As predators play a central role in prey population regulation, predicting the impact of a novel predator requires determining how the invader affects the compensatory dynamics that underlie native prey persistence. The Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans is an invasive mesopredator that voraciously consumes native coral-reef fishes of the tropical western Atlantic and Caribbean. The fairy basslet Gramma loreto is a common prey of lionfish, and pre-invasion research has demonstrated that basslet populations undergo regulating density-dependent mortality due to predation. To unequivocally measure lionfish effects on prey mortality and to test whether prey survival remained density-dependent when exposed to predation by the invader, a controlled field experiment was conducted wherein both fairy basslet settlement density and lionfish presence were manipulated by divers on natural coral reefs. On reefs with and without lionfish, fairy basslet populations were repeatedly censused over the 28 d experimental period and mortality rates across a gradient of prey densities were quantified. Per capita loss of fairy basslet was density-dependent on reefs with and without introduced lionfish; however, the magnitude of this loss was significantly higher on reefs with the invader present. High mortality rates at low prey density resulted in local extinction of 2 of 14 fairy basslet populations exposed to the invader, a phenomenon observed only on lionfish reefs. Further, 9 out of 14 lionfish-exposed prey populations showed loss rates of > 50% compared with just 3 prey populations with such rates on nativeonly reefs.

Growing scientific awareness, strong regulations, and effective management have begun to fulfill the promise of recovery in the ocean. However, many efforts toward ocean recovery remain unsuccessful, in part because marine ecosystems and the human societies that depend upon them are constantly changing. Furthermore, recovery efforts are embedded in marine social-ecological systems where large-scale dynamics can inhibit recovery. We argue that the ways forward are to (i) rethink an inclusive definition of recovery that embraces a diversity of stakeholder perspectives about acceptable recovery goals and ecosystem outcomes; (ii) encourage research that enables anticipation of feasible recovery states and identifies pathways toward resilient ecosystems; and (iii) adopt policies that are sufficiently nimble to keep pace with rapid change and governance that works seamlessly from local to regional scales. Application of these principles can facilitate successful recoveries in a world where environmental conditions and social imperatives are constantly shifting.

Indigenous knowledge is a multilayered knowledge system that can effectively manage global ecosystem and biodiversity conservation. Conservation is an applied discipline with the goal of preserving the world's biodiversity and ecosystems. However, settler-coloniser conservation practices often fail to fully examine how settler-coloniser epistemologies are centred at the expense of Indigenous conservation praxis. Evaluating how conservation practices outside of an Indigenous lens can become more inclusive and just is a critical area for research and reflection. We draw on our own experiences as early-career researchers working towards anticolonial, just and inclusive approaches to conservation science and practice by discussing what it means to be for a Place. We believe that a non-Indigenous conservationist who is for a Place advocates for inclusive stewardship with Indigenous Peoples and other marginalised communities to conserve species and ecosystems and the connections that bind communities to their landscapes. As an example of how settler-coloniser conservation practitioners can be for a Place, we discuss writing a policy statement in 2019 on behalf of the Society for Conservation Biology opposing the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawai'i. We describe the thought process behind our policy statement and provide examples of other actions for conservation researchers and practitioners working to be for a Place. We aim to provide our colleagues, particularly those trained in settler-coloniser conservation practices, an opportunity to identify more just practices for the Places we aspire to conserve.

While there is a persistent inverse relationship between latitude and species diversity across many taxa and ecosystems, deviations from this norm offer an opportunity to understand the conditions that contribute to large-scale diversity patterns. Marine systems, in particular, provide such an opportunity, as marine diversity does not always follow a strict latitudinal gradient, perhaps because several hypothesized drivers of the latitudinal diversity gradient are uncorrelated in marine systems. We used a large scale public monitoring dataset collected over an eight year period to examine benthic marine faunal biodiversity patterns for the continental shelf (55–183 m depth) and slope habitats (184–1280 m depth) off the US West Coast (47°20′N—32°40′N). We specifically asked whether marine biodiversity followed a strict latitudinal gradient, and if these latitudinal patterns varied across depth, in different benthic substrates, and over ecological time scales. Further, we subdivided our study area into three smaller regions to test whether coast-wide patterns of biodiversity held at regional scales, where local oceanographic processes tend to influence community structure and function. Overall, we found complex patterns of biodiversity on both the coast-wide and regional scales that differed by taxonomic group. Importantly, marine biodiversity was not always highest at low latitudes. We found that latitude, depth, substrate, and year were all important descriptors of fish and invertebrate diversity. Invertebrate richness and taxonomic diversity were highest at high latitudes and in deeper waters. Fish richness also increased with latitude, but exhibited a hump-shaped relationship with depth, increasing with depth up to the continental shelf break, ~200 m depth, and then decreasing in deeper waters. We found relationships between fish taxonomic and functional diversity and latitude, depth, substrate, and time at the regional scale, but not at the coast-wide scale, suggesting that coast-wide patterns can obscure important correlates at smaller scales. Our study provides insight into complex diversity patterns of the deep water soft substrate benthic ecosystems off the US West Coast.