Multi-decadal changes in structural complexity following mass coral mortality on a Caribbean reef

Roff, George; Joseph, Jennifer; Mumby, Peter J.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5909-2020

Articles | Volume 17, issue 23

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5909-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5909-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 17, issue 23

Research article

|

01 Dec 2020

Research article |

| 01 Dec 2020

Multi-decadal changes in structural complexity following mass coral mortality on a Caribbean reef

George Roff, Jennifer Joseph, and Peter J. Mumby

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Final revised paper (published on 01 Dec 2020)
Supplement to the final revised paper
Preprint (discussion started on 26 Sep 2019)
Supplement to the preprint

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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- Supplement

RC1: 'Review of Roff et al.', Anonymous Referee #1, 17 Oct 2019
- AC1: 'Response to Referee #1', George Roff, 15 May 2020
RC2: 'Review of bg-2019-329', Brett Taylor, 30 Mar 2020
- AC2: 'Response to Reviewer #2', George Roff, 15 May 2020

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

ED: Reconsider after major revisions (16 May 2020) by S. Wajih A. Naqvi

AR by George Roff on behalf of the Authors (18 May 2020) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (22 May 2020) by S. Wajih A. Naqvi

RR by Brett Taylor (25 May 2020)

RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (29 May 2020)

ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (30 May 2020) by S. Wajih A. Naqvi

AR by George Roff on behalf of the Authors (12 Jun 2020) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Publish as is (24 Jun 2020) by S. Wajih A. Naqvi

AR by George Roff on behalf of the Authors (22 Jul 2020)

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Short summary

In recent decades, extensive mortality of reef-building corals throughout the Caribbean region has led to the erosion of reef frameworks and declines in biodiversity. Using field observations, models, and high-precision U–Th dating, we quantified changes in the structural complexity of coral reef frameworks over the past 2 decades. Structural complexity was stable at reef scales, yet bioerosion led to declines in small-scale microhabitat complexity with cascading effects on cryptic fauna.