Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Ecosystem regime shifts disrupt trophic structure.

Tessa N Hempson1, Nicholas A J Graham1,2, M Aaron MacNeil1,3,4

  • 1ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia.

Ecological Applications : a Publication of the Ecological Society of America
|October 17, 2017
PubMed
Summary

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Life in colour: The influence of habitat colouration on the recruitment of coral reef fish.

Marine environmental research·2026
Same author

Behavioural, physiological, and biochemical responses of two species of scleractinian coral to butterflyfish predation.

Marine environmental research·2026
Same author

Severe and widespread coral reef damage during the 2014-2017 Global Coral Bleaching Event.

Nature communications·2026
Same author

Elevated predation on crown-of-thorns starfish in no-take marine reserves.

Current biology : CB·2026
Same author

Temporal variation in the behaviours of the honeyhead damsel Dischistodus prosopotaenia on an inshore reef.

Journal of fish biology·2026
Same author

Only One Percent of Important Shark and Ray Areas in the Western Indian Ocean Are Fully Protected From Fishing Pressure.

Ecology and evolution·2026
This summary is machine-generated.

Coral reef regime shifts alter fish communities over time. Recovering reefs show a shift towards a more diverse trophic structure, unlike degraded reefs dominated by algae.

Area of Science:

  • Marine ecology
  • Ecosystem dynamics
  • Climate change impacts

Background:

  • Coral reefs face regime shifts to macroalgal dominance due to stressors and climate change.
  • These shifts disrupt ecosystem services and impact fish communities reliant on coral habitats.
  • Understanding long-term fish community changes during regime shifts is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how regime shifts affect coral reef fish community structure over time.
  • To compare fish trophic structure between regime-shifted and recovering reefs.
  • To assess the long-term consequences of coral loss on fish biomass and feeding guilds.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized long-term data from Seychelles reefs following the 1998 mass bleaching event.
  • Analyzed changes in fish community trophic structure relative to time since disturbance.
Keywords:
coral bleachingcoral reef ecologycoral reef fishfunctional grouphabitat degradationmesopredatortrophic leveltrophic pyramid

Related Experiment Videos

  • Compared biomass distribution across trophic levels in regime-shifted versus recovering reef states.

    • Main Results:

    • Regime-shifted reefs exhibited a concave trophic structure with increased herbivore biomass.
    • Mid-trophic level species, particularly corallivores, declined significantly on regime-shifted reefs.
    • Recovering reefs showed a transition to a bottom-heavy pyramid, with diverse mid-trophic level feeding groups.

    Conclusions:

    • Regime shifts cause distinct, time-dependent changes in coral reef fish trophic structure.
    • Understanding these changes is vital for managing fisheries and enhancing reef resilience.
    • Ecological recovery pathways differ significantly from persistently degraded reef states.