL-REEF; COMMUNITIES; RECRUITMENT; ABUNDANCE; ATLANTIC; ECOLOGY
Biotic resistance, the process by which new colonists are excluded from a community by predation from and/or competition with resident species, can prevent or limit species invasions. We examined whether biotic resistance by native predators on Caribbean coral reefs has influenced the invasion success of red lionfishes (Pterois volitans and Pterois miles), piscivores from the Indo-Pacific. Specifically, we surveyed the abundance (density and biomass) of lionfish and native predatory fishes that could interact with lionfish (either through predation or competition) on 71 reefs in three biogeographic regions of the Caribbean. We recorded protection status of the reefs, and abiotic variables including depth, habitat type, and wind/wave exposure at each site. We found no relationship between the density or biomass of lionfish and that of native predators. However, lionfish densities were significantly lower on windward sites, potentially because of habitat preferences, and in marine protected areas, most likely because of ongoing removal efforts by reserve managers. Our results suggest that interactions with native predators do not influence the colonization or post-establishment population density of invasive lionfish on Caribbean reefs. DOI
19. Soares, MC; Cardoso, SC; Nicolet, KJ; Côté, IM; Bshary, R. (2013) Indo-Pacific parrotfish exert partner choice in interactions with cleanerfish but Caribbean parrotfish do not.Animal Behaviour 86: 611-615 Indo-Pacific parrotfish exert partner choice in interactions with cleanerfish but Caribbean parrotfish do not
CLIENT REEF FISH; LABROIDES-DIMIDIATUS; TACTILE STIMULATION; CLEANING GOBIES; SERVICE QUALITY; CONTROL MECHANISMS; MUTUALISM; COOPERATION; PUNISHMENT; EVOLUTION
Cooperation theory puts a strong emphasis on partner control mechanisms that have evolved to stabilize cooperation against the temptation of cheating. The marine cleaning mutualism between the Indo-Pacific bluestreack cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus, and its reef fish 'clients' has been a model system to study partner control mechanisms and counterstrategies. These cleaners cooperate by eating ectoparasites; however, they can cheat by taking client mucus, which they prefer. Such a conflict may be the exception. For example, Caribbean cleaning gobies, Elacatinus spp., prefer to eat ectoparasites instead of mucus. While partner control mechanisms and counterstrategies seem to be absent in cleaning gobies, no study has directly compared cleaner wrasses and cleaning gobies by using the same methods. We examined systematic differences in cleaning interaction patterns and strategic behaviour exhibited by 12 closely related parrotfish species in the two systems. Parrotfish seeking cleaner wrasses visited them more often and spent more time with their cleaner than parrotfish seeking cleaning gobies. Moreover, the clients of cleaner wrasses returned more often to the same cleaner following a positive interaction, whereas the clients of cleaning gobies were less influenced by the outcome of previous interactions. We hypothesize that the higher frequency and repeated nature of interactions observed in the cleaner wrasse system, combined with the need to resolve conflicts, might have been prerequisites for the development of complex behavioural strategies. (C) 2013 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. DOI
18. Darling, ES; Alvarez-Filip, L; Oliver, TA; McClanahan, TR; Côté, IM. (2012) Evaluating life-history strategies of reef corals from species traits.Ecology Letters 15: 1378-1386 Evaluating life-history strategies of reef corals from species traits
Community assembly; coral reefs; C-S-R triangle; ecological strategies; functional diversity; selection pressure
Classifying the biological traits of organisms can test conceptual frameworks of life-history strategies and allow for predictions of how different species may respond to environmental disturbances. We apply a trait-based classification approach to a complex and threatened group of species, scleractinian corals. Using hierarchical clustering and random forests analyses, we identify up to four life-history strategies that appear globally consistent across 143 species of reef corals: competitive, weedy, stress-tolerant and generalist taxa, which are primarily separated by colony morphology, growth rate and reproductive mode. Documented shifts towards stress-tolerant, generalist and weedy species in coral reef communities are consistent with the expected responses of these life-history strategies. Our quantitative trait-based approach to classifying life-history strategies is objective, applicable to any taxa and a powerful tool that can be used to evaluate theories of community ecology and predict the impact of environmental and anthropogenic stressors on species assemblages. DOI
