Abstract
Recent large-scale analyses suggest that local management actions may not protect coral reefs from climate change, yet most local threat-reduction strategies have not been tested experimentally. We show that removing coral predators is a common local action used by managers across the world, and that removing the corallivorous snail Coralliophila abbreviata from Caribbean brain corals (Pseudodiploria and Diploria species) before a major warming event increased coral resilience by reducing bleaching severity (resistance) and post-bleaching tissue mortality (recovery). Our results highlight the need for increased evaluation and identification of local interventions that improve coral reef resilience.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Change history
21 June 2018
In the version of this Brief Communication originally published, the two instances of ‘natural-to-high’ in the sixth and seventh paragraphs were incorrect; they should have read ‘naturally high’.
References
Hughes, T. P. et al. Nature 546, 82–90 (2017).
Jackson, J. et al. Status and Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs: 1970–2012 (Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, IUCN, Gland, 2014).
De’ath, G. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 109, 17995–17999 (2012).
Gunderson, L. H. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 31, 425–439 (2000).
Vega Thurber, R. L. et al. Glob. Change Biol. 20, 544–554 (2014).
Carilli, J. E. et al. PLoS ONE 4, e6324 (2009).
Zaneveld, J. R. et al. Nat. Commun. 7, 11833 (2016).
Hughes, T. P. et al. Nature 543, 373–377 (2017).
Bruno, J. F. & Valdivia, A. Sci. Rep. 6, 29778 (2016).
Levin, S. A.. & Lubchenco, J. BioScience 58, 27–32 (2008).
Normile, D. Science 352, 15–16 (2016).
van Oppen, M. J. H. et al. Glob. Change Biol. 23, 3437–3448 (2017).
Knowlton, N. & Jackson, J. B. C. PLoS Biol. 6, e54 (2008).
Williams, D. E. & Miller, M. W. Coral Reefs 31, 369–382 (2012).
Miller, M. W. Coral Reefs 19, 293–295 (2001).
Silliman, B. R. et al. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 44, 503–538 (2013).
Rotjan, R. D. & Lewis, S. M. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 367, 73–91 (2008).
Miller, A. C. Bull. Mar. Sci. 31, 932–934 (1981).
Baums, I. B., Miller, M. W. & Szmant, A. M. Mar. Biol. 142, 1083–1091 (2003).
Oren, U., Brickner, I. & Loya, Y. Proc. R. Soc. B 265, 2043–2050 (1998).
National Data Buoy Center Station MLRF1—Molasses Reef, FL (NOAA, 2014); http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=mlrf1
Manzello, D. P. Sci. Rep. 5, 16762 (2015).
Loya, Y. et al. Ecol. Lett. 4, 122–131 (2001).
Edmunds, P. J. Mar. Biol. 121, 137–142 (1994).
Mooney, C. The Great Barrier Reef is bleaching yet again, and scientists say only swift climate action can save it. Washington Post (15 March 2017).
Anthony, K. R. N. et al. Funct. Ecol. 23, 539–550 (2009).
Shaver, E. C. et al. Ecology 98, 830–839 (2017).
Recovery Plan: Elkhorn Coral (Acropora palmata) and Staghorn Coral (A. cervicornis) (National Marine Fisheries Service, Silver Spring, 2015).
McClanahan, T. R. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 115, 131–138 (1994).
Sweatman, H. Curr. Biol. 18, 598–599 (2008).
He, Q. et al. Ecol. Lett. 20, 194–201 (2017).
Ivlev, V. S. Experimental Ecology of the Feeding of Fishes (Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, 1961).
Christensen, R. H. B. ordinal—Regression Models for Ordinal Data. R package version 6–28 (2015).
R Development Core Team R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, 2016).
Acknowledgements
We thank S. Csik and C. Fuchs for fieldwork assistance and M. Hay for reviewing this manuscript. The National Science Foundation supported E.C.S. (GRFP DGE 1106401), D.E.B. (BIO-OCE 1130786) and B.R.S. (BIO-OCE 1056980). Duke University supported E.C.S. and B.R.S., and Florida International University and the University of California, Santa Barbara supported D.E.B. We thank The Nature Conservancy's Reef Resilience Program (P. MacGowan, K. Maize, C. Wagner, E. Mcleod), S. Wear, and the Lenfest Ocean Program for helping to inspire and conduct our manager survey work. Permits FKNMS-2014-081 and 2014-099 were obtained from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to conduct this research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
The study was conceptualized by E.C.S., D.E.B. and B.R.S. The first draft of the paper was written by E.C.S. All authors contributed to editing subsequent drafts. E.C.S. conducted the predator density experiment. D.E.B. collected data on colony bleaching and mortality. E.C.S. analysed the data and created the figures.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary information
Supplementary Information
Supplementary Tables 1–3; Supplementary Figures 1–3; Supplementary References
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shaver, E.C., Burkepile, D.E. & Silliman, B.R. Local management actions can increase coral resilience to thermally-induced bleaching. Nat Ecol Evol 2, 1075–1079 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0589-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0589-0
This article is cited by
-
Integration of population genetics with oceanographic models reveals strong connectivity among coral reefs across Seychelles
Scientific Reports (2024)
-
Evidence of corallivorous gastropod Drupella cornus breeding on the higher latitude reefs of Rottnest Island (32°S), Western Australia
Marine Biology (2024)
-
Integrating equity-focused planning into coral bleaching management
npj Ocean Sustainability (2023)
-
Culling corallivores improves short-term coral recovery under bleaching scenarios
Nature Communications (2022)
-
Assessing population collapse of Drupella spp. (Mollusca: Gastropoda) 2 years after a coral bleaching event in the Republic of Maldives
Hydrobiologia (2021)