Operationalizing resilience for adaptive coral reef management under global environmental change |
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| Authors: | Kenneth RN Anthony Paul A Marshall Ameer Abdulla Roger Beeden Chris Bergh Ryan Black C Mark Eakin Edward T Game Margaret Gooch Nicholas AJ Graham Alison Green Scott F Heron Ruben van Hooidonk Cheryl Knowland Sangeeta Mangubhai Nadine Marshall Jeffrey A Maynard Peter McGinnity Elizabeth McLeod Peter J Mumby Magnus Nyström David Obura Jamie Oliver Hugh P Possingham Robert L Pressey Gwilym P Rowlands Jerker Tamelander David Wachenfeld Stephanie Wear |
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| Institution: | 1. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Qld, Australia;2. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville, Qld, Australia;3. International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Gland Switzerland and University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld, Australia;4. The Nature Conservancy, Big Pine Key, FL, USA;5. Department of the Environment, Great Barrier Reef Taskforce, Canberra, ACT, Australia;6. Coral Reef Watch, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, College Park, MD, USA;7. The Nature Conservancy, West End, Qld, Australia;8. Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld, Australia;9. Coral Reef Watch, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, James Cook University, Qld, Australia;10. Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Miami, FL, USA;11. Spatial Ecology Lab, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld, Australia;12. Fiji Country Program, Wildlife Conservation Society, Suva, Fiji;13. CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Aitkenvale, Qld, Australia;14. USR 3278 CNRS‐EPHE, CRIOBE, Moorea, Polynesie Francaise;15. The Nature Conservancy, Austin, TX, USA;16. Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden;17. CORDIO East Africa, Mombasa, Kenya;18. Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld, Australia;19. National Coral Reef Institute, Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach, FL, USA;20. UN, United Nations Environment Programme, Bangkok, Thailand;21. The Nature Conservancy, Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA |
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| Abstract: | Cumulative pressures from global climate and ocean change combined with multiple regional and local‐scale stressors pose fundamental challenges to coral reef managers worldwide. Understanding how cumulative stressors affect coral reef vulnerability is critical for successful reef conservation now and in the future. In this review, we present the case that strategically managing for increased ecological resilience (capacity for stress resistance and recovery) can reduce coral reef vulnerability (risk of net decline) up to a point. Specifically, we propose an operational framework for identifying effective management levers to enhance resilience and support management decisions that reduce reef vulnerability. Building on a system understanding of biological and ecological processes that drive resilience of coral reefs in different environmental and socio‐economic settings, we present an Adaptive Resilience‐Based management (ARBM) framework and suggest a set of guidelines for how and where resilience can be enhanced via management interventions. We argue that press‐type stressors (pollution, sedimentation, overfishing, ocean warming and acidification) are key threats to coral reef resilience by affecting processes underpinning resistance and recovery, while pulse‐type (acute) stressors (e.g. storms, bleaching events, crown‐of‐thorns starfish outbreaks) increase the demand for resilience. We apply the framework to a set of example problems for Caribbean and Indo‐Pacific reefs. A combined strategy of active risk reduction and resilience support is needed, informed by key management objectives, knowledge of reef ecosystem processes and consideration of environmental and social drivers. As climate change and ocean acidification erode the resilience and increase the vulnerability of coral reefs globally, successful adaptive management of coral reefs will become increasingly difficult. Given limited resources, on‐the‐ground solutions are likely to focus increasingly on actions that support resilience at finer spatial scales, and that are tightly linked to ecosystem goods and services. |
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| Keywords: | climate change coral reefs ecosystem vulnerability environmental management ocean acidification social‐ecological system structured decision‐making |
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