17. Favaro, B; Lichota, C; Côté, IM; Duff, SD. (2012) TrapCam: an inexpensive camera system for studying deep-water animals.Methods in Ecology and Evolution 3: 39-46 TrapCam: an inexpensive camera system for studying deep-water animals
behaviour; bycatch; deep water; digital video; rockfish; spot prawn; underwater cameras
1. Behavioural research in deep water (>40 m depth) has traditionally been expensive and logistically challenging, particularly because the light and sound produced by underwater vehicles make them unsuitably disruptive. Yet, understanding the behaviour of deep-water animals, especially those targeted by exploitation, is important for conservation. For example, understanding interactions between animals and deep-water fishing gear could inform the design of devices that minimize bycatch. 2. We describe the ` TrapCam', a self- contained, high- definition video system that requires neither the support of a vessel once deployed nor special equipment to deploy or retrieve. This system can record 13-h videos at 1080p resolution and is deployable on any substrata at depths of up to 100 m. The system is inexpensive (<$ 3000 USD), versatile and suited to the study of animal behaviour at depths inaccessible to scuba divers. 3. We evaluate the performance and cost effectiveness of TrapCam and analyse videos retrieved frompilot deployments to observe spot prawn (Pandalus platyceros) traps at 100 mdepth. Preliminary analyses of animal- prawn trap interactions yield novel insights. We provide future directions for researchers to use this type of camera system to study deep water- dwelling species around the world. DOI
16. Reynolds, J.D., Favaro, B. & Côté. (2012) Canada: A bleak day for the environment.Nature 487, 171 Canada: A bleak day for the environment
It was a dark day for environmental science and policy in Canada on 29 June.
The country's Conservative Party has been steadily dismantling environmental protection since winning a majority government last year (see, for example, Nature http://doi.org/h2v; 2012). Further alarming changes to environmental laws were concealed in a 'budget bill' that was ratified by the Senate on 29 June.
For example, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act has been replaced by a weaker law that reduces government oversight of the environmental impact of a proposed pipeline from the Alberta oil sands to tankers off British Columbia. Canada's Fisheries Act now allows for more pollution and no longer protects fish habitats, except for fisheries. The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, which provides independent scientific advice on sustainable development, will be dissolved in March 2013. A finance committee that had no scientific or public input has decided that this massive legislative overhaul could proceed as written.
Globally significant research facilities have already been axed, including the renowned Experimental Lakes Area and the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory in the high Arctic. Scientific agencies such as Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Environment Canada and Parks Canada have had to sack most of the personnel responsible for habitat management and monitoring, including those in the DFO's marine-pollution programme.
The new legislative framework marginalizes science in environmental management, and could do irreparable harm to the environment and the economy it supports. Such tactics match Canada's intransigence on climate change: the same bill made it the first country to pull out of the Kyoto agreement.Website DOI
15. Sutherland, WJ; Aveling, R; Bennun, L; Chapman, E; Clout, M; Côté, IM; Depledge, MH; Dicks, LV; Dobson, AP; Fellman, L; Fleishman, E; Gibbons, DW; Keim, B; Lickorish, F; Lindenmayer, DB; Monk, KA; Norris, K; Peck, LS; Prior, SV; Scharlemann, JPW; Spalding, M; Watkinson, AR. (2012) A horizon scan of global conservation issues for 2012.Trends in Ecology & Evolution 27: 12-18 A horizon scan of global conservation issues for 2012
Our aim in conducting annual horizon scans is to identify issues that, although currently receiving little attention, may be of increasing importance to the conservation of biological diversity in the future. The 15 issues presented here were identified by a diverse team of 22 experts in horizon scanning, and conservation science and its application. Methods for identifying and refining issues were the same as in two previous annual scans and are widely transferable to other disciplines. The issues highlight potential changes in climate, technology and human behaviour. Examples include warming of the deep sea, increased cultivation of perennial grains, burning of Arctic tundra, and the development of nuclear batteries and hydrokinetic in-stream turbines. DOI
14. Alvarez-Filip, L; Côté, IM; Gill, JA; Watkinson, AR; Dulvy, NK. (2011) Region-wide temporal and spatial variation in Caribbean reef architecture: is coral cover the whole story?Global Change Biology 17: 2470-2477 Region-wide temporal and spatial variation in Caribbean reef architecture: is coral cover the whole story?
