Cover Picture and Issue Information

Abstract

Functional EcologyVolume 37, Issue 5 p. 1141-1143 COVER PICTURE AND ISSUE INFORMATIONFree Access Cover Picture and Issue Information First published: 03 May 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14075AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Graphical Abstract Small benthic fishes display varying degrees of reliance on coral reefs. These reef-dwelling damselfishes (Dascyllus aruanus), for example, rely heavily on the presence of live corals. With increasing human pressures that threaten coral reefs, how will these small benthic fishes respond to the potential loss of corals? Yan and Bellwood (2023) used nearly 30 years of data on the benthic reef fish assemblage around Orpheus Island on the Great Barrier Reef to assess how these small communities would respond to multiple disturbances. They found that the 1998 mass coral bleaching event led to an entire reshuffling of the benthic fish community; namely, coral-associated fishes disappeared and were replaced by detritivorous fishes, which prefer degraded reef structures like coral rubble. The new community that arose, however, was able to maintain a steady level of biomass production despite the occurrence of multiple disturbances, such as cyclones, coral bleaching, and mass sedimentation. Overall, this study found that the identity of fish communities is changing in response to environmental disturbances; however, these new communities are still able to persist and deliver critical ecosystem functions on coral reefs. Volume37, Issue5May 2023Pages 1141-1143 RelatedInformation