Confounding Factors in Coral Reef Recovery

The effects of the Mount St. Helens eruption on the surrounding forest and the processes affecting recovery from this major disturbance, which Franklin and MacMahon discuss in their Perspective “Messages from a mountain” (Science 's Compass, 19 May, p. 11831), are similar to the effects of hurricanes on coral reefs. For both the forest and the reef, major natural disturbances leave most of the ecosystem structure intact, and recovery can begin from surviving organisms (or, in some cases, portions of organisms) (12). Both the species composition and the physical structure of these ecosystems influence the course of recovery. In the case of Mount St. Helens, the recovery process has had little interference from humans. In contrast, the recovery of coral reefs from hurricanes is almost invariably confounded by anthropogenic stresses, most notably fishing. Overfishing can delay reef recovery by removing herbivorous fishes that keep algal growth in check. If grazing is not intense enough, algae (particularly “fleshy” seaweeds) can inhibit both growth of adult coral colonies and settlement or survival of coral recruits (23). Humans have now degraded tropical marine ecosystems to the point where our ability to evaluate ecological theories about succession and effects of disturbance has been compromised. 1. ↵41. A. E. Lugo, 2. C. S. Rogers, 3. S. W. Nixon, Ambio 29, 106 (2000). OpenUrl5 2. ↵61. T. P. Hughes, Science 265, 1547 (1994). OpenUrl7Abstract/FREE Full Text8 1: /lookup/doi/10. 1126/science. 288. 5469. 1183 2: #ref-1 3: #ref-2 4: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text 5: openurl? query=rft. jtitle%253DAmbio%26rft. volume%253D29%26rft. spage%253D106%26rft. genre%253Darticle%26rftᵥalfmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctxᵥer%253DZ39. 88-2004%26urlᵥer%253DZ39. 88-2004%26urlctxfmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx 6: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text 7: openurl? query=rft. jtitle%253DScience%26rft. stitle%253DScience%26rft. issn%253D0036-8075%26rft. aulast%253DHughes%26rft. auinit1%253DT. %2BP. %26rft. volume%253D265%26rft. issue%253D5178%26rft. spage%253D1547%26rft. epage%253D1551%26rft. atitle%253DCatastrophes%252C%2BPhase%2BShifts%252C%2Band%2BLarge-Scale%2BDegradation%2Bof%2Ba%2BCaribbean%2BCoral%2BReef%26rftᵢd%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10. 1126%252Fscience. 265. 5178. 1547%26rftᵢd%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F17801530%26rft. genre%253Darticle%26rftᵥalfmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctxᵥer%253DZ39. 88-2004%26urlᵥer%253DZ39. 88-2004%26urlctxfmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx 8: /lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiQUJTVCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6Mzoic2NpIjtzOjU6InJlc2lkIjtzOjEzOiIyNjUvNTE3OC8xNTQ3IjtzOjQ6ImF0b20iO3M6MjQ6Ii9zY2kvMjg5LzU0NzgvMzkxLjIuYXRvbSI7fXM6ODoiZnJhZ21lbnQiO3M6MDoiIjt9