climate change; ecosystem services; foundation species; habitat loss; reef degradation
The architectural complexity of coral reefs is largely generated by reef-building corals, yet the effects of current regional-scale declines in coral cover on reef complexity are poorly understood. In particular, both the extent to which declines in coral cover lead to declines in complexity and the length of time it takes for reefs to collapse following coral mortality are unknown. Here we assess the extent of temporal and spatial covariation between coral cover and reef architectural complexity using a Caribbean-wide dataset of temporally replicated estimates spanning four decades. Both coral cover and architectural complexity have declined rapidly over time, with little evidence of a time-lag. However, annual rates of change in coral cover and complexity do not covary, and levels of complexity vary greatly among reefs with similar coral cover. These findings suggest that the stressors influencing Caribbean reefs are sufficiently severe and widespread to produce similar regional-scale declines in coral cover and reef complexity, even though reef architectural complexity is not a direct function of coral cover at local scales. Given that architectural complexity is not a simple function of coral cover, it is important that conservation monitoring and restoration give due consideration to both architecture and coral cover. This will help ensure that the ecosystem services supported by architectural complexity, such as nutrient recycling, dissipation of wave energy, fish production and diversity, are maintained and enhanced. DOI
13. Alvarez-Filip, L; Dulvy, NK; Côté, IM; Watkinson, AR; Gill, JA. (2011) Coral identity underpins architectural complexity on Caribbean reefs.Ecological Applications 21: 2223-2231 Coral identity underpins architectural complexity on Caribbean reefs
biodiversity; coral; Cozumel; Mexico; dominance; functional groups; habitat complexity; landscape ecology; reef
The architectural complexity of ecosystems can greatly influence their capacity to support biodiversity and deliver ecosystem services. Understanding the components underlying this complexity can aid the development of effective strategies for ecosystem conservation. Caribbean coral reefs support and protect millions of livelihoods, but recent anthropogenic change is shifting communities toward reefs dominated by stress-resistant coral species, which are often less architecturally complex. With the regionwide decline in reef fish abundance, it is becoming increasingly important to understand changes in coral reef community structure and function. We quantify the influence of coral composition, diversity, and morpho-functional traits on the architectural complexity of reefs across 91 sites at Cozumel, Mexico. Although reef architectural complexity increases with coral cover and species richness, it is highest on sites that are low in taxonomic evenness and dominated by morpho-functionally important, reef-building coral genera, particularly Montastraea. Sites with similar coral community composition also tend to occur on reefs with very similar architectural complexity, suggesting that reef structure tends to be determined by the same key species across sites. Our findings provide support for prioritizing and protecting particular reef types, especially those dominated by key reef-building corals, in order to enhance reef complexity. DOI
11. Sutherland, WJ; Bardsley, S; Bennun, L; Clout, M; Côté, IM; Depledge, MH; Dicks, LV; Dobson, AP; Fellman, L; Fleishman, E; Gibbons, DW; Impey, AJ; Lawton, JH; Lickorish, F; Lindenmayer, DB; Lovejoy, TE; Mac Nally, R; Madgwick, J; Peck, LS; Pretty, J; Prior, SV; Redford, KH; Scharlemann, JPW; Spalding, M; Watkinson, AR. (2011) Horizon scan of global conservation issues for 2011.Trends in Ecology & Evolution 26 Horizon scan of global conservation issues for 2011
This review describes outcomes of a 2010 horizon-scanning exercise building upon the first exercise conducted in 2009. The aim of both horizon scans was to identify emerging issues that could have substantial impacts on the conservation of biological diversity, and to do so sufficiently early to encourage policy-relevant, practical research on those issues. Our group included professional horizon scanners and researchers affiliated with universities and non- and inter-governmental organizations, including specialists on topics such as invasive species, wildlife diseases and coral reefs. We identified 15 nascent issues, including new greenhouse gases, genetic techniques to eradicate mosquitoes, milk consumption in Asia and societal pessimism. DOI
9. Holt, BG; Côté, IM; Emerson, BC. (2010) Signatures of speciation? Distribution and diversity of Hypoplectrus (Teleostei: Serranidae) colour morphotypes.Global Ecology and Biogeography 19: 432-441 Signatures of speciation? Distribution and diversity of Hypoplectrus (Teleostei: Serranidae) colour morphotypes
Caribbean; colour polymorphism; co-occurrence; coral reef; evolution; fish; hamlets; marine; sympatry
Aim To test historical and current influences on the distributions of sympatric colour morphotypes in the coral reef fish genus Hypoplectrus. Location The Caribbean and surrounding tropical waters. These areas cover the entire distribution of the genus. Methods A large and extensive database of Hypoplectrus sightings was used to establish the distribution of colour morphotypes and test a long-standing hypothesis regarding their origin. First, we considered the evidence for the previously proposed 'population centre' hypothesis, which suggests that current morphotype distributions reflect past conditions where these colour forms evolved in allopatry. Using morphotype sighting data, the existence of clusters in occurrence and density was tested. Second, we examined whether the observed patterns of morphotype co-occurrence deviate from random expectations using null model simulations, within subregions of the distribution of the genus, to infer ecological influences on distribution. Results There is considerable variation in morphotype distribution, with even widespread morphotypes showing geographical clustering. There is also little evidence to suggest past or current geographical isolation, with only one of the 11 morphotypes (Hypoplectrus chlorurus) showing a density distribution that is consistent with the population centre hypothesis. Null model analyses show that variation in local morphotype co-occurrence is typically significantly lower than expected under random dispersal conditions. Main conclusions Our results strongly suggest that morphotype co-occurrence is not random, but there is no evidence to suggest a past allopatric radiation in Hypoplectrus colour. Current distributions are likely to be driven by competitive interactions and/or habitat preferences. Our study highlights the value of the Hypoplectrus species complex as a system for the study of speciation in the marine environment, and implies that these closely related morphotypes have ecological relevance rather than being simple colour variants of a single polymorphic species. DOI
8. Mills, SC; Côté, IM. (2010) Crime and punishment in a roaming cleanerfish.Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 277: 3617-3622 Crime and punishment in a roaming cleanerfish
conflict; cooperation; biological markets; cheating; partner switching; territory size
Cheating is common in cooperative interactions, but its occurrence can be controlled by various means ranging from rewarding cooperators to active punishment of cheaters. Punishment occurs in the mutualism involving the cleanerfish Labroides dimidiatus and its reef fish clients. When L. dimidiatus cheats, by taking scales and mucus rather than ectoparasites, wronged clients either chase or withhold further visits to the dishonest cleaner, which leads to more cooperative future interactions. Punishment of cheating L. dimidiatus may be effective largely because these cleaners are strictly site-attached, increasing the potential for repeated interactions between individual cleaners and clients. Here, we contrast the patterns of cheating and punishment in L. dimidiatus with its close relative, the less site-attached Labroides bicolor. Overall, L. bicolor had larger home ranges, cheated more often and, contrary to our prediction, were punished by cheated clients as frequently as, and not less often than, L. dimidiatus. However, adult L. bicolor, which had the largest home ranges, did not cheat more than younger conspecifics, suggesting that roaming, and hence the frequency of repeated interactions, has little influence on cheating and retaliation in cleaner-client relationships. We suggest that roaming cleaners offer the only option available to many site-attached reef fish seeking a cleaning service. This asymmetry in scope for partner choice encourages dishonesty by the partner with more options (i.e. L. bicolor), but to be cleaned by a cleaner that sometimes cheats may be a better option than not to be cleaned at all. DOI
7. Sutherland, WJ; Clout, M; Côté, IM; Daszak, P; Depledge, MH; Fellman, L; Fleishman, E; Garthwaite, R; Gibbons, DW; De Lurio, J; Impey, AJ; Lickorish, F; Lindenmayer, D; Madgwick, J; Margerison, C; Maynard, T; Peck, LS; Pretty, J; Prior, S; Redford, KH; Scharlemann, JPW; Spalding, M; Watkinson, AR. (2010) A horizon scan of global conservation issues for 2010.Trends in Ecology & Evolution 25: 1-7 A horizon scan of global conservation issues for 2010
Horizon scanning identifies emerging issues in a given field sufficiently early to conduct research to inform policy and practice. Our group of horizon scanners, including academics and researchers, convened to identify fifteen nascent issues that could affect the conservation of biological diversity. These include the impacts of and potential human responses to climate change, novel biological and digital technologies, novel pollutants and invasive species. We expect to repeat this process and collation annually. DOI
