Different population trajectories of two reef‐building corals with similar life‐history traits

Shlesinger, Tom; Woesik, Robert van

doi:10.1111/1365-2656.13463

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 88 publications

(131 reference statements)

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“…assemblages. Although restricted, the temporal extent of our demographic assessment here corresponds with timelines applied across previous work evaluating the performance characteristics of coral populations (Precoda et al 2018, Shlesinger and van Woesik 2021), ensuring comparability between our findings and those of past research.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 89%

Transient amplification enhances the persistence of tropicalising coral assemblages in marginal high‐latitude environments

et al. 2022

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Predicting the viability of species exposed to increasing climatic stress requires an appreciation for the mechanisms underpinning the success or failure of marginal populations. Rather than traditional metrics of long-term population performance, here we illustrate that short-term (i.e. transient) demographic characteristics, including measures of resistance, recovery and compensation, are fundamental in the poleward range expansion of hard corals, facilitating the establishment of coral populations at higher latitudes. Through the annual census of subtropical and temperate Acropora spp. colonies in Japan between 2017 and 2019, we show how enhanced transient amplification (i.e. short-term increases in population growth following disturbance) supports the persistence of coral assemblages within more variable high-latitude environments. The transient dynamics of both the subtropical and temperate assemblages were strongly influenced by their corresponding recruitment patterns. However, we demonstrate that variation in colony survival and fragmentation patterns between the two assemblages determines their relative capacities for transient amplification. This latitudinal variation in the transient dynamics of Acropora spp. assemblages emphasizes that coral populations can possess the demographic plasticity necessary for exploiting more variable, marginal conditions.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 89%

Transient amplification enhances the persistence of tropicalising coral assemblages in marginal high‐latitude environments

et al. 2022

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“…asymptotic) population characteristics (Box 2), with measures of long-term population growth rate (k) often used for projecting the viability of coral assemblages (e.g. Foster 2013, 2018;Edmunds 2015Edmunds , 2020Riegl et al 2017;Kodera et al 2020;Cant et al 2021c;Shlesinger and van Woesik 2021). Indeed, the same is true across ecological theory, with our understanding of population dynamics focused on asymptotic population characteristics (Morozov et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transient demographic approaches can drastically expand the toolbox of coral reef science

2022

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Coral communities are threatened by an increasing plethora of abiotic and biotic disturbances. Preventing the ensuing loss of coral coverage and diversity calls for a mechanistic understanding of resilience across coral species and populations that is currently lacking in coral reef science. Assessments into the dynamics of coral populations typically focus on their long-term (i.e. asymptotic) characteristics, tacitly assuming stable environments in which populations can attain their long-term characteristics. Instead, we argue that greater focus is needed on investigating the transient (i.e. short-term) dynamics of coral populations to describe and predict their characteristics and trajectories within unstable environments. Applying transient demographic approaches to evaluating and forecasting the responses of coral populations to disturbance holds promise for expediting our capacity to predict and manage the resilience of coral populations, species, and communities.

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“…Species with similar traits and different dynamics are widely observed in nature (Shlesinger & van Woesik, 2021; Sugihara et al, 2003), and are an integral part of coexistence theory (“limiting similarity,” MacArthur & Levins, 1967) and evolutionary theory (Scheffer & van Nes, 2006). Moreover, similar species with different dynamics can provide insurance against species losses, and are therefore an essential component of ecosystem resilience (“response diversity,” McWilliam et al, 2020; Walker et al, 1999).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Net effects of life‐history traits explain persistent differences in abundance among similar species

McWilliam

Dornelas

Álvarez‐Noriega

et al. 2022

Ecology

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Life-history traits are promising tools to predict species commonness and rarity because they influence a population's fitness in a given environment.Yet, species with similar traits can have vastly different abundances, challenging the prospect of robust trait-based predictions. Using long-term demographic monitoring, we show that coral populations with similar morphological and life-history traits show persistent (decade-long) differences in abundance. Morphological groups predicted species positions along two, well known life-history axes (the fast-slow continuum and size-specific fecundity). However, integral projection models revealed that density-independent population growth (λ) was more variable within morphological groups, and was consistently higher in dominant species relative to rare species. Within-group λ differences projected large abundance differences among similar species in short timeframes, and were generated by small but compounding variation in growth, survival, and reproduction. Our study shows that easily measured morphological traits predict demographic strategies, yet small life-history differences can accumulate into large differences in λ and abundance among similar species. Quantifying the net effects of multiple traits on population dynamics is therefore essential to anticipate species commonness and rarity.

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Different population trajectories of two reef‐building corals with similar life‐history traits

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 10 publications

References 88 publications

Transient amplification enhances the persistence of tropicalising coral assemblages in marginal high‐latitude environments

Transient amplification enhances the persistence of tropicalising coral assemblages in marginal high‐latitude environments

Transient demographic approaches can drastically expand the toolbox of coral reef science

Net effects of life‐history traits explain persistent differences in abundance among similar species

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