caa a22 4500 445819928 CHVBK 20180317145241.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170323e20111201xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s00338-011-0795-6 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s00338-011-0795-6 Drivers of region-wide declines in architectural complexity on Caribbean reefs [Elektronische Daten] [Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip, J. Gill, N. Dulvy, A. Perry, A. Watkinson, I. Côté] Severe declines in the cover of live hard coral on reefs have been reported worldwide, and in the Caribbean region, the architectural complexity of coral reefs has also declined markedly. While the drivers of coral cover loss are relatively well understood, little is known about the drivers of regional-scale declines in architectural complexity. We have used a dataset of 49 time series reporting reef architectural complexity to explore the effect of hurricanes, coral bleaching and fishing on Caribbean-wide annual rates of change in reef complexity. Hurricane impacts greatly influence reef complexity, with the most rapid rates of decline in complexity occurring at sites impacted during their survey period, and with lower rates of loss occurring at unimpacted sites. Reef architectural complexity did not change significantly following mass bleaching events (in a time frame of <5years) or positive thermal anomalies. Although the rates of change in architectural complexity were similar in and out of marine protected areas (MPAs), significant declines in complexity were observed inside but not outside of MPAs, possibly because reductions in fishing can lead to increased bioerosion by herbivores within MPAs. Our findings suggest that major drivers of coral mortality, such as coral bleaching, do not influence reef architectural complexity in the short term (<5years). Instead, direct physical impacts and reef bioerosion appear to be important drivers of the widespread loss of architecturally complex reefs in the Caribbean. Springer-Verlag, 2011 Coral bleaching nationallicence Drivers of change nationallicence Environmental change nationallicence Ecosystem services nationallicence Habitat complexity nationallicence Hurricanes nationallicence Marine reserves nationallicence Reef degradation nationallicence Alvarez-Filip Lorenzo Centre for Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, NR4 7TJ, Norwich, UK aut Gill J. Centre for Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, NR4 7TJ, Norwich, UK aut Dulvy N. Earth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, V5A 1S6, Burnaby, BC, Canada aut Perry A. Centre for Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, NR4 7TJ, Norwich, UK aut Watkinson A. School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, NR4 7TJ, Norwich, UK aut Côté I. Earth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, V5A 1S6, Burnaby, BC, Canada aut Coral Reefs Springer-Verlag 30/4(2011-12-01), 1051-1060 0722-4028 30:4<1051 2011 30 338 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-011-0795-6 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-011-0795-6 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Alvarez-Filip Lorenzo Centre for Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, NR4 7TJ, Norwich, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Gill J. Centre for Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, NR4 7TJ, Norwich, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Dulvy N. Earth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, V5A 1S6, Burnaby, BC, Canada aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Perry A. Centre for Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, NR4 7TJ, Norwich, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Watkinson A. School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, NR4 7TJ, Norwich, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Côté I. Earth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, V5A 1S6, Burnaby, BC, Canada aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Coral Reefs Springer-Verlag 30/4(2011-12-01), 1051-1060 0722-4028 30:4<1051 2011 30 338 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer