Bright spots among the world’s coral reefs
Ongoing declines in the structure and function of the world’s coral reefs1, 2 require novel approaches to sustain these ecosystems and the millions of people who depend on them3. A presently unexplored approach that draws on theory and practice in human health and rural development4,5 is to systemat...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Publishing Group
2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40165/ |
| _version_ | 1848795998360436736 |
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| author | Cinner, Joshua E. Huchery, Cindy Macneill, M. Aaron Graham, Nicholas A.J. McClanahan, Tim R. Maina, Joseph Maire, Eva Kittinger, John N. Hicks, Christina C. Mora, Camilo Allison, Edward H. D'Agata, Stephanie Hoey, Andrew Feary, David A. Crowder, Larry Williams, Ivor D. Kulbicki, Michel Vigliola, Laurent Wantiez, Laurent Edgar, Graham Stuart-Smith, Rick D. Sandin, Stuart A. Green, Alison L. Hardt, Marah J. Beger, Maria Friedlander, Alan Campbell, Stuart J. Holmes, Katherine E. Wilson, Shaun K. Brokovich, Eran Brooks, Andrew J. Cruz-Motta, Juan J. Booth, David J. Chabanet, Pascale Gough, Charlie Tupper, Mark Ferse, Sebastian C.A. Sumaila, U. Rashid Mouillot, David |
| author_facet | Cinner, Joshua E. Huchery, Cindy Macneill, M. Aaron Graham, Nicholas A.J. McClanahan, Tim R. Maina, Joseph Maire, Eva Kittinger, John N. Hicks, Christina C. Mora, Camilo Allison, Edward H. D'Agata, Stephanie Hoey, Andrew Feary, David A. Crowder, Larry Williams, Ivor D. Kulbicki, Michel Vigliola, Laurent Wantiez, Laurent Edgar, Graham Stuart-Smith, Rick D. Sandin, Stuart A. Green, Alison L. Hardt, Marah J. Beger, Maria Friedlander, Alan Campbell, Stuart J. Holmes, Katherine E. Wilson, Shaun K. Brokovich, Eran Brooks, Andrew J. Cruz-Motta, Juan J. Booth, David J. Chabanet, Pascale Gough, Charlie Tupper, Mark Ferse, Sebastian C.A. Sumaila, U. Rashid Mouillot, David |
| author_sort | Cinner, Joshua E. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Ongoing declines in the structure and function of the world’s coral reefs1, 2 require novel approaches to sustain these ecosystems and the millions of people who depend on them3. A presently unexplored approach that draws on theory and practice in human health and rural development4,5 is to systematically identify and learn from he ‘outliers’—places where ecosystems are substantially better (‘bright spots’) or worse (‘dark spots’) than expected, given the environmental conditions and socioeconomic drivers they are exposed to. Here we compile data from more than 2,500 reefs worldwide and develop a Bayesian hierarchical model to generate expectations of how standing stocks of reef fish biomass are related to 18 socioeconomic drivers and environmental conditions. We identify 15 bright spots and 35 dark spots among our global survey of coral reefs, defined as sites that have biomass levels more than two standard deviations from expectations. Importantly, bright spots are not simply comprised of remote areas with low fishing pressure; they include localities where human populations and use of ecosystem resources is high, potentially providing insights into how communities have successfully confronted strong drivers of change. Conversely, dark spots are not necessarily the sites with the lowest absolute biomass and even include some remote, uninhabited locations often considered near pristine. We surveyed local experts about social, institutional, and environmental conditions at these sites to reveal that bright spots are characterized by strong sociocultural institutions such as customary taboos and marine tenure, high levels of local engagement in management, high dependence on marine resources, and beneficial environmental conditions such as deep-water refuges. Alternatively, dark spots are characterized by intensive capture and storage technology and a recent history of environmental shocks. Our results suggest that investments in strengthening fisheries governance, particularly aspects such as participation and property rights, could facilitate innovative conservation actions that help communities defy expectations of global reef degradation. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:40:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-40165 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:40:59Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-401652020-05-04T18:00:06Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40165/ Bright spots among the world’s coral reefs Cinner, Joshua E. Huchery, Cindy Macneill, M. Aaron Graham, Nicholas A.J. McClanahan, Tim R. Maina, Joseph Maire, Eva Kittinger, John N. Hicks, Christina C. Mora, Camilo Allison, Edward H. D'Agata, Stephanie Hoey, Andrew Feary, David A. Crowder, Larry Williams, Ivor D. Kulbicki, Michel Vigliola, Laurent Wantiez, Laurent Edgar, Graham Stuart-Smith, Rick D. Sandin, Stuart A. Green, Alison L. Hardt, Marah J. Beger, Maria Friedlander, Alan Campbell, Stuart J. Holmes, Katherine E. Wilson, Shaun K. Brokovich, Eran Brooks, Andrew J. Cruz-Motta, Juan J. Booth, David J. Chabanet, Pascale Gough, Charlie Tupper, Mark Ferse, Sebastian C.A. Sumaila, U. Rashid Mouillot, David Ongoing declines in the structure and function of the world’s coral reefs1, 2 require novel approaches to sustain these ecosystems and the millions of people who depend on them3. A presently unexplored approach that draws on theory and practice in human health and rural development4,5 is to systematically identify and learn from he ‘outliers’—places where ecosystems are substantially better (‘bright spots’) or worse (‘dark spots’) than expected, given the environmental conditions and socioeconomic drivers they are exposed to. Here we compile data from more than 2,500 reefs worldwide and develop a Bayesian hierarchical model to generate expectations of how standing stocks of reef fish biomass are related to 18 socioeconomic drivers and environmental conditions. We identify 15 bright spots and 35 dark spots among our global survey of coral reefs, defined as sites that have biomass levels more than two standard deviations from expectations. Importantly, bright spots are not simply comprised of remote areas with low fishing pressure; they include localities where human populations and use of ecosystem resources is high, potentially providing insights into how communities have successfully confronted strong drivers of change. Conversely, dark spots are not necessarily the sites with the lowest absolute biomass and even include some remote, uninhabited locations often considered near pristine. We surveyed local experts about social, institutional, and environmental conditions at these sites to reveal that bright spots are characterized by strong sociocultural institutions such as customary taboos and marine tenure, high levels of local engagement in management, high dependence on marine resources, and beneficial environmental conditions such as deep-water refuges. Alternatively, dark spots are characterized by intensive capture and storage technology and a recent history of environmental shocks. Our results suggest that investments in strengthening fisheries governance, particularly aspects such as participation and property rights, could facilitate innovative conservation actions that help communities defy expectations of global reef degradation. Nature Publishing Group 2016-07-21 Article PeerReviewed Cinner, Joshua E., Huchery, Cindy, Macneill, M. Aaron, Graham, Nicholas A.J., McClanahan, Tim R., Maina, Joseph, Maire, Eva, Kittinger, John N., Hicks, Christina C., Mora, Camilo, Allison, Edward H., D'Agata, Stephanie, Hoey, Andrew, Feary, David A., Crowder, Larry, Williams, Ivor D., Kulbicki, Michel, Vigliola, Laurent, Wantiez, Laurent, Edgar, Graham, Stuart-Smith, Rick D., Sandin, Stuart A., Green, Alison L., Hardt, Marah J., Beger, Maria, Friedlander, Alan, Campbell, Stuart J., Holmes, Katherine E., Wilson, Shaun K., Brokovich, Eran, Brooks, Andrew J., Cruz-Motta, Juan J., Booth, David J., Chabanet, Pascale, Gough, Charlie, Tupper, Mark, Ferse, Sebastian C.A., Sumaila, U. Rashid and Mouillot, David (2016) Bright spots among the world’s coral reefs. Nature, 535 (7612). pp. 416-419. ISSN 1476-4687 Sustainability Environmental impact Tropical ecology http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v535/n7612/full/nature18607.html doi:10.1038/nature18607 doi:10.1038/nature18607 |
| spellingShingle | Sustainability Environmental impact Tropical ecology Cinner, Joshua E. Huchery, Cindy Macneill, M. Aaron Graham, Nicholas A.J. McClanahan, Tim R. Maina, Joseph Maire, Eva Kittinger, John N. Hicks, Christina C. Mora, Camilo Allison, Edward H. D'Agata, Stephanie Hoey, Andrew Feary, David A. Crowder, Larry Williams, Ivor D. Kulbicki, Michel Vigliola, Laurent Wantiez, Laurent Edgar, Graham Stuart-Smith, Rick D. Sandin, Stuart A. Green, Alison L. Hardt, Marah J. Beger, Maria Friedlander, Alan Campbell, Stuart J. Holmes, Katherine E. Wilson, Shaun K. Brokovich, Eran Brooks, Andrew J. Cruz-Motta, Juan J. Booth, David J. Chabanet, Pascale Gough, Charlie Tupper, Mark Ferse, Sebastian C.A. Sumaila, U. Rashid Mouillot, David Bright spots among the world’s coral reefs |
| title | Bright spots among the world’s coral reefs |
| title_full | Bright spots among the world’s coral reefs |
| title_fullStr | Bright spots among the world’s coral reefs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bright spots among the world’s coral reefs |
| title_short | Bright spots among the world’s coral reefs |
| title_sort | bright spots among the world’s coral reefs |
| topic | Sustainability Environmental impact Tropical ecology |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40165/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40165/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40165/ |