RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Transient demographic approaches can drastically expand the toolbox of coral reef science
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.04.08.438926
DO 10.1101/2021.04.08.438926
A1 James Cant
A1 Roberto Salguero-Gómez
A1 Maria Beger
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/04/09/2021.04.08.438926.abstract
AB 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 the evaluation and forecasting of 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.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.