6. Paddack, MJ; Reynolds, JD; Aguilar, C; Appeldoorn, RS; Beets, J; Burkett, EW; Chittaro, PM; Clarke, K; Esteves, R; Fonseca, AC; Forrester, GE; Friedlander, AM; Garcia-Sais, J; Gonzalez-Sanson, G; Jordan, LKB; McClellan, DB; Miller, MW; Molloy, PP; Mumby, PJ; Nagelkerken, I; Nemeth, M; Navas-Camacho, R; Pitt, J; Polunin, NVC; Reyes-Nivia, MC; Robertson, DR; Rodriguez-Ramirez, A; Salas, E; Smith, SR; Spieler, RE; Steele, MA; Williams, ID; Wormald, CL; Watkinson, AR; Côté, IM. (2009) Recent Region-wide Declines in Caribbean Reef Fish Abundance.Current Biology 19: 590-595 Recent Region-wide Declines in Caribbean Reef Fish Abundance
GREAT-BARRIER-REEF; MASS MORTALITY; CORAL-REEFS; DIADEMA-ANTILLARUM; TROPHIC CASCADES; MARINE RESERVES; PROTECTED AREAS; COMMUNITIES; POPULATIONS; ECOSYSTEMS
Profound ecological changes are occurring on coral reefs throughout the tropics [1-3], with marked coral cover losses and concomitant algal increases, particularly in the Caribbean region [4]. Historical declines in the abundance of large Caribbean reef fishes likely reflect centuries of overexploitation [5-7]. However, effects of drastic recent degradation of reef habitats on reef fish assemblages have yet to be established. By using meta.-analysis, we analyzed time series of reef fish density obtained from 48 studies that include 318 reefs across the Caribbean and span the time period 1955-2007. Our analyses show that overall reef fish density has been declining significantly for more than a decade, at rates that are consistent across all subregions of the Caribbean basin (2.7% to 6.0% loss per year) and in three of six trophic groups. Changes in fish density over the past half-century are modest relative to concurrent changes in benthic cover on Caribbean reefs. However, the recent significant decline in overall fish abunclance and its consistency across several trophic groups. and among both fished and nonfished species indicate that Caribbean fishes have begun to respond negatively to habitat degradation. DOI
5. Darling, ES; Côté, IM. (2008) Quantifying the evidence for ecological synergies.Ecology Letters 11: 1278-1286 Quantifying the evidence for ecological synergies
meta-analysis, mortality, multiple stressors, non-additive effects, synergy.
There is increasing concern that multiple drivers of ecological change will interact synergistically to accelerate biodiversity loss. However, the prevalence and magnitude of these interactions remain one of the largest uncertainties in projections of future ecological change. We address this uncertainty by performing a meta-analysis of 112 published factorial experiments that evaluated the impacts of multiple stressors on animal mortality in freshwater, marine and terrestrial communities. We found that, on average, mortalities from the combined action of two stressors were not synergistic and this result was consistent across studies investigating different stressors, study organisms and life-history stages. Furthermore, only one-third of relevant experiments displayed truly synergistic effects, which does not support the prevailing ecological paradigm that synergies are rampant. However, in more than three-quarters of relevant experiments, the outcome of multiple stressor interactions was non-additive (i.e. synergies or antagonisms), suggesting that ecological surprises may be more common than simple additive effects.PDF DOI
4. Newton, K; Côté, IM; Pilling, GM; Jennings, S; Dulvy, NK. (2007) Current and future sustainability of island coral reef fisheries.Current Biology 17: 655-658 Current and future sustainability of island coral reef fisheries
Overexploitation is one of the principal threats to coral reef diversity, structure, function, and resilience [1, 2]. Although it is generally held that coral reef fisheries are unsustainable [3-5], little is known of the overall scale of exploitation or which reefs are overfished [6]. Here, on the basis of ecological footprints and a review of exploitation status [7, 8], we report widespread unsustainability of island coral reef fisheries. Over half (55%) of the 49 island countries considered are exploiting their coral reef fisheries in an unsustainable way. We estimate that total landings of coral reef fisheries are currently 64% higher than can be sustained. Consequently, the area of coral reef appropriated by fisheries exceeds the available effective area by similar to 75,000 km(2), or 3.7 times the area of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, and an extra 196,000 km(2) of coral reef may be required by 2050 to support the anticipated growth in human populations. The large overall imbalance between current and sustainable catches implies that management methods to reduce social and economic dependence on reef fisheries are essential to prevent the collapse of coral reef ecosystems while sustaining the well-being of burgeoning coastal populations. DOI
3. Balmford, A; Bennun, L; ten Brink, B; Cooper, D; Côté, IM; Crane, P; Dobson, A; Dudley, N; Dutton, I; Green, RE; Gregory, RD; Harrison, J; Kennedy, ET; Kremen, C; Leader-Williams, N; Lovejoy, TE; Mace, G; May, R; Mayaux, P; Morling, P; Phillips, J; Redford, K; Ricketts, TH; Rodriguez, JP; Sanjayan, M; Schei, PJ; van Jaarsveld, AS; Walther, BA. (2005) The convention on biological diversity's 2010 target.Science 307: 212-213 The convention on biological diversity's 2010 target
