In response to concerns about declining coral cover and recurring macroalgal blooms, in 2009 the State of Hawaii established the Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area (KHFMA). Within the KHFMA, herbivorous fishes and sea urchins are protected, but other fishing is allowed. As part of a multi-agency monitoring effort, we conducted surveys at KHFMA and comparison sites around Maui starting 19 months before closure, and over the six years since implementation of herbivore protection. Mean parrotfish and surgeonfish biomass both increased within the KHFMA (by 139% [95% QR (quantile range): 98-181%] and 28%[95% QR: 3-52%] respectively). Most of those gains were of small-to-medium sized species, whereas large-bodied species have not recovered, likely due to low levels of poaching on what are preferred fishery targets in Hawaii. Nevertheless, coincident with greater biomass of herbivores within the KHFMA, cover of crustose coralline algae (CCA) has increased from similar to 2% before closure to similar to 15% in 2015, and macroalgal cover has remained low throughout the monitoring period. Strong evidence that changes in the KHFMA were a consequence of herbivore management are that (i) there were no changes in biomass of unprotected fish families within the KHFMA; and that (ii) there were no similar changes in parrotfish or CCA at comparison sites around Maui. It is not yet clear how effective herbivore protection might eventually be for the KHFMA's ultimate goal of coral recovery. Coral cover declined over the first few years of surveys-from 39.6%(SE 1.4%) in 2008, to 32.9%(SE 0.8%) in 2012, with almost all of that loss occurring by 2010 (1 year after closure), i.e. before meaningful herbivore recovery had occurred. Coral cover subsequently stabilized and may have slightly increased from 2012 through early 2015. However, a region-wide bleaching event in 2015 had already led to some coral mortality by the time surveys were conducted in late 2015, at which time cover had dropped back to levels recorded in the KHFMA in 2012.
Meseck, S. L.; Alix, J. H.; Swiney, K. M.; Long, W. C.; Wikfors, G. H.; Foy, R. J.;
Published Date:
2016
Source:
PLOS ONE
Description:
We used flow cytometry to determine if there would be a difference in hematology, selected immune functions, and hemocyte pH (pH(i)), under two different, future ocean acidification scenarios (pH = 7.50, 7.80) compared to current conditions (pH = 8.0...
The sustainability of future water resources is of paramount importance and is affected by many factors, including population, wealth and climate. Inherent in current methods to estimate these factors in the future is the uncertainty of their predict...
Describing and monitoring biodiversity comprise integral parts of ecosystem management. Recent research coupling metabarcoding and environmental DNA (eDNA) demonstrate that these methods can serve as important tools for surveying biodiversity, while ...
Natural habitats have the ability to protect coastal communities against the impacts of waves and storms, yet it is unclear how different habitats complement each other to reduce those impacts. Here, we investigate the individual and combined coastal...
Weirathmueller, M. J.; Stafford, K. M.; Wilcock, W. S. D.; Hilmo, R. S.; Dziak, R. P.; Trehu, A. M.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
PLOS ONE. 2017; 12(10): e0186127.
Description:
In order to study the long-term stability of fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) singing behavior, the frequency and inter-pulse interval of fin whale 20 Hz vocalizations were observed over 10 years from 2003-2013 from bottom mounted hydrophones and se...
Routson, C. C.; Overpeck, J. T.; Woodhouse, C. A.; Kenney, W. F.;
Published Date:
2016
Source:
PLOS ONE
Description:
Two sediment records of dust deposition from Fish Lake, in southern Colorado, offer a new perspective on southwest United States (Southwest) aridity and dustiness over the last similar to 3000 years. Micro scanning X-ray fluorescence and grain size a...
Sistla, S. A.; Roddy, A. B.; Williams, N. E.; Kramer, D. B.; Stevens, K.; Allison, S. D.;
Published Date:
2016
Source:
PLOS ONE
Description:
Tropical forest conversion to pasture, which drives greenhouse gas emissions, soil degradation, and biodiversity loss, remains a pressing socio-ecological challenge. This problem has spurred increased interest in the potential of small-scale agrofore...
Starting in 2006, a new source of intense salt dust storms developed in Mar Chiquita (Cordoba, Argentina), the largest saline lake in South America. Storms originate from vast mudflats left by a 30-year expansion-retreat cycle of the lake due to chan...
Lester, L. A.; Ramirez, M. G.; Kneidel, A. H.; Heckscher, C. M.;
Published Date:
2016
Source:
PLOS ONE
Description:
Barrier islands on the north coast of the Gulf of Mexico are an internationally important coastal resource. Each spring hundreds of thousands of Nearctic-Neotropical songbirds crossing the Gulf of Mexico during spring migration use these islands beca...
Weijerman, M.; Fulton, E. A.; Kaplan, I. C.; Gorton, R.; Leemans, R.; Mooij, W. M.; Brainard, R. E.;
Published Date:
2015
Source:
PLOS ONE. 2015; 10(12): e0144165.
Description:
Millions of people rely on the ecosystem services provided by coral reefs, but sustaining these benefits requires an understanding of how reefs and their biotic communities are affected by local human-induced disturbances and global climate change. E...
Vargas-Angel, B.; Richards, C. L.; Vroom, P. S.; Price, N. N.; Schils, T.; Young, C. W.; Smith, J.; Johnson, M. D.; Brainard, R. E.;
Published Date:
2015
Source:
PLOS ONE. 2015; 10(12): e0142196.
Description:
This paper presents a comprehensive quantitative baseline assessment of in situ net calcium carbonate accretion rates (g CaCO3 cm(-2) yr(-1)) of early successional recruitment communities on Calcification Accretion Unit (CAU) plates deployed on coral...
United States, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service,. Center for Satellite Applications and Research (U.S.). United States, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,. Coral Reef Conservation Program (U.S.). National Marine Protected Areas Center (U.S.).
Published Date:
2015
Source:
PLOS ONE. 2015; 10(11): e0140828.
Description:
Incorporating warming disturbances into the design of marine protected areas (MPAs) is fundamental to developing appropriate conservation actions that confer coral reef resilience. We propose an MPA design approach that includes spatially-and tempora...
Ransome, E.; Geller, J. B.; Timmers, M.; Leray, M.; Mahardini, A.; Sembiring, A.; Collins, A. G.; Meyer, C. P.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
PLOS ONE. 2017; 12(4): e0175066.
Description:
The advancement of metabarcoding techniques, declining costs of high-throughput sequencing and development of systematic sampling devices, such as autonomous reef monitoring structures (ARMS), have provided the means to gather a vast amount of divers...
Luo, J. G.; Ault, J. S.; Shay, L. K.; Hoolihan, J. P.; Prince, E. D.; Brown, C. A.; Rooker, J. R.;
Published Date:
2015
Source:
PLOS ONE. 2015; 10(10): e0141101.
Description:
For centuries, the mechanisms surrounding spatially complex animal migrations have intrigued scientists and the public. We present a new methodology using ocean heat content (OHC), a habitat metric that is normally a fundamental part of hurricane int...
Becker, S. L.; Brainard, R. E.; Van Houtan, K. S.;
Corporate Authors:
United States. National Marine Fisheries Service,. Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (U.S.),. Office of Habitat Conservation (U.S.). United States, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,. Coral Reef Conservation Program (U.S.). National Marine Protected Areas Center (U.S.).
Published Date:
2019
Source:
PLOS ONE. 2019; 14(4): e0214972.
Description:
Sea turtle populations are often assessed at the regional to sub-basin scale from discrete indices of nesting abundance. While this may be practical and sometimes effective, widespread in-water surveys may enhance assessments by including additional ...
Kuhn, C. E.; Chumbley, K.; Fritz, L.; Johnson, D.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
PLOS ONE. 2017; 12(12): e0189061.
Description:
To monitor population trends of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in Alaska, newborn pups are counted during aerial surveys. These surveys are scheduled to occur after the majority of pups are born, but before pups begin to spend significant tim...