Coral Habitats Research Articles

Interrelationships between soft corals and reef-associated fishes on inshore-reefs of the Great Barrier Reef

The composition of coral reef habitats strongly influences associated fish assemblages. As habitat formers, soft corals constitute a morphologically diverse component of coral reefs, although their importance as fish habitat is largely unquantified. Our study assessed relationships between soft and hard coral habitats and assemblages of reef-associated fishes on inshore reefs of the Whitsunday Islands, focussing on pomacentrids, chaetodontids and pomacanthids. Study sites varied in hard and soft coral cover and were assessed by the level of exposure to previous cyclone damage. The soft coral community was dominated by Sinularia spp. and constituted an average of 11.4% of benthic cover compared to 16% hard coral cover. At fine spatial scales (250 m2), significant positive relationships between soft coral cover and abundance occurred for 2 species of pomacentrids (Amblyglyphidodon curacao and A. leucogaster) as well as total Chaetodontidae and Pomacanthidae. Further, it was clear that some taxa were associated with specific soft corals. For example, A. curacao, Pomacentrus lepidogenys and Chelmon rostratus were observed associating with branching digitate Sinularia, with a more structurally complex soft coral morphology. The combination of high and medium cover of hard and soft corals supported distinct assemblages of fishes and the highest abundances of many species at the scale of sites (1000 m2). Our results indicate that soft corals provide valuable habitat, supporting diverse fish assemblages by contributing to habitat mosaics on coral reefs. These findings suggest that the ecological role of soft corals has been underestimated and therefore holds direct implications for the management of coral reefs.

Major coral extinctions during the early Toarcian global warming event

The current loss of taxa from our planet is considered by many scientists to be the sixth mass extinction; in particular, coral reefs are experiencing significant damage. Scleractinian coral reefs constitute the framework of some of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth today as well as throughout the last 250 million years. The Pliensbachian-Toarcian (Pl-To) transition in the Early Jurassic is an important geologic analogue for present-day global disruptions as it provides insights about the ability of corals to survive significant changes in climatic and oceanic conditions. Based on a revised and greatly expanded taxonomy of Tethyan coral faunas for both stages, we reveal a catastrophic extinction (49% at genus and 90.9% at species level) and subsequent radiation for the group during the early Toarcian. The devastation during the late Pliensbachian and early Toarcian biotic crisis suggests that this interval is potentially the most important extinction event for scleractinian corals and fundamentally shaped the future of diversity and morphological disparity within the coral clades that flourished during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Consequently, this interval should be considered a key period in the evolutionary dynamics of the group and reef ecosystems more broadly. These data on coral survival and recovery during the Early Jurassic event are particularly pertinent for questions about present day ecosystem collapse and conservation of coral habitats. • The studied crisis appears as one of the three most important extinction and recovery periods for scleractinian corals • The Early Toarcian time interval fundamentally shaped the future of diversity and morphological disparity of corals • The event is particularly pertinent for understanding present day ecosystem collapse and conservation of coral reef habitats.

A comparative study of atmospheric and water column correction using various algorithms on Landsat imagery to identify Coral Reefs

Coral Reefs are vital ecosystems as they support a vast population of aquatic life and help in maintaining biodiversity. Currently, these ecosystems are under severe threat due to rising ocean temperatures and contaminated surroundings. Hence, Coral Reefs need to be monitored regularly to study their health and protect them in a better way. Remote detection and assessment of Coral Reefs using satellite data would significantly enhance the reach and ensure continuous Coral Reef monitoring. The spectral signature of the Coral Reefs captured by the satellite sensor could be a great asset in this process. Still, these signatures are heavily dopped with several unwanted noise signals coming from various surface and atmospheric features. It is essential to remove these noise signals from the satellite data. This paper studied the effectiveness of different available atmospheric correction methods such as QUAC, 6S, and FLAASH Atmospheric correction tools (ACT) in removing atmospheric noise and studied the impact of sun glint and water column correction on improving remote detection of Coral Reefs. As a case study, these processes were applied on Landsat ETM+ to study the abundant Coral habitat near the North Reef Island at the Andaman Islands. The results indicated that FLAASH is the best atmospheric correction tool among the selected algorithms as FLAASH corrected image facilitated better identification of Coral Reefs. Hence this image was further enhanced using the Hedley sun glint and Lyzenga water column correction methods which improved Coral Reef detectability significantly. The detection of Corals from the image was done using ISO-DATA unsupervised classification to evaluate the role of each process in enhancing the Coral detection. Visual inspection was used to assess the classifier accuracy towards Coral reef detection. The results showed that a combination of FLAASH, sun glint removal, and water column correction significantly improved Coral Reef identification from the remote sensing data.

Historical Maps provide insight into a century and a half of habitat change in Fijian coasts.

Meaningful conservation goals require setting baselines derived from long‐term ecological records and information that is rare in many regions of the world. Historical data allow us to shift baselines back in time in order to strengthen conservation outcomes in the future.To explore how different histories of land use and development influenced coastal ecosystems in two Fijian cities (Suva and Savusavu), we compared a series of historical navigational charts. These charts recorded change in coral reef area and coastal mangrove forests, as well as expansions of hardened shorelines. We used geographic information systems (GIS) to georeference and make quantitative comparisons starting in 1,840 in Suva and 1876 in Savusavu.Our findings show that, despite increasing urbanization in the capital Suva, available coral reef habitat has not significantly changed in over 150 years, but development has hastened a nearly 50% loss of mangroves. Meanwhile, in the smaller city of Savusavu, coral habitats suffered significant loss in area and an increase in patchiness. As in Suva, shoreline hardening increased in Savusavu, but this change was not accompanied by a loss of mangroves.Nautical charts provided hitherto unavailable information on the long‐term loss and alteration of coastal habitats in Fiji. Historical ecology allows scientists to combat shifting baseline syndrome and set measured standards for conservation objectives.

How Much Shallow Coral Habitat Is There on the Great Barrier Reef?

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is a globally unique and precious national resource; however, the geomorphic and benthic composition and the extent of coral habitat per reef are greatly understudied. However, this is critical to understand the spatial extent of disturbance impacts and recovery potential. This study characterizes and quantifies coral habitat based on depth, geomorphic and benthic composition maps of more than 2164 shallow offshore GBR reefs. The mapping approach combined a Sentinel-2 satellite surface reflectance image mosaic and derived depth, wave climate, reef slope and field data in a random-forest machine learning and object-based protocol. Area calculations, for the first time, incorporated the 3D characteristic of the reef surface above 20 m. Geomorphic zonation maps (0–20 m) provided a reef extent estimate of 28,261 km2 (a 31% increase to current estimates), while benthic composition maps (0–10 m) estimated that ~10,600 km2 of reef area (~57% of shallow offshore reef area) was covered by hard substrate suitable for coral growth, the first estimate of potential coral habitat based on substrate availability. Our high-resolution maps provide valuable information for future monitoring and ecological modeling studies and constitute key tools for supporting the management, conservation and restoration efforts of the GBR.

Phytoplankton ecology in different coastal habitats along the northern Bay of Bengal

AbstractKnowledge on phytoplankton dynamics is important to understand the trophodynamics of aquatic ecosystems. But, the topic remains poorly studied in the context of tropical coastal habitats. The present study describes the community structure and drivers of phytoplankton in different coastal habitats along the northern Bay of Bengal. Data were collected on phytoplankton, zooplankton and a range of environmental variables from the estuarine, mangroves and coral habitats of Bangladesh during dry season from October 2020 to March 2021. Our study found that eco‐hydrological characteristics of the estuarine, mangroves and coral habitats differ from each other, although phytoplankton assemblages in these habitats commonly dominated by diatoms. In the estuary, the main diatom taxa included Coscinodiscus, whereas Ceratium and Chaetoceros were dominant in the coral habitat, and Coscinodiscus and Chaetoceros in the mangroves habitat. The concentration of micronutrients (silicate, nitrate and phosphate) was the most important driver of phytoplankton among all habitats. Zooplankton had a vital role in regulating the phytoplankton community composition in the coral habitat. These results suggest that the phytoplankton dynamics across tropical coastal habitats is largely driven by nutrients, which, when compared, have less influence on the growth of phytoplankton in temperate region.

Breviolum and Cladocopium Are Dominant Among Symbiodiniaceae of the Coral Holobiont Madracis decactis.

The scleractinian reef building coral Madracis decactis is a cosmopolitan species. Understanding host-symbiont associations is critical for assessing coral's habitat requirements and its response to environmental changes. In this study, we performed a fine grained phylogenetic analyses of Symbiodiniaceae associated with Madracis in two locations in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean (Abrolhos Bank and St. Peter and St. Paul Archipelago). Previous studies have argued that Madracis is a specialist coral, with colonies harboring a single symbiont from the genus Breviolum (formerly clade B). However, these previous studies have not precisely addressed if Madracis is colonized by several types of Symbiodiniaceae simultaneously or whether this coral is a specialist. The hypothesis that Madracis is a generalist coral host was evaluated in the present study. A total of 1.9 million reads of ITS2 nuclear ribosomal DNA were obtained by Illumina MiSeq sequencing. While Symbiodiniaceae ITS2 sequences between two sampling depths were almost entirely (62%) from the genus Breviolum (formerly clade B), shallow (10-15m) populations in Abrolhos had a greater diversity of ITS2 sequences in comparison to deeper (25-35m) populations of St. Peter and St. Paul Archipelago. Cladocopium (formerly clade C) and Symbiodinium (formerly clade A) were also found in Abrolhos. A single Madracis colony can host different symbiont types with > 30 Symbiodiniaceae ITS2-type profiles. Abrolhos corals presented a higher photosynthetic potential as a possible result of co-occurrence of multiple Symbiodiniaceae in a single coral colony. Multiple genera/clades of Symbiodiniaceae possibly confer coral hosts with broader environmental tolerance and ability to occupy diverse or changing habitats.

The modeled distribution of corals and sponges surrounding the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges with implications for high seas conservation.

The Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges are two adjacent seamount chains off the west coast of South America that collectively contain more than 110 seamounts. The ridges support an exceptionally rich diversity of benthic and pelagic communities, with the highest level of endemism found in any marine environment. Despite some historical fishing in the region, the seamounts are relatively pristine and represent an excellent conservation opportunity to protect a global biodiversity hotspot before it is degraded. One obstacle to effective spatial management of the ridges is the scarcity of direct observations in deeper waters throughout the region and an accompanying understanding of the distribution of key taxa. Species distribution models are increasingly used tools to quantify the distributions of species in data-poor environments. Here, we focused on modeling the distribution of demosponges, glass sponges, and stony corals, three foundation taxa that support large assemblages of associated fauna through the creation of complex habitat structures. Models were constructed at a 1 km2 resolution using presence and pseudoabsence data, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, phosphate, silicate, aragonite saturation state, and several measures of seafloor topography. Highly suitable habitat for each taxa was predicted to occur throughout the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges, with the most suitable habitat occurring in small patches on large terrain features such as seamounts, guyots, ridges, and escarpments. Determining the spatial distribution of these three taxa is a critical first step towards supporting the improved spatial management of the region. While the total area of highly suitable habitat was small, our results showed that nearly all of the seamounts in this region provide suitable habitats for deep-water corals and sponges and should therefore be protected from exploitation using the best available conservation measures.

Active Ecological Restoration of Cold-Water Corals: Techniques, Challenges, Costs and Future Directions

Cold-water coral (CWC) habitats dwell on continental shelves, slopes, seamounts, and ridge systems around the world’s oceans from 50 to 4000 m depth, providing heterogeneous habitats which support a myriad of associated fauna. These highly diverse ecosystems are threatened by human stressors such as fishing activities, gas and oil exploitation, and climate change. Since their life-history traits such as long lifespan and slow growth rates make CWCs very vulnerable to potential threats, it is a foremost challenge to explore the viability of restoration actions to enhance and speed up their recovery. In contrast to terrestrial and shallow-water marine ecosystems, ecological restoration in deep marine environments has received minimal attention. This review, by means of a systematic literature search, aims to identify CWC restoration challenges, assess the most suitable techniques to restore them, and discuss future perspectives. Outcomes from the few restoration actions performed to date on CWCs, which have lasted between 1 to 4 years, provide evidence of the feasibility of coral transplantation and artificial reef deployments. Scientific efforts should focus on testing novel and creative restoration techniques, especially to scale up to the spatial and temporal scales of impacts. There is still a general lack of knowledge about the biological, ecological and habitat characteristics of CWC species exploration of which would aid the development of effective restoration measures. To ensure the long-term viability and success of any restoration action it is essential to include holistic and long-term monitoring programs, and to ideally combine active restoration with natural spontaneous regeneration (i.e., passive restoration) strategies such as the implementation of deep-sea marine protected areas (MPAs). We conclude that a combination of passive and active restoration approaches with involvement of local society would be the best optimal option to achieve and ensure CWC restoration success.

Global decline in capacity of coral reefs to provide ecosystem services

Global decline in capacity of coral reefs to provide ecosystem services

Diminishing potential for tropical reefs to function as coral diversity strongholds under climate change conditions

AbstractAimForecasting the influence of climate change on coral biodiversity and reef functioning is important for informing policy decisions. Dominance shifts, tropicalization and local extinctions are common responses of climate change, but uncertainty surrounds the reliability of predicted coral community transformations. Here, we use species distribution models (SDMs) to assess changes in suitable coral habitat and associated patterns in biodiversity across Western Australia (WA) under present‐day and future climate scenarios (RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5).LocationCoral reef systems and communities in WA.MethodsWe developed SDMs with model prediction uncertainty analyses, using specimen‐based occurrence records of 188 hermatypic scleractinian coral species and seven variables to estimate present‐day and future changes to coral species distribution and biodiversity patterns in WA under climate change conditions.ResultsWe found that suitable habitat is predicted to increase across all regions in WA under , and scenarios with all tropical and subtropical regions remaining coral biodiversity strongholds. Under the extreme scenario, however, a clear tropicalization trend could be observed with coral species expanding their range to mid‐high latitude regions, while a substantial drop in coral species richness was predicted at low latitude tropical coral reefs, such as the inshore Kimberley and offshore NW reefs. Despite the predicted expansion south, we identified a net decline in coral biodiversity across the WA coastline.Main conclusionsResults from the models predicted higher net coral biodiversity loss at low latitude tropical regions compared with net gains at mid‐high latitude regions under . These results are likely to be representative of latitudinal trends across the Southern Hemisphere and highlight that increases in habitat suitability at higher latitudes may not lead to equivalent biodiversity benefits. Urgent action is needed to limit climate change to prevent spatial erosion of tropical coral communities, extinction events and loss of tropical ecosystem services.

From glacial times to late Holocene: Benthic foraminiferal assemblages from cold water coral habitats off northwest Scotland

Benthic foraminiferal assemblage data have been derived from a marine sediment core collected in a cold-water coral (CWC) site off northwest Scotland (near the Wyville Thomson Ridge - WTR). The record covers the last glacial period to the late Holocene. Our reconstructions enable to better constrain the paleoenvironmental changes that took place in the study area since the last glacial time and define the environmental conditions that allowed the onset, formation and decline of CWCs in the area. The sedimentary record was characterized by three distinct foraminiferal assemblages, dominant during the pre-coral time interval (i and ii) and the coral period (iii): (i) the “Glacial” assemblage (>13 cal ka BP) was characterized by the dominance of Cibicides refulgens and Discanomalina coronata. Low foraminiferal densities and diversities indicated unfavorable ecological conditions (i.e., low temperature and food availability, coarse substrate) that were most likely related to the extended British Ice Sheet; (ii) the “Deglacial-Early Holocene” assemblage (~13–9 cal ka BP) was characterized by the cassidulinids-Lobatula lobatula association, indicating a progressive increase of organic matter content and influx of warm and saline North Atlantic surface waters. We hypothesize that these were the main environmental factors that thereafter allowed the settlement of CWCs in the WTR area around 9 cal ka BP; (iii) the “Holocene” (<9 cal ka BP) assemblage was characterized by the cohabitation of diverse epifaunal species (e.g., Rosalina globularis) present when CWCs were highly abundant, and infaunal species (e.g., Trifarina angulosa) when corals were less frequent. The periods recording high presence of T. angulosa after 9 ka cal BP were interpreted as indicating a higher contribution of Eastern North Atlantic Waters during periods of retracted Subpolar Gyre (SPG), affecting probably the efficiency of food export to the seafloor.

A screening approach for the correction of distortion in UAV data for coral community mapping

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) may provide us super resolution data, however, they are often captured with artefacts and distortion. To investigate impact of distortion on the coral reef information, UAV surveys were deployed using multispectral sensor over two reefs in Bidong Island (Malaysia). Band-specific analysis of distortion revealed five different types of distorted images from the acquisition. This study optimized screening distorted images by comparing the seven distortion correction approaches and validated coral classification maps based on machine learning algorithms [support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF) and artificial neural network (ANN)]. Results indicate that the screening the green band (b2) alone or the blue band (b1) combined with b2 of UAV data and SVM capable of generating the best coral classification maps, with an overall accuracy of 7–17% improved compared to that of orthomosaic without distortion correction. The proposed distortion correction method can be applied to similar coral environments. Highlights Five different types of artefacts and distortions found in UAV data. A optimized screening approach suggested to minimized image distortion. Distortion corrected data and SVM algorithm performed the best in coral habitat mapping. An overall accuracy of 7–17% improved compared to that of distortion uncorrected maps. A new photogrammetric contribution to the existing automatic orthorectification techniques.

Opening a Marine Monument to Commercial Fishing Compromises Species Protections

One of today’s greatest conservation challenges is balancing policies, laws, and management strategies established to achieve economic goals that depend on extracting ocean resources with those established to conserve marine biodiversity. We use the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument (NCSM) as a case study to explore the consequences of changing from a policy that prevents fishing to a fisheries management policy. We found that opening the NCSM to commercial fishing reduces species protections. Fishing with pelagic and bottom tending fixed gear exposes species inhabiting the sea surface and midwater regions to entanglement and bycatch risk. Fishing with bottom tending fixed gear also exposes deep-sea coral habitat to gear known to have detrimental impacts. The NCSM was designated as a marine national monument due to the area’s unique ecological resources that are a subject of scientific interest. Our case study demonstrates that a fisheries management policy is insufficient to protect these ecological resources.

CORAL REEFS ON INHABITED AND UNINHABITED SMALL ISLANDS, SPERMONDE ARCHIPELAGO, INDONESIA

Abstract. The small islands in Indonesia is providing important ecosystem services. It is important to identify damages of a coral reef ecosystem and whether natural factors or anthropogenic factors are the main causes. Landsat images obtained with different sensors were analyzed for mapping coral reef on inhabited and uninhabited small islands, Spermonde archipelago, Indonesia. Overall accuracies of three habitats classification were 89.2% and 85.6%, respectively. They are live coral, dead coral and non-coral. Ground truth surveys were selected by using the unsupervised classification method The live coral in inhabited islands was slightly greater than in uninhabited. An increasing area of live coral was about 5.3 ha of the total area in 1990 per year while a decreasing of dead coral was 3.5 ha per year in inhabited islands. In uninhabited island, a decreasing speed of live coral habitat area was about 0.6 per year. During 29 years, a significant increase in the dead coral and decrease in live corals. It has been identified that the significant controlling factor for the disturbances in reef ecosystem is derived from natural and anthropogenic.

Phytoplankton Response to Changes in Water Quality and a Flood Event in Hervey Bay, Queensland

Dynamic, integrated and complex processes dominate nearshore marine ecosystems. Industrial, agricultural and population growth delivers pollution and excess nutrient and sediment loads to nearshore marine zones. Climate change also poses serious threats to the delicate balance that exists between and within marine ecosystem processes. Methods to monitor, characterise and model nearshore marine systems have been developed to predict responses to changes in the physical, chemical and biological parameters that constitute elements of a model. Such models are useful to management authorities as they provide a tool to mitigate adverse impacts to marine ecosystems. Phytoplankton community structure provides a sensitive early warning for change to marine ecosystems. It is also a vital component of models derived to determine light attenuation and requirements for healthy seagrass and coral habitats. The multifactorial physicochemical drivers of change to marine microalgae abundance and community structure were investigated in Hervey Bay following two floods, a cyclone and destruction of 1000 km2 of seagrass. A water quality gradient from point sources to offshore sites was identified. Correlations between chlorophyll a (Chl a) and both soluble reactive phosphate (SRP) and total suspended solids was revealed. Diatoms dominated the phytoplankton community structure with seasonal and site differences detected amongst 150 phytoplankton species. Chl a, Secchi depth, SRP and pH maximised the rank correlation with phytoplankton assemblage structure (ρ = 0.63) to best ‘explain’ the link between water quality and phytoplankton (BIOENV). Indicator species include Cylindrotheca closterium for the nearshore degraded sites and Rhizosolenia sp. and Guinardia sp. (G. flaccida and G. striatula) for the offshore more pristine habitats. Following the flood in February 1995, Cylindrotheca closterium, Pseudonitzschia sp. and Skeletonema costatum bloomed at Pulgul Creek (a treated sewage effluent site), and Thalassionema frauenfeldii, Cerataulina bicornis and dinoflagellates bloomed at the mouth of the Mary River (agricultural runoff). Discharge-driven flood impact and trigger values were analysed to assist management authorities in their decision making around potential seafood biotoxin problems associated with harmful algal blooms (HAB’s). Results highlight the importance of species determination rather than Chl a assessment when evaluating the health of an ecosystem. Spring blooms of Trichodesium sp. indicate an additional nutrient source during high traffic of commercial whale watching vessels. Flood impacts highlight the need to schedule dredging, construction and other land management and development activities outside of flood periods. Commercial fishing and swimming should be avoided following a flood due to the health risks associated with toxic phytoplankton species (HAB’s) and for the health and safety of swimmers, consumers and other aquatic species. Future research to replicate this study in Hervey Bay and in other estuaries holds much value to further explore the phytoplankton species identified as bio-indicators of ecosystem health in the present study. Research yet to be published, addresses the links between water quality and seagrass epiphytes, light attenuation and the habitat requirements of seagrass in Hervey Bay.

High biomass and productivity of epifaunal invertebrates living amongst dead coral

Climate change is transforming coral reef structures, with important yet largely unknown consequences for reef food webs. Crustaceans, molluscs, polychaetes, and other small motile invertebrates living as epifauna on coral habitats represent an essential trophic link between primary producers and a diverse and abundant invertivorous fish fauna. Here, we investigate variation in assemblages of motile epifaunal invertebrates on live coral and dead coral heavily overgrown by turf algae. Sampling was conducted 2–3 years following mass bleaching within the study region at four locations broadly spanning the distribution of corals on the eastern seaboard of Australia—along the northern and central Great Barrier Reef, and, adjacent to the central east coast, the Solitary Islands and offshore Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs (> 2000 km total distance). Epifaunal assemblages differed significantly between live and dead ‘turf-covered’ coral habitats, with overall density, biomass, and productivity of epifauna more than an order of magnitude greater on dead than on live coral. The size structure and composition of assemblages also differed: turf-covered dead coral supported greater abundances of small animals than live coral, notably harpacticoid copepods, while live coral assemblages had proportionally greater abundances of larger decapods. A ten-fold increase in secondary productivity of motile invertebrates is predicted as live corals are replaced by turf-covered dead coral, however, this productivity will predominantly be available as small harpacticoid copepod prey (size range: 0.125–0.25 mm). Associated flow-on effects through reef food webs are likely, as changes to epifauna will directly affect invertivore communities, which in turn potentially influence larger carnivores and other functional groups.

Exposure to degraded coral habitat depresses oxygen uptake rate during exercise of a juvenile reef fish

Exposure to degraded coral habitat depresses oxygen uptake rate during exercise of a juvenile reef fish

Impact of cyclones on hard coral and metapopulation structure, connectivity and genetic diversity of coral reef fish

Cyclones have one of the greatest effects on the biodiversity of coral reefs and the associated species. But it is unknown how stochastic alterations in habitat structure influence metapopulation structure, connectivity and genetic diversity. From 1993 to 2018, the reefs of the Capricorn Bunker Reef group in the southern part of the Great Barrier Reef were impacted by three tropical cyclones including cyclone Hamish (2009, category 5). This resulted in substantial loss of live habitat-forming coral and coral reef fish communities. Within 6–8 years after cyclones had devastated, live hard corals recovered by 50–60%. We show the relationship between hard coral cover and the abundance of the neon damselfish (Pomacentrus coelestis), the first fish colonizing destroyed reefs. We present the first long-term (2008–2015 years corresponding to 16–24 generations of P. coelestis) population genetic study to understand the impact of cyclones on the meta-population structure, connectivity and genetic diversity of the neon damselfish. After the cyclone, we observed the largest change in the genetic structure at reef populations compared to other years. Simultaneously, allelic richness of genetic microsatellite markers dropped indicating a great loss of genetic diversity, which increased again in subsequent years. Over years, metapopulation dynamics were characterized by high connectivity among fish populations associated with the Capricorn Bunker reefs (2200 km2); however, despite high exchange, genetic patchiness was observed with annual strong genetic divergence between populations among reefs. Some broad similarities in the genetic structure in 2015 could be explained by dispersal from a source reef and the related expansion of local populations. This study has shown that alternating cyclone-driven changes and subsequent recovery phases of coral habitat can greatly influence patterns of reef fish connectivity. The frequency of disturbances determines abundance of fish and genetic diversity within species.

The "Little MonSta" Deep-Sea Benthic, Precision Deployable, Multi-Sensor and Sampling Lander Array.

The “Little MonSta” benthic lander array consists of 8 ROV-deployable (remotely operated vehicle) instrumented lander platforms for monitoring physical and chemical oceanographic properties and particle sampling developed as part of the MMMonKey_Pro program (mapping, modeling, and monitoring key processes and controls in cold-water coral habitats in submarine canyons). The Little MonStas offer flexible solutions to meet the need to monitor marine benthic environments during a historically unprecedented time of climate-driven oceanic change, develop an understanding of meso-scale benthic processes (natural and man-made), and to calibrate geological environmental archives. Equipped with acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs), sediment traps, nylon settlement plates and homing beacons, the compact and upgradable lander platforms can be deployed by ROVs to precise locations in extreme terrains to a water depth of 3000 m. The array allows cluster-monitoring in heterogeneous environments or simultaneous monitoring over wider areas. A proof-of-concept case study was presented from the cold-water coral habitable zone in the upper Porcupine Bank Canyon, where the Little MonStas collected 868.8 h of current speed, direction, temperature, and benthic particulate flux records, as well as 192 particle samples subsequently analyzed for particular organic carbon (POC), lithic sediment, live foraminifera, and microplastics. The potential to upgrade the Little MonStas with additional sensors and acoustic releases offers greater and more flexible operational capabilities.