Phase-shifts from one persistent assemblage of species to another have become
increasingly commonplace on coral reefs and in many other ecosystems due to escalating …

Research on the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS) has waxed and waned over
the last few decades, mostly in response to population outbreaks at specific locations. This …

A keystone species is one whose effect is large, and disproportionately large relative to its
abundance nance of thcir eommunities, because they typically providc the major energy …

Trophic cascades—the top-down regulation of ecosystems by predators—are an essential
aspect of ecosystem function and well-being. Trophic cascades are often drastically …

Since the early 1980s, episodes of coral reef bleaching and mortality, due primarily to
climate-induced ocean warming, have occurred almost annually in one or more of the …

Coral reef bleaching, the whitening of diverse invertebrate taxa, results from the loss of
symbiotic zooxanthellae and/or a reduction in photosynthetic pigment concentrations in …

Outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster spp.) remain a major cause of coral
mortality in the Indo-Pacific, contributing to widespread and accelerating degradation of …

Bioerosion, involving the weakening and breakdown of calcareous coral reef structures, is
due to the chemical and mechanical activities of numerous and diverse biotic agents. These …

The biodiversity of coral reefs is dominated by invertebrates. Many of these invertebrates live
in close association with scleractinian corals, relying on corals for food, habitat or settlement …

Decade-scale regimes of sardine Sardinops sagax and anchovy Engraulis spp. have been
observed in the productive coastal waters of the North-Western, North-Eastern